Category: Science Fiction – Books

World’s Best Science Fiction 1968 – Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1968  [Jack Gaughan]

Update…!

Dating from August 19, 2018 – over six years ago – I’ve modified this post to present a newly-acquired copy of Wollheim and Carr’s World’s Best Science Fiction 1968, in vastly better condition than the book originally displayed as the first and central image in this post.  I’ve also included the rear cover.

Though the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (an unparalleled resource, the amassed knowledge of which I’ve availed myself of many, many times in the creation of my posts) indicates that the cover art of this book (Ace A-15) was by Jack Gaughan, that “factoid” deserves some clarification.  I think Gaughan’s appearance as the cover artist only applied to the Ace Books number 91356 of 1970, which you can view here.  The specific edition shown h e r e, published in 1968, featured cover art of an altogether different sort, the nature and style of which is utterly unlike Gaughan’s other work. 

This cover is, I believe, a color photograph of a hollow styrofoam sphere, into which have been embedded an assemblage of wires, a few pieces of mechanical flotsam and jetsam (washers, anyone?), and miniature bulbs, giving it a spindly and spaceshipy appearance, especially when superimposed against a blurred backdrop of a outer-spacey landscape.  No other cover of World’s Best featured this sort of art.  For the rear cover, I think they simply rotated the negative along its long (vertical) dimension to reverse the final image.

Like other editions of the World’s Best series (at least, those published in the 60s and 70s) the frontispiece features full-page art by Gaughan…

… while every story heading features a diminutive piece by the same artist which encapsulates or symbolizes the plot, setting, or theme of the story it’s associated with.  While relevant, they’re not that spectacular.  However, the art on the first page of the introduction – below – is nice.  

So, here’s the back cover.  The book received an endorsement from a mainstream publication which we all read daily (?!) … The New York Post.

What’s in the book?

“See Me Not”, by Roger Wilson, from SF Impulse, February 1967

“Driftglass”, by Samuel R. Delaney, from If, June, 1967

“Ambassador to Verdammt”, by Colin Kapp, from Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, April, 1967

“The Man Who Never Was”, by R.A. Lafferty, from Magazine of Horror, Summer 1967

“The Billiard Ball”, by Isaac Asimov, from If, March, 1967

“Hawksbill Station”, by Robert Silverberg, from Galaxy Magazine, August, 1967

“The Number You Have Reached”, by Thomas M. Disch, from SF Impulse, February 1967

“The Man Who Loved the Faioli“, by Roger Zelazny, from Galaxy Magazine, June, 1967

“Population Implosion”, by Andrew J. Offutt, from If, July, 1967

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”, by Harlan Ellison, from If, March, 1967

“The Sword Swallower”, by Ron Goulart, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November, 1967

“Coranda”, by Keith Roberts, from New Worlds, January, 1967

“Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne”, by R.A. Lafferty, from Galaxy Magazine, February, 1967

“Handicap”, by Larry Niven, from Galaxy Magazine, December, 1967

“Full Sun”, by Brian W. Aldiss, from Orbit 2, June, 1967

“It’s Smart to Have an English Address”, by D.G. Compton, from SF Impulse, February, 1967

Post Scriptum

Here’s the cover of my “first” copy of ’68.  It was obviously well and truly and deeply and ardently and enthusiastically and devotedly read long, long before I acquired it.  

August 19, 2018 – 299

The Other Side of The Moon, Edited by August Derleth – June, 1959 (1949) [Richard M. Powers] [Ever-so-slightly-updated…!]

(Originally created on February 6, 2023, I’ve updated this post to display a better – and newly acquired – copy of Berkley’s 1959 edition of August Derleth’s “The Other Side of the Moon”, as well as a close-up of its cover art, and, the artless back cover.  The image that originally appeared as the central feature of this post now appears after the list of references.)

Richard Powers’ 50s and 60s cover art has qualities that make it distinctive and striking.

Its brilliant colors. 

Its air of mystery and ambiguity.  

Its depiction of objects in forms that blend the curvature and smoothness of organic life with the angularity, luster, and metallic shine of new machines.  

The deemphasis – in many of his works – of distinct and identifiable men and women, and instead, the diminution or transformation of the human form to a mere artifact that’s dwarfed by the grandeur, majesty, and power of a vastly larger canvas.

And, yet…

Some Powers’ covers are conventional and straightforward – if not near literal – in style.  Like this one, for August Derleth’s 1959 The Other Side of the Moon (Berkley Books), which was adapted from the 1949 Pellegrini & Cudahy anthology by the same name.  Here, Powers’ cover art is inspired by the book’s very title.  We are, literally, beyond the moon’s far side. 

Take a closer look: Two spheres are suspended within a violet and starless sky:  A cloudless, silvery gray planet in the distance – the earth; in the foreground (taking up most of the cover!) a black globe tinged in olive, with a cratered rim:  That’s the moon; the earth’s moon.  The far side of the moon.    

