Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1980) is a collection of short stories by Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...

. Although not purely science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and definitely not hard science fiction

Hard science fiction

Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...

, the book contains stories that have a futuristic angle or are purely works of fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 set in current times. All the stories except “The Porcelain Salamander” were first published elsewhere before appearing in the Unaccompanied Sonata collection. All eleven of these stories were later published in Maps in a Mirror

Maps in a Mirror

Maps in a Mirror is a collection of short stories by Orson Scott Card. Like Card's novels, most of the stories have a science fiction or fantasy theme...

.

Story list

The short stories in this book are:

• "Ender’s Game
  Ender's Game (short story)
  "Ender's Game" is a story by Orson Scott Card. It first appeared in the August 1977 issue of Analog magazine and was later expanded into the novel Ender's Game...
  
  "
• "Kingsmeat
  Kingsmeat
  "Kingsmeat" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror. It was first published in the Analog Yearbook edited by Ben Bova.-Plot summary:...
  
  "
• "Deep Breathing Exercises
  Deep Breathing Exercises
  "Deep Breathing Exercises" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror.-External links:*...
  
  "
• "Closing the Timelid
  Closing the Timelid
  "Closing the Timelid" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror.-Plot summary:...
  
  "
• "I Put My Blue Genes On
  I Put My Blue Genes On
  "I Put My Blue Genes On" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror. It was first published in the August 1978 issue of Analog.-Plot summary:...
  
  "
• "Eumenides in the Fourth Floor Lavatory
  Eumenides in the Fourth Floor Lavatory
  "Eumenides in the Fourth Floor Lavatory" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories as well as Maps in a Mirror.-Plot summary:...
  
  "
• "Mortal Gods
  Mortal Gods
  "Mortal Gods" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror.-External links:*...
  
  "
• "Quietus
  Quietus (short story)
  "Quietus" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror.-External links:*...
  
  "
• "The Monkeys Thought 'Twas All in Fun
  The Monkeys Thought 'Twas All in Fun
  "The Monkeys Thought 'Twas All in Fun" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror.-External links:*...
  
  "
• "The Porcelain Salamander
  The Porcelain Salamander
  "The Porcelain Salamander" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories, Cardography and Maps in a Mirror.-External links:*...
  
  "
• "Unaccompanied Sonata
  Unaccompanied Sonata
  "Unaccompanied Sonata" is a short story by Orson Scott Card, first published in the March, 1979 issue of Omni magazine. It appears in his short story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories and Maps in a Mirror...
  
  "

External links

• Publication information for Unaccompanied Sonata available from Card’s website