A Short, Sharp Shock is a novel written by Kim Stanley Robinson and published in 1990. Though Robinson works primarily in the field of science fiction, A Short, Sharp Shock is set in a fascinating and unique fantasy world which features, among other things, a tribe who live in close connection to the small trees which grow out of their shoulders. The protagonist is a man who awakens on a beach with no memory, and who finds himself compelled to pursue a woman who awoke with him, a woman he knows only as the swimmer.

Their journey takes them along the narrow strip of land, surrounded by ocean, which makes up the whole world. The content is unlike anything found elsewhere in Robinson's oeuvre, yet the themes remain very similar. The strong connection between the human characters and the natural world connects directly to the ecological themes of his previous work, especially the justly praised Mars Trilogy, but the loose and dreamlike structure is like nothing else he has written.

A Short Sharp Shock is far from Robinson's strongest work, but it is completely unique among his creations, and deserves to be read for this reason alone.