And, in front of the moon are two stylized spaceships, and, three astronauts floating in space.  

By far, it’s not Powers’ strongest or most imaginative painting.  But, helped by the contrast of the sky’s purple against the red background to the book’s title, it works. 

As for the book’s content!…

Most of the stories in this paperback edition, as well as a few of the other ten in the original 1949 hardback, are from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.  Of the titles listed below, I’ve only read (and that, back in 1983-land!) A.E. van Vogt’s, “The Monster”, from the August, 1948 issue of Astounding.  This was specifically in Volume 10 (covering 1948) of Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg’s multi-year anthology, Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories.  While not the most profound or impactful story, I enjoyed the tale, as I enjoyed most (all?) of Van Vogt’s early and Golden Age writings.  

An astronaut, diminutive against the moon, floats in space.

Inside We Find

“Resurrection”, by A.E. van Vogt (variant of “The Monster”, from Astounding Science Fiction, August, 1948)

“Original Sin”, by S. Fowler Wright (from The Witchfinder, 1946)

“Spiro”, by Eric Frank Russell (variant of “I, Spy”, from Tales of Wonder, #12, October, 1940)

“Memorial”, by Theodore Sturgeon (from Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1946)

“The Thing on Outer Shoal”, by P. Schuyler Miller (from Astounding Science Fiction, September, 1947)

“The Devil of East Lupton, Vermont”, by Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) (from Thrilling Wonder Stories, August, 1948)

“Conquerors’ Isle”, by Nelson S. Bond (from Mr. Mergenthwirker’s Lobblies and Other Fantastic Tales, 1946)

“Something from Above”, by Donald Wandrei (from Weird Tales, December, 1930)

“Symbiosis”, by Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) (from Collier’s, June 14, 1947)

“The Cure”, by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore) (from Astounding Science Fiction, May, 1946)

A reference or two…

The Moon’s Other Side, at…

… March, 1949 Hardback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Berkley 1956 Paperback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Mr. August Derleth (August William Derleth), at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Wikipedia

P.S. – Here’s my original copy

Feb. 6, 2023 – 94

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Eleventh Series, Edited by Robert P. Mills – 1960 (1961, 1962) [Bob Schinella] […updated post…]

This is an olde post.  Olde in Internet terms, that is: June of 2017.  I’ve now updated it to include an image of Bob Schinella’s cover art for The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Eleventh Series, which is far better than the dinged-up and slightly chipped original formerly featured in the post, now visible at the “bottom”.

The book offers a selection of the outstanding stories then typical and representative of the content of MF&SF; in this case, from the year 1961, albeit naturally and inevitably varying greatly in literary style, plot, and theme from author to author.  Particularly outstanding are Poul Anderson’s “Time Lag”, Cordwainer Smith’s “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard”, and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron“, the impact of the latter extending far beyond the genre of science fiction to become culturally, if not politically, significant. 

As far as the former two stories, central to the plot of Anderson’s tale are the impact and implications of time dilation – from space travel at relativistic speeds – in an interstellar war of conquest by a barbarian empire, viewed through the experiences of the novel’s main – female – protagonist.  The story explores questions of politics, political intrigue, family and civilizational loyalty, and concepts of courage and honor, in a fast-moving and compelling way, typical of much of Anderson’s work. 

“Alpha Ralpha Boulevard”?  Well, what can one say?  Smith was a wonderfully imaginative “world-builder”, and this story takes place in our world some ten to fifteen thousand years from now, in (or at?!) “Earthport”, an immensely tall facility in which is situated the Instrumentality of Mankind, which is the setting of Smith’s “The Ballad of Lost C’Mell”, which was published in Galaxy about a decade earlier.  Any further explanation “here” would diminish the reader’s enjoyment and appreciation of the story’s sheer novelty…!

“The Sources of The Nile”, by Avram Davidson, January, 1961

“Somebody To Play With”, by Jay Williams, May, 1961

“Softly While You’re Sleeping”, by Evelyn E. Smith, April, 1961

“The Machine That Won The War”, by Isaac Asimov, October, 1961

“Go For Baroque”, by Jody Scott, June, 1961

“Time Lag”, by Poul Anderson, January, 1961

“George”, by John Anthony West, June, 1961

“Shotgun Cure”, by Clifford D. Simak, January, 1961

“The One Who Returns”, by John Berry, March, 1961

“The Captivity”, by Charles G. Finney, October, 1961

“Alpha Ralpha Boulevard”, by Cordwainer Smith, June, 1961

“Effigy”, by Rosser Reeves, August, 1961

“E=MC2″, by Rosser Reeves, September, 1961

“Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., October, 1961

“The Haunted Village”, by Gordon R. Dickson, August, 1961

My former blog post image…

A. Reference…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

June 19, 2017 – 158

SF: The Best of the Best – August, 1968 [Norman Adams] (Dell # 0508)

And now, we come to what in effect is the final volume of Judith Merril’s 1950s-1960s science fiction (and fantasy) anthology, SF: The Best of the Best.  This un-numbered series anthology comprises a collection of what truly were the best stories gathered across all volumes of SF, and in this, it succeeds entirely.  Unlike prior books in the series, this volume is absent of non-fiction commentary or scientific speculation, cartoons, poems, and especially (thankfully!) stories-not-published-elsewhere commissioned solely for this series.  If you were to purchase any one volume of SF, this is the one.

