The 1984 Annual World's Best SF

Annual World's Best SF #13

by Donald A. Wollheim (Editor)

Strong spine with single crease. Bright clean cover has creasing, shelf and edge wear. Text is perfect. Same day shipping first class.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections, Short Story Collection

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Donald Allen Wollheim was a science fiction writer, editor, publisher and fan. He published his own works under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell.

A member of the Futurians, he was one of the leading influences on the development of science fiction and science fiction fandom in the 20th century United States.


In 1937, Wollheim founded the Fantasy Amateur