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In reply to the discussion: Do you have a favorite "obscure" short story? [View all]lastlib
(23,366 posts)1) "Dog Star" about an astronomer who is adopted by a dog he names Laika (Russian word for "barker" ), whose barking saves him from the second great San Francisco earthquake; and later, on a (future) moonbase, his dream about its barking saves him from a major moonquake.
2) "The Light of Darkness", a scientist seeking to save his African nation from a tyrannical emperor, cripples him by blinding him with a powerful astronomical laser. (I have thought a lot about this story during the Bush/Cheney years, and more recently under AnusMouth.)
Clarke has *so many* good stories, it's difficult to cut it to two--"The Star" and "The Sentinel" (inspiration for the book/movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" ) would certainly be on my list. He was such an incredibly good and prolific writer!