Given this book’s title, it would seem that the intention of Judith Merril (and Dell) was that the series would end with this volume, which represents a retrospective of the entire series.  However, Volume 12 – in reality the actual, final volume – was published in 1969, a year after this compilation.  So, it would seem that the publication schedule was reversed as the series approached its culmination.

Norman Adams’ cover painting, which has an eerie anthropomorphic theme, represents a combination of elements from both science fiction and fantasy, especially the latter.  Something tells me that this painting could have been inspired by (or could have inspired, if we’re talking about time travel, parallel universes, and backwards causation!) the hieroglyphic murals upon the walls of the un-named city of the Elder Things in H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness.  

Just sayin’.  One never knows, do one?

All these stories…

Introduction (SF: The Best of the Best), Essay by Judith Merril

“The Hoofer”, by Walter M. Miller, Jr.,
from Fantastic Universe, September, 1955 (Volume 1)

“Bulkhead”, by Theodore Sturgeon,
from Galaxy Science Fiction, March, 1955 (Volume 1)

“Anything Box” (variant of The Anything Box), by Zenna Henderson,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October, 1956 (Volume 2)

“Prima Belladonna” (Vermilion Sands series), by J.G. Ballard,
from Science Fantasy, December, 1956 (Volume 2)

“Casey Agonistes”, by R.C. McKenna,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September, 1958 (Volume 4)

“A Death in the House”, by Clifford D. Simak,
from Galaxy Science Fiction, October, 1959 (Volume 5)

“Space-Time for Springers” (Gummitch the Cat series), by Fritz Leiber,
from Star Science Fiction Stories No. 4, November, 1958 (Volume 4)

“Pelt”, by Carol Emshwiller,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November, 1958 (Volume 4)

“Stranger Station”, by Damon Knight,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December, 1956 (Volume 2)

“Satellite Passage”, by Theodore L. Thomas,
from If, December, 1958 (Volume 4)

“No, No, Not Rogov!” (The Instrumentality of Mankind series), by Cordwainer Smith (Paul M. Linebarger),
from If, February, 1959 (Volume 5)

“Compounded Interest”, by Mack Reynolds,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August, 1956 (Volume 2)

“Junior”, by Robert Abernathy,
from Galaxy Science Fiction, January, 1956 (Volume 1)

“Sense from Thought Divide” (Ralph Kennedy series), by Mark Clifton,
from Astounding Science Fiction, March, 1955 (Volume 1)

“Mariana, by Fritz Leiber”,
from Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, February, 1960 (Volume 5)

“Plenitude”, by Will Worthington (Will Mohler),
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November, 1959 (Volume 5)

“Day at the Beach”, by Carol Emshwiller,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August, 1959 (Volume 5)

“Let’s Be Frank”, by Brain W. Aldiss,
from Science Fantasy, June, 1957 (Volume 3)

“The Wonder Horse”, by George Bryam,
from The Atlantic Monthly, August, 1957 (Volume 3)

“Nobody Bothers Gus” (Gus series), by Algis Budrys,
from Astounding Science Fiction, November, 1955 (Volume 1)

“The Prize of Peril”, by Robert Sheckley,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May, 1958 (Volume 4)

“The Handler”, by Damon Knight,
from Rogue, August, 1960 (Volume 5)

“The Golem”, by Avram Davidson,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1955 (Volume 1)

“The Sound Sweep”, by J.G. Ballard (Variant of “The Sound-Sweep”,
from Science Fantasy, #39, February, 1960), specifically for this volume (Volume 5)

“Hickory, Dickory, Kerouac”, by Richard Gehman,
from Playboy, March, 1958 (Volume 4)

“Dreaming Is a Private Thing”, by Isaac Asimov,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December, 1955 (Volume 1)

“The Public Hating”, by Steve Allen,
from The Blue Book Magazine, January, 1955 (Volume 1)

“You Know Willie”, by Theodore R. Cogswell,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May, 1957 (Volume 3)

“One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts”, by Shirley Jackson,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1955 (Volume 1)

And in conclusion, a textual solution!

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This Book’s Contents

Published Variants of This Book (Just two!)

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction – Seventh Series, Edited by Anthony Boucher – 1956 (1957, 1958) [Unknown Artist] […updated post…]

Dating back to June of 2017 (oh my!), I’ve now updated this post to show a much (much) better copy of the Anthony-Boucher-edited The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction -Seventh Series.  The image of my “original” copy, with the previous unknown owner’s home-made label on the spine, is displayed at the bottom of the post.

