Walter M. Miller Jr. is best known for his masterpiece, A Canticle for Leibowitz. This collection, Short Fiction, gathers the stories he wrote leading up to that novel. It's like watching a brilliant mind warming up, hitting themes of faith, ruin, and the stubbornness of the human spirit.

The Story

There isn't one plot. Instead, you get a series of self-contained worlds. In one, a priest administers last rites to a dying... computer. In another, soldiers in a endless war debate whether the enemy is even human anymore. A classic, 'The Darfsteller,' shows an aging actor replaced by robots in a theater, fighting for the soul of art itself. Many stories are set in the ashes of civilization, where monks piece together lost knowledge or survivors grapple with the monstrous legacy of their ancestors. The through-line is people trying to find meaning, rules, or just a sliver of hope in landscapes shattered by technology or war.

Why You Should Read It

I loved this because Miller never writes simple tech adventures. His characters are deeply human—flawed, devout, skeptical, and desperate. The conflict is never just humans vs. machines; it's about ideas. What does duty mean after your cause is lost? Can faith survive a rational, broken world? The stories are from the 1950s, but they read like they were written yesterday, tapping into our own anxieties about AI, cultural memory, and what we're building for the future. The prose is clean and powerful, often landing a quiet emotional punch you don't see coming.

Final Verdict

Perfect for readers who love classic sci-fi with heart and a brain. If you enjoyed Canticle, this is essential background. If you're new to Miller, this is a fantastic introduction. It's also great for anyone who likes short stories that do the work of a novel—creating a whole world and a moral dilemma in just a few pages. It's not always a cheerful read, but it's a profoundly thoughtful and moving one.