Short Fiction

Cordwainer Smith's collected short fiction plunges readers into the distant future of the Instrumentality of Mankind, a sweeping, millennia-spanning saga unlike any other. Here, humanity has evolved—or devolved—into a myriad of strange forms, from the animalistic 'Underpeople' who serve as sentient tools, to the god-like 'Lords of the Instrumentality' who guide galactic civilization. Smith, the pen name of a real-life psychological warfare expert and East Asian scholar, masterfully weaves tales of cosmic scale with profoundly intimate human (and post-human) drama, exploring themes of identity, freedom, and the very nature of sentience across a tapestry of breathtaking imagination. Each story, often a standalone gem, contributes to a larger, haunting vision of a future both wondrous and terrifying.