Having read this volume several years ago, by this point in time (late 2024) I cannot recall each story in detail, but it’ll suffice to say that this volume, truly like others in the series (well, at least through the late 1960s) continued the high quality of previous books in the series.  The stories that stand out in my memory at this point are Ward Moore’s “Adjustment”, Robert F. Young’s “Goddess in Granite”, and, Fritz Leiber’s “The Big Trek”.

The few stories by Young that I’ve read have been excellent.  Highly original in plot and setting, there’s nothing extraneous to his text, and his characters – while like most science fiction protagonists not entirely “three dimensional” in personality and background – are nevertheless distinct and individuated, manifesting change in belief, attitude, and self-understanding by a given story’s conclusion.  One thing I’ve noticed – albeit I’ve not read either of the two collections of his stories! – is that a central element of his tales seems (seems…)  to be the nature of relationships … relationships in all their complex aspects … between men and women.  And, women and men.  Certainly this is true for “Goddess in Granite”, which is a deeply disturbing and ironic tale of the evolution of one man’s attitudes towards and relationships with women, in senses both abstract and very (very; emphatically so) physically real.  While not necessarily a likeable chap, the development and maturation of the protagonist’s character is intriguing; the story heavily (very; again emphatically!) laden with symbolism.  In a contemporary, early twenty-first-century parlance, “Goddess in Granite” might well be deemed a “blue pill to red pill” (to black pill?) conversion story.  But, its meaning goes deeper.

Meanwhile, Fritz Leiber’s “The Big Trek” is a light, brief, and charming tale, typical of the level of imagination inherent to Leiber’s oeuvre.  It merited colorful cover art by Edmund Emshwiller which perfectly mirrored the setting and central event of the story.  

“The Wines of Earth”, by Idris Seabright, September, 1957

“Adjustment“, by Ward Moore, May, 1957

“The Cage”, by Bertram Chandler, June, 1957

“Mr. Stilwell’s Stage”, by Avram Davidson, September, 1957

“Venture to the Moon”, by Arthur C. Clarke, from Fiction #49, December, 1957

“Expedition”, by Frederic Brown, February, 1957

“Rescue”, by G.C. Edmondson, June, 1957

“Between The Thunder and The Sea”, by Chad Oliver, May, 1957

“A Loint of Paw”, by Isaac Asimov, August, 1957

“The Wild Wood”, by Mildred Clingerman, January, 1957

“Dodger Fan”, by Will Stanton, June, 1957

“Goddess in Granite”, by Robert F. Young, September, 1957

“Ms. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie”, by Cyril M. Kornbluth, July, 1957

“Journey’s End”, by Poul Anderson, for this volume

“The Big Trek”, by Fritz Leiber, October, 1957

“In Memoriam: Fletcher Pratt”, poem by James Blish, October, 1957

“Yes, but”…”, poem by Anthony Brode, September, 1957

“The Horror Story Shorter by One Letter Than the Shortest Horror Story Ever Written”, by Ron Smith, July, 1957

“Lyric for Atom Splitters”, poem by Doris Pitkin Buck, for this volume

Referentially Speaking…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

6/19/17 154

SF 12 – June, 1969 [Paul Lehr] (Dell # 7815)

Rather than having been released in 1968, as would have been expected after the publication of SF 11 in 1967, the 12th volume of Judith Merril’s SF anthology – specifically, SF12 – appeared in 1969.  Marking the end of the series, this last? (see SF: The Best of The Best) anthology marked a return to direct and representational space art, albeit of a diminutive form: Paul Lehr’s spacecraft-flying-above-a-moonscape occupies only a small portion of the cover.  But, the minimalism of the scene – the near-black and vaguely starlit background of space fading indistinguishably into the darkness of the rest of the cover – is appealing and very effective.  On first glance I assumed this was the earth and moon, but on second view this seems not so.

What about the content?  This last volume furthers a trend seem in earlier editions of the series, with emphasis:  A full twelve stories – over a third of the thirty items comprising the book’s content – were (I guess commissioned?) and written specifically for this book.  Alas, with the exception of Bob Shaw’s “Light of Other Days” – a genuinely moving and very well written story firmly rooted in an intersection between scientific speculation and the human nature – the content is not all that memorable. 

Still, here’s the book:

Lots and lots of stories ‘n stuff!

