Short Fiction

Forster often used the mores of Edwardian society to lightly satirize the characters in his work, but he rarely missed an opportunity to take them into the realm of fantasy. In “Albergo Empedocle” an otherwise unremarkable fiancé starts believing in past lives after a visit to an ancient Greek temple; in “The Celestial Omnibus” a head of a Literary Society comes into unexpected contact with the Wagnerian characters he knows so well from the page. As well as writing satire and fantasy, Forster also contributed to early speculative fiction with his short story “The Machine Stops;” the setting of a room with video calling and buttons that produce literature and music seems worryingly prescient.

This collection includes all of Forster’s short fiction that is in the U.S. public domain, ordered by date of its first publication.

This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.