Science Fiction Books – World’s Best Science Fiction

World’s Best Science Fiction 1967 – Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1967 [Jack Gaughan] [Revised post…]

This post is pretty antiquated – by internet standards, that is! – having first appeared in July of 2017 (gadzooks!), and now includes Jack Gaughan’s title page interior art.

This anthology would be reprinted under Ace Books catalog number 91355, which also featured cover art by Jack Gaughan. Note the great difference in style between Gaughan’s two compositions: This image is pretty straightforward and representational, while the wrap-around cover art of the reprint is much more symbolic and hard-to-define, reminiscent of the work of Richard Powers.

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Contents

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, by Philip K. Dick, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Light of Other Days, by Bob Shaw, from Analog Science Fiction – Science Fact

The Keys to December, by Roger Zelazny, from New Worlds SF

Nine Hundred Grandmothers, by R.A. Lafferty, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Bircher, by A.A. Walde, from If

Behold The Man, by Michael Moorcock, from New Worlds SF

Bumberboom, by Avram Davidson, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Day Million, by Frederik Pohl, from Rogue Magazine

The Wings of A Bat, by Paul Ash, from Analog Science Fiction – Science Fact

The Man From When, by Dennis Plachta, from If

Amen and Out, by Brian W. Aldiss, from New Worlds SF

For a Breath I Tarry, by Roger Zelazny, from New Worlds SF

7/7/17 – 192

World’s Best Science Fiction – Third Series – Edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1967 [Jack Gaughan]

This is a reprint of Ace Books 1967 edition, which was released under Ace Books catalog number A-10, and also featured cover art by Jack Gaughan. It’s hard to discern what the cover art is actually portraying, other than the three diminutive rockets exiting the scene at the lower right. Then again, perhaps it’s intentionally ambiguous!

Contents

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, by Philip K. Dick, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Light of Other Days, by Bob Shaw, from Analog Science Fiction – Science Fact

The Keys to December, by Roger Zelazny, from New Worlds SF

Nine Hundred Grandmothers, by R.A. Lafferty, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Bircher, by A.A. Walde, from If

Behold The Man, by Michael Moorcock, from New Worlds SF

Bumberboom, by Avram Davidson, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Day Million, by Frederik Pohl, from Rogue Magazine

The Wings of A Bat, by Paul Ash, from Analog Science Fiction – Science Fact

The Man From When, by Dennis Plachta, from If

Amen and Out, by Brian W. Aldiss, from New Worlds SF

For a Breath I Tarry, by Roger Zelazny, from New Worlds SF

World’s Best Science Fiction 1970 – Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1970 [John Schoenherr] [Revised post – yet again…!]

Here’s another John Schoenherr illustration encompassing both front and rear covers, presented as a composite image.

Like Star Science Fiction Stories Number 2, the art of World’s Best Science Fiction 1969, encompasses the book’s front and rear covers – just as did the cover art for World’s Best for 1970. Schoenherr’s art has echoes of that of Richard Powers, in terms of diminutive human figures, a kind of fusion of biology and technology, and above all, mystery and ambiguity.

I’ve also included the book’s title page art, which was a staple of every Ace “World’s Best” anthology published between 1965 and 1971. I think this particular composition was created by Jack Gaughan, for it’s very (very!) similar to Gaughan’s cover art for E.E. Smith’s Children of the Lens, as published by Pyramid in April of 1970 (Pyramid Book T-2195).

(Oh, yeah… This post has been revised from its original version (which appeared in the former world of January, 2018), the original, simplified cover scan appearing at bottom.)

Contents

A Man Speakith, by Richard Wilson, from Galaxy Science Fiction

After the Myths Went Home, by Robert Silverberg, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Death by Ecstasy, by Larry Niven, from Galaxy Science Fiction

One Sunday In Neptune, by Alexei Panshin, from Tomorrow’s Worlds

For the Sake of Grace, by Suzette Hardin Elgin, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Your Haploid Heart, by James Tiptree, Jr., from Analog Science Fiction – Science Fact

Therapy 2000, by Keith Roberts, from New Writings in SF 15

Sixth Sense, by Michael G Coney, from Vision of Tomorrow

A Boy and His Dog, by Harlan Ellison, from New Worlds, and, The Beast That Shouted Love at The Heart of The World

And So Say All of Us, by Bruce McAllister, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Ship of Shadows, by Fritz Leiber, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Nine Lives, by Ursual K. LeGuin, from Playboy

The Big Flash, by Norman Spinrad, from Orbit 5

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January 1, 2018 – 129

World’s Best Science Fiction 1969 – Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1969 [John Schoenherr] [Revised post – yet again…!]

Like Star Science Fiction Stories Number 2, the cover art of World’s Best Science Fiction 1969, encompasses both the book’s front and rear. This composite scan, which includes a dinged-up spine (ohhh, wellll!) shows the entirety of a desert landscape imagined by John Schoenherr.