Introduction: Fish Out of Water, Man Beside Himself, Essay by Judith Merril

“The Cinemagicians”, by Tuli Kupferberg,
specifically for this volume

“In Seclusion”, by Harvey Jacobs,
from New Worlds, #179, February, 1968

“The Food Farm”, by Kit Reed,
from Orbit 2, June, 1967

“Gogol’s Wife”, by Tommaso Landolfi (trans. of La moglie di Gogol 1944),
from book Gogol’s Wife & Other Stories, 1963

“The Balloon”, by Donald Barthelme,
from The New Yorker, April 16, 1966

“The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D” (Vermilion Sands series), by J. G. Ballard,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December, 1967

“Luana”, by Gilbert Thomas,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September, 1966

“W-a-v-e-r”, by Tuli Kupferberg,
specifically for this volume

“During the Jurassic”, by John Updike,
from Transatlantic Review, Summer, 1966

“The Fall of Frenchy Steiner”, by Hilary Bailey,
from New Worlds SF, July-August, 1964

“Light of Other Days” (Slow Glass series) by Bob Shaw,
from Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, August 1966

“Beyond the Weeds”, by Peter Tate,
specifically for this volume

“Crab-Apple Crisis”, by George MacBeth (variant of Crab Apple Crisis),
specifically for this volume

“The Primary Education of the Camiroi” (Camiroi series),
by R. A. Lafferty (variant of Primary Education of the Camiroi 1966),
specifically for this volume

“When I Was Miss Dow”, by Sonya Dorman,
from Galaxy Magazine, June, 1966

“A Vacation on Earth”, by Thomas M. Disch,
specifically for this volume

“Confluence”, by Brian W. Aldiss,
from Punch, August 30, 1967
Journal from Ellipsia (excerpt), by Hortense Calisher,
specifically for this volume

“An Ornament to His Profession” (Conrad Patrick series), by Charles L. Harness,
from Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, February 1966

“Narrow Valley”, by R. A. Lafferty,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September, 1966

“They Do Not Always Remember”, by William S. Burroughs (as by William Burroughs),
from Argosy (UK), March, 1967

“The Winter Flies”, by Fritz Leiber,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October, 1967”

“When I First Read …” (1966) by Dick Allen,
specifically for this volume

“You: Coma: Marilyn Monroe”, by J. G. Ballard,
from New Worlds, June, 1966

“And More Changes Still”, by Henri Michaux (trans. of Encore des changements 1929),
specifically for this volume

“The Other”, by Katherine MacLean,
from New Worlds SF, July, 1966

“Chicken Icarus”, by Carol Emshwiller (variant of A Dream of Flying),
specifically for this volume

“In the Egg”, by Günter Grass, (translation of Im Ei 1958),
specifically for this volume

“The Star-Pit”, by Samuel R. Delany (variant of The Star Pit),
from Worlds of Tomorrow, February, 1967

“Personal”, by Tuli Kupferberg,
specifically for this volume

 We come to a conclusion, sans confusion.

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This Book’s Contents

Published Variants of This Book (Four and no more, but not a bore!)

11th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F – September, 1967 [George Ziel] (Dell # 2241)

Continuing with the series’ later trend of incomprehensively bad cover art, we come to the 11th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F.  This composition’s pretty simple: a “face” (veritably: booo!) is set between some-kind-of-planet-symbols, against a dark violet background.  Nothing to write home about; nothing to remember; I’m just including this post for the sake of comprehensively showing the series.

Otherwise, I found nothing memorable; worthy of comment, for this edition of the series.  However, it’s interesting that seven stories were specifically written for this volume.  By no means is this collection a “galaxy of genius”.  It is, however, a collection.  

Turn the page(s)…

Introduction (11th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F), Essay by Judith Merril

“Something Else”, by Robert J. Tilley,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October, 1965

“The Volcano Dances”, by J. G. Ballard,
from book The Terminal Beach, June, 1964

“Slow Tuesday Night”, by R. A. Lafferty,
from Galaxy Magazine, April, 1965

“Better Than Ever”, by Alex Kirs,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1965

“Coming-of-Age Day”, by A. K. Jorgensson,
from Science Fantasy, September, 1965

“The Wall”, by Josephine Saxton,
from Science Fantasy, November, 1965

“The Survivor”, by Walter F. Moudy,
from Amazing Stories, May, 1965

“Moon Duel”, by Fritz Leiber,
from If, September, 1965

“Project Inhumane”, by Alexander Malec,
specifically for this volume

“Those Who Can, Do”, by Robert T. Kurosaka (as by Bob Kurosaka),
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1965

“Susan”, by Keith Roberts (as by Alistair Bevan),
from Science Fantasy, April, 1965

“Yesterdays’ Gardens”, by Johnny Byrne,
from Science Fantasy, November, 1965

“The Roaches”, by Thomas M. Disch,
from Escapade, October, 1965

“Game”, by Donald Barthelme,
from The New Yorker, July 31, 1965

“J Is for Jeanne”, by E. C. Tubb,
from New Worlds SF, December, 1965

“Terminal”, by Ron Goulart,
from Fantastic Stories of Imagination, May, 1965

“The Plot”, by Tom Herzog,
from Rogue, December, 1965

“Investigating the Bidwell Endeavors”, by David R. Bunch,
specifically for this volume

