Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections books in order

Q: "How many books are in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series?"

"There are seven books in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series, published between 1986 and 2020."

Q: "What is the first book in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series?"

"The first book in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series is The Planet on the Table, published in 1986."

Q: "Is there a best collection to start with for readers new to Robinson's short fiction?"

"The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson (2001) is the natural starting point, as it is a career retrospective selected to represent his range. Escape From Kathmandu (1989) is a lighter collection of comic mountaineering stories set in Nepal, quite different in tone from his science fiction. The Planet on the Table (1986) collects his earliest short fiction and shows him working through ideas that would later appear in the Mars trilogy."

Reading order

#	Title	Published	Author	Buy on Amazon
1	The Planet on the Table	1986	Kim Stanley Robinson	Buy
2	Escape From Kathmandu	1989	Kim Stanley Robinson	Buy
3	Remaking History and Other Stories	1991	Kim Stanley Robinson	Buy
4	Down and Out in the Year 2000	1992	Kim Stanley Robinson	Buy
5	The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson	2001	Kim Stanley Robinson	Buy
6	Vinland the Dream and Other Stories	2002	Kim Stanley Robinson	Buy
7	Stan’s Kitchen	2020	Kim Stanley Robinson	N/A

Robinson began publishing short fiction while completing his doctoral thesis in the early 1980s, and his early stories appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction and other genre magazines. The Planet on the Table (1986) gathers that early work, including stories that explore the same Southern California landscape he was writing about in the Three Californias Triptych and others that begin developing the interest in scientific process and ecology central to his later novels.

Escape From Kathmandu (1989) is the most tonally distinct of the collections, a linked series of comic stories about two mountain climbers in Nepal who keep encountering the supernatural, from a yeti to the Shangri-La of legend. The humor and absurdism make it different from Robinson’s other fiction, though the same love of mountain environments comes through clearly. Remaking History and Other Stories (1991) and Down and Out in the Year 2000 (1992) return to science fiction proper, with stories spanning alternate histories and near-future settings.

The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson (2001) and Vinland the Dream and Other Stories (2002) appeared after the Mars trilogy established his reputation, and they gather work from across his career. Vinland the Dream includes the title story, an alternate history in which the Viking discovery of North America turns out to be a medieval forgery, as well as other historically and scientifically grounded pieces.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series?

There are seven books in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series, published between 1986 and 2020.

What is the first book in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series?

The first book in the Kim Stanley Robinson Short Story Collections series is The Planet on the Table, published in 1986.

Is there a best collection to start with for readers new to Robinson's short fiction?

The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson (2001) is the natural starting point, as it is a career retrospective selected to represent his range. Escape From Kathmandu (1989) is a lighter collection of comic mountaineering stories set in Nepal, quite different in tone from his science fiction. The Planet on the Table (1986) collects his earliest short fiction and shows him working through ideas that would later appear in the Mars trilogy.

Reading order#

Frequently Asked Questions

Reading order