I’ve also included Schoenherr’s title page art, such interior art having appeared in every Ace “World’s Best” anthology published between 1965 and 1971. I’m certain this example was created by Jack Gaughan.

Since this post has been revised from its original version (which appeared in the ancient time of 2018), the original, simplified cover scan appears at bottom.

Contents

Street of Dreams, Feet of Clay, by Robert Sheckley, from Galaxy Science Fiction

BackTracked, by Bert Filer, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Kyrie, by Poul Anderson, from the Farthest Reaches

Going Down Smooth, by Robert Silverberg, from Galaxy Science Fiction

The Worm that Flies, by Brian W. Aldiss, from The Farthest Reaches

Masks, by Damon Knight, from Playboy

Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones, by Samuel R. Delaney, from New Worlds

Hemeac, by E.G. Von Wald, from Galaxy Science Fiction

The Cloudbuilders, by Colin Kapp, from New Writings in SF 12

This Grand Carcass, by R.A. Lafferty, from Amazing Stories

A Visit to Cleveland General, by Sydney van Scyoc, from Galaxy Science Fiction

The Selchey Kids, by Laurence Yep, from If

Welcome to the Monkey House, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., from Playboy

The Dance of The Changer and The Three, by Colin Kapp, from The Farthest Reaches

Sword Game, by H.H. Hollis, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Total Environment, by Brian W. Aldiss, from Galaxy Science Fiction

The Square Root of Brain, by Fritz Leiber, from New Worlds

Starsong, by Fred Saberhagen, from If

Fear Hound, by Katherine MacLean, from Analog Science Fiction – Science Fact

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October 1, 2018 -141

World’s Best Science Fiction 1971 – Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1971 [Davis Meltzer] [Updated post…!]

Like John Schoenherr’s work, this Douglas Meltzer cover includes both front and rear panels of World’s Best Science Fiction 1971. It is rather inventive: A human face forms the center of a radio telescope which is aimed at a galaxy. The dark blue of the sky contrasts nicely with the deep yellow below.

Update – January, 2020

Originally posted in June of 2017, this image of the cover of World’s Best Science Fiction 1971 has been updated to include the volume’s spine, thus given a complete representation of Metlzer’s cover art.

Contents

Slow Sculpture, by Theodore Sturgeon, from Galaxy Science Fiction, February, 1970

Bird in The Hand, by Larry Niven, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October, 1970

Ishmael In Love, by Robert Silverberg, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July, 1970

Invasion of Privacy, by Bob Shaw, from Amazing Stories, July, 1970

Waterclap, by Isaac Asimov, from If, April, 1970

Continued on Next Rock, by R.A. Lafferty, from Orbit 7

The Thing in The Stone, by Clifford D. Simak, from If, March, 1970

Nobody Lives on Burton Street, by Gregory Benford, from Amazing Stories, May, 1970

Whatever Became of The McGowans, by Michael G. Coney, from Galaxy Science Fiction, May, 1970

The Last Time Around, by Arthur Sellings, from If, November-December, 1970

Greyspun’s Gift, by Neal Barret, Jr., from Worlds of Tomorrow, Winter, 1970

The Shaker Revival, by Gerald Jonas, from Galaxy Science Fiction, February, 1970

Dear Aunt Annie, by Gordon Eklund, from Fantastic Stories, April, 1970

Confessions, by Ron Goulart, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August, 1970

Gone are The Lupo, by H.B. Hickey, from Quark / 1

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Image originally posted…

Reference

World’s Best Science Fiction 1971, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

World’s Best Science Fiction – Fourth Series – Edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1970 [Jack Gaughan]

A 1970 reprint of Ace Books 1968 edition (Ace Catalog Number A-15).

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Contents

See Me Not, by Roger Wilson, from Impulse

Driftglass, by Samuel R. Delaney, from If

Ambassador to Verdammt, by Colin Kapp, from Analog Science Fiction – Science Fact

The Man Who Never Was, by R.A. Lafferty, from Magazine of Horror

The Billiard Ball, by Isaac Asimov, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Hawksbill Station, by Robert Silverberg, from Galaxy Science Fiction

The Number You Have Reached, by Thomas M. Disch, from Impulse

The Man Who Loved the Fajioli, by Roger Zelazny, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Population Implosion, by Andrew J. Offutt, from Galaxy Science Fiction

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, by Harlan Ellison, from If

The Sword Swallower, by Ron Goulart, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Coranda, by Keith Roberts, from New Worlds Science Fiction

Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne, by R.A. Lafferty, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Handicap, by Larry Niven, from Galaxy Science Fiction

Full Sun, by Brian W. Aldiss, from Orbit 2

It’s Smart to Have an English Address, by D.G. Compton, from Impulse

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

This anthology would be reprinted in 1970 under Ace Books Catalog Number 91356, with cover art by Jack Gaughan.