“The Case”, by Peter Redgrove,
specifically for this volume

“There’s a Starman in Ward 7”, by David Rome,
from New Worlds SF, #146, January, 1965

“Eyes Do More Than See”, by Isaac Asimov,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April, 1965

“Maelstrom II”, by Arthur C. Clarke,
from Playboy, April, 1965

“Two Telepathic Letters to Lord Kelvin”, by Alfred Jarry,
specifically for this volume

“Warrior” (Childe Cycle series), by Gordon R. Dickson,
from Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, December 1965

“Mars Is Ours!”, by Art Buchwald,
specifically for this volume

“Scarfe’s World”, by Brian W. Aldiss,
from Worlds of Tomorrow, March, 1965

“A Singular Case of Extreme Electrolyte Balance Associated with Folie a Deux”,
by Robert D. Tschirgi, specifically for this volume

“A Magus” (poem), by John Ciardi,
specifically for this volume

“The Circular Ruins”, by Jorge Luis Borges (translation of “Las ruinas circulares” 1940,
from book El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan, 1941),
in book Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings, 1962

“The Girl Who Drew the Gods”, by Harvey Jacobs,
from Mademoiselle, May, 1965

“The Drowned Giant”, by J. G. Ballard,
from book The Terminal Beach, June, 1964

“Circe Undersea or a Cry from the Depths”, by George MacBeth,
specifically for this volume

“Somewhere Not Far from Here”, by Gerald Kersh,
from Playboy, March, 1965

“In the Ruins”, by Roald Dahl,
specifically for this volume

“Traveller’s Rest”, by David I. Masson,
from New Worlds SF, September, 1965

“Ado About Nothing”, by Robert K. Ottum (as by Bob Ottum, Jr.),
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1965

Summation (The 11th Annual of the Year’s Best S-F), Essay by Judith Merril

Still life with references

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This Book’s Contents

Published Variants of This Book (Neither four nor three but two I see!)

10th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F – December, 1966 [George Ziel] (Dell # 8611)

The 10th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F, features cover art having a “spacey” mood to it:  An oblate spheroid with a banded, orange-brown atmosphere (A “brown dwarf” A gas giant?) hovers at lower left, while at upper center, is that a blue-dwarf sun that we see in the distance?  Alas, given muted colors and dark greenish-gray background, it’s neither a vivid nor striking nor memorable image.  But I suppose it nominally fulfills the role of cover art.  Barely. 

As for the content of this volume.  Well.  Ahem.  Continuing the trend of prior, recent editions of the S-F (or if you prefer, SF) series, there’s nothing that memorable here.  The singular exception is Roger Zelazny’s “A Rose for Ecclesiastes”, which is probably the best story in this volume.  

What you’ll find inside…

“Automatic Tiger”, by Kit Reed,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1964

“The Carson Effect”, by Richard Wilson,
from Worlds of Tomorrow, November, 1964

“The Shining Ones”, by Arthur C. Clarke,
from Playboy, August, 1964

“Pacifist”, by Mack Reynolds,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1964

“The New Encyclopaedist” (New Encyclopaedist series), by Stephen Becker,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May, 1964

“The Legend of Joe Lee”, by John D. MacDonald,
from Cosmopolitan, October, 1964

“Gas Mask”, by James D. Houston,
specifically for this volume

“A Sinister Metamorphosis”, by Russell Baker,
specifically for this volume

“Sonny”, by Rick Raphael,
from Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, April 1963

“The Last Secret Weapon of the Third Reich” (Variant title of “Poslední tajná zbraň Třetí říše?”, 1962), by Josef Nesvabda,
from book Vampires Ltd., 1964

“Descending”, by Thomas M. Disch,
from Fantastic Stories of Imagination, July, 1964

“Decadence” (translation of Décadence unknown), by Romain Gary (Roman Kaczew),
from book Hissing Tales, March, 1964

“Be of Good Cheer”, by Fritz Leiber,
from Galaxy Magazine, October, 1964

“It Could Be You”, by Frank Roberts, from The Bulletin, March, 1962,
first publication in Hal Porter’s Coast to Coast Sydney : Angus et Robertson, 1962 (which credits “The Bulletin”)

“A Benefactor of Humanity”, by James T. Farrell,
specifically for this volume

“Synchromocracy”, by Hap Cawood,
specifically for this volume

“The Search”, by Bruce Simonds,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June, 1964

“The Pirokin Effect”, by Larry Eisenberg,
from Amazing Stories, June, 1964

“The Twerlik”, by Jack Sharkey,
from Worlds of Tomorrow, June, 1964

“A Rose for Ecclesiastes”, by Roger Zelazny,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November, 1963

“The Terminal Beach”, by J.G. Ballard,
from New Worlds Science Fiction, March, 1964

“Problem Child”, by Arthur Porges,
from Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, April 1964

“The Wonderful Dog Suit”, by Donald Hall
specifically for this volume

“The Mathenauts”, by Norman Kagan,
from If, July, 1964

“Family Portrait”, by Morgan Kent,
from Fantastic Stories of Imagination, August, 1964

“The Red Egg”, by José María Gironella,
from book Phantoms and Fugitives, 1964

“The Power of Positive Thinking”, by M. E. White,
specifically for this volume

“A Living Doll”, by unknown (as by Robert Wallace),
from Harper’s Magazine, January, 1964

“Training Talk”, by David R. Bunch,
from Fantastic Stories of Imagination, March, 1964

“A Miracle Too Many”, by Alan E. Nourse and Philip H. Smith,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September, 1964

“The Last Lonely Man”, by John Brunner,
from New Worlds SF, May-June 1964

“The Man Who Found Proteus”, by Robert Rohrer,
from Fantastic Stories of Imagination, November, 1964

“Yachid and Yechida”, by Isaac Bashevis Singer (translation of Yahid un Yehidah),
from book Short Friday and Other Stories, 1964

Summation (10th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F), Essay by Judith Merril

And so on…?

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This Book’s Contents

Published Variants of This Book (Six by golly, potentially jolly!)

9th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best SF – May, 1965 [“Three Lions”] (Dell # 9775)

By the advent of the 9th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F, things had proceeded artlessly:  Similar to the cover of World’s Best Science Fiction 1968 (edited by Donald Wollheim and Terry Carr), rather than a painting, the cover illustration was a makeshift collage of ill-defined stuck-together objects photographed close-up.  I suppose the idea was to create a sense of weirdness and mystery, but the whole thing simply comes off looking odd: There’s a tiny little person (made of clay?) hanging out at the bottom of the cover; to his (hers?) left, some bent paper clips, chunky cobwebs, or clear plastic.  And that’s about it.  Oh well.  

Having read this volume, like the others in Merril’s series, a couple of years ago, the stories still outstanding in my memory are Alfred Bester’s “They Don’t Make Life Like They Used to”, Bernard Malamud’s “The Jewbird”, and Cordwainer Smith’s “Drunkboat”.  Unsurprisingly, prior to this volume I’d read all three stories in other collections.  Though technically well written, typical of Bester’s oeuvre, his story begins on an optimistic “last man and last women in the world” note, and ends rather disappointingly, and nihilistically, perhaps because having been written in the early 60s, he wanted to run counter to the sense of triumphant optimism previously associated with the genre.  Smith’s Drunkboat, is, like all (I mean all) of Smith’s body of work, an excellent choice.  (Then again, I’ve long thought that Smith (real name Paul M. Linebarger) is among the top ten (top five?!) science fiction writers of the twentieth century.  Ah, but what about Malamud’s “The Jewbird”?  Having previously read this tale (in a collection of that author’s stories published in the early 70s), I wondered (and wonder) why it was even chosen for inclusion in S-F.  It’s emphatically not science fiction by any stretch of interpretation.  (Really.)  Even to consider it a fantasy requires mental somersaults far beyond the ability of ordinary editors.  (Truly.)  I’d deem it a thinly veiled form of social allegory, or, social criticism, about internalized antisemitism.  Regardless of its merits as “a story”, its presence here indicates the way the content of this series veered away from science fiction to include a hodge-podge of items peripherally related to the genre.

I don’t plan to re-read this collection, but it was an interesting diversion.  

And inside?

“Bernie the Faust”, by William Tenn,
from Playboy, November, 1963

“Fortress Ship” (Berserker series), by Fred Saberhagen,
from If, January, 1963

“Mr. Waterman”, by Peter Redgrove,
from book The Nature of Cold Weather & Other Poems, 1961

“Mrs. Pigafetta Swims Well”, by Reginald Bretnor,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May, 1963

“Tree Trunks” (cartoon), by John Gallagher,
specifically for this volume

“They Don’t Make Life Like They Used to”, by Alfred Bester,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October, 1963

“The Great Nebraska Sea”, by Allan Danzig,
from Galaxy Magazine, August, 1963

“The Faces Outside”, by Bruce McAallister,
from If, July, 1963

“A Slight Case of Limbo”, by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.,
from Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, April 1963

“237 Talking Statues, Etc.”, by Fritz Leiber,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September, 1963

“The Jazz Machine”, by Richard Matheson,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February, 1963

“Mourning Song”, by Charles Beaumont,
from Gamma 1, July, 1963

“Dog Eat Dog” (cartoon), by Jules Feiffer,
specifically for this volume

“The Jewbird”, by Bernard Malamud,
specifically for this volume

“On the Fourth Planet”, by J.F. Bone,
from Galaxy Magazine, April, 1963

“Poppa Needs Shorts”, by Leigh Richmond and Walt Richmond,
specifically for this volume

“Double Standard”, by Fredric Brown,
from book The Bedside Playboy, 1963

“Interview”, by Frank A. Javor,
from Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, November, 1963

“Eight O’Clock in the Morning”, by Ray Nelson,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November, 1963

“Where Is Everybody?”, Essay by Ben Bova,
from Amazing Stories, May, 1963

“The Earth Dwellers” (variant of Book Fragments d’une histoire universelle / Fragments of Universal History, 1928),
from the book The Weigher of Souls & the Earth Dwellers, 1963

“The Nobel Prize Winners”, by W.J.J. Gordon,
from The Atlantic Monthly, November, 1963

“Hot Planet”, by Hal Clement,
from Galaxy Magazine, August, 1963

“IBM” (cartoon), by Mort Gerberg,
specifically for this volume

“Confessions of the First Number”, by Cliff Owsley,
specifically for this volume

“The Ming Vase”, by E.C. Tubb,
from Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, May 1963

“A Bargain with Cashel”, by Gerald Kersh,
from The Saturday Evening Post, April 27, 1963

“Drunkboat” (The Instrumentality of Mankind series), by Cordwainer Smith,
from Amazing Stories, October, 1963

Summation: SF, 1963, essay by Judith Merril, 1964

Books (The 9th Annual of the Year’s Best SF), essay by Anthony Boucher, 1964

Honorable Mentions (The 9th Annual of the Year’s Best SF), essay by Judith Merril, 1964

Still Life With Pixels

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This Book’s Contents

Published Variants of This Book (Just two!)

8th Annual Edition The Year’s Best S-F – June, 1964 [Unknown Artist] (Dell # 9774)

Not much to see here, folks.

Continuing the trend of volumes 6 and 7, the 8th Annual Edition: The Year’s Best S-F bears cover art that’s best termed diminutive.  It shows an explosion – a meteorite? (or is it a gas nebula?), giving the cover a “spacey” air.  This time, the artist’s name isn’t listed; perhaps an employee of Dell?  As before, cover at is becoming less central and more perfunctory with each succeeding issue.  

Unlike prior volumes in the series, the content here is almost entirely short stories, with only three items specifically about science fiction – two by Judith Merril, and one by Anthony Boucher – appearing at the end of the book.  

Contents, contents, contents…

“The Unsafe Deposit Box”, by Gerald Kersh,
from The Saturday Evening Post, April 14, 1962

“Seven-Day Terror”, by R.A. Lafferty,
from If, March, 1962

“The Toy Shop”, by Harry Harrison, variant of “Toy Shop”,
from Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, April, 1962, specifically for this volume

“The Face in the Photo”, by Jack Finney,
from The Saturday Evening Post, October 13, 1962

“The Circuit Riders”, by R.C. Fitzpatrick,
from Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, April, 1962

“Such Stuff”, by John Brunner,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June, 1962

“The Man Who Made Friends with Electricity”, by Fritz Leiber,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1962

“Kings Who Die”, by Poul Anderson,
from If, March, 1962

“The Unfortunate Mr. Morky”, by Vance Aandahl,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October, 1962

“Christmas Treason”, by James White,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1962

“A Miracle of Rare Device”, by Ray Bradbury,
from Playboy, January, 1962

“All the Sounds of Fear”, by Harlan Ellison,
from the book Ellison Wonderland, June, 1962

“One of Those Days”, by William F. Nolan,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May, 1962

“The Day Rembrandt Went Public”, by Arnold M. Auerbach,
from Harper’s Magazine, July, 1962

“Ms. Found in a Bus”, by Russell Baker,
specifically for this volume

“The Insane Ones”, by J.G. Ballard,
from Amazing Stories, January, 1962

“Leprechaun”, by William Sambrot,
from Escapade, October, 1962

“Change of Heart”, by George Whitley,
from New Worlds Science Fiction, #110, September, 1961

“Angela’s Satyr”, by Brian Cleeve,
from The Saturday Evening Post, November 3, 1962

“Puppet Show”, by Fredric Brown,
from Playboy, November, 1962

“Hang Head, Vandal!”, by Mark Clifton,
from Amazing Stories, April, 1962

“Earthlings Go Home!”, by Mack Reynolds,
from Rogue, August, 1962

“The Martian Star-Gazers”, by Frederik Pohl,
from Galaxy Magazine, February, 1962

“Planetary Effulgence”, by Bertrand Russell,
from New Statesman, September 5, 1959

“Deadly Game”, by Edward Wellen,
from If, May, 1962

“Subcommittee”, by Zenna Hederson,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July, 1962

“The Piebald Hippogriff”, by Karen Anderson,
from Fantastic Stories of Imagination, May, 1962

“Home from the Shore”, by Gordon R. Dickson,
from Galaxy Magazine, February, 1963

Summation: S-F, 1962, Essay by Judith Merril, December, 1963

Books (The 8th Annual of the Year’s Best S-F), Essay by Anthony Boucher, December, 1963

Honorable Mentions (The 8th Annual of the Year’s Best S-F), Essay by Judith Merril, December, 1963

And so?

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This Book’s Contents

Published Variants of This Book (Alive at five!)