Sometimes, I want to recommed a story to someone, but run into the tricky situation where some key fact about it is also a spoiler that they'd likely rather not know in advance. This list consists of such works of fiction.

Derivative works are towards the end, and original ones towards the start; other than that the order is arbitrary.

Expect oddities and surprises here; some of these stories are not what they seem, and I may have given misleading descriptions of them in this list, in cases where that seemed appropriate.

• The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton

• If On a Winter's Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino

• The Sun and I, by K. J. Parker

• The Bifrost Incident, by The Mechanisms

  Benefits from some knowledge of their prior work, but doesn't require it. Benefits from some knowledge of Norse mythology, but doesn't require more than the absolute basics. The link above is the official one, but if you're finding it difficult to follow, this copy with on-screen lyrics might help.

• Doctor Brinner, Ghost Psychiatrist, by Andrew Hussie

  An earlier work by Andrew Hussie, of Homestuck fame. Even weirder and more confusing than Homestuck is, and that's saying something. On balance it probably isn't worth your time to read the whole thing (especially since it's hard to find a complete version these days, the only site I could find on a quick seach was missing the whole arc with the Devil's grandmother). Consider reading the summary on TvTropes instead, it'll get you half of the worthwhile stuff in about 1% of the time.

• A Study in Emerald, by Neil Gaiman

• Finale of the Ultimate Mega Crossover, by Eliezer Yudkowsky

  Assumes you've read A Fire Upon the Deep and Permutation City (both of which I'd say are worthwhile in their own right). Being an 'Ultimate Mega Crossover' it does bring in several other works, but doesn't have major spoilers for or assume much knowledge of any other than those two, I think.