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I am looking for a word that describes a collection of short stories that are published either in a single book or under the same series name. They will all have been published by the same author.

I have been operating under the pretense that the word was non sequitur (much like the comic) but have found that this is wrong.

I am not thinking of an anthology. Similarly, florilegium is too complex/obscure for what I am looking for.

Update to provide more context: The stories may or may not have any connection to each other, but were always meant to be published together. When I think of an "anthology" I get the feeling that the stories were published a separate time and compiled later.

I am looking to ask the author some questions to see if there there is over-arching connection that I may have missed...

Are the stories in this book {insert word I am looking for}, or are they actually connected?

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    A compilation, a compendium? It's not clear why anthology doesn't work, if florilegium would, if it weren't so obscure, because those two words are synonymous.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 19:16
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    Non sequitur is definitely not correct: that has no connection to what you're talking about. I don't understand why you think anthology would not be correct. The only other terms I can think of are collection (very generic), compilation, or compendium. Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 19:16
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    @MikeHarris In the same vein as your collection (nice one), I suppose we could suggest collected works (not uncommon in literature), or the more general fine art terms opus or oeuvre, meaning a specific artist's work(s).
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 19:23
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    @DanBron It looks like you and I are on the same page (no pun intended). Although I tend to think of compilation in terms of music (a compilation album), I've seen it applied to written works occasionally. Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 19:27
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    If there is some sense of organisation or common thread, you could use chronicles. An example from science fiction would be The Majipoor chronicles.
    – Phil Sweet
    Commented Jun 7, 2016 at 20:23

3 Answers 3

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A word that would fit in your sentence, and imply that the stores are not related, is indepedent.

Are the stories in this book independent, or are they a related series?

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After revisiting this question and the comments given. I chose to use;

Compendium

  • 1 - A collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication.
  • 1.1 - A collection or set of similar items.
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A Raymond Chandler collection of five books in one was called an omnibus, https://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Chandler-Omnibus-Farewell-Lovely/dp/B001UZIJFC/. Here's another story collection called an omnibus, but by different authors https://www.amazon.com/Great-Books-Foundation-Short-Omnibus/dp/1880323737.

Merriam-Webster, omnibus: "a book containing reprints of a number of works (as of a single author or on a single subject)"

The word was picked up by Ken Jennings for his podcast, https://www.omnibusproject.com, with the subtitle "An encyclopedic reference of strange-but-true stories compiled as a time capsule for future generations."

If you search for 'omnibus' at your local library, you'll see a lot of story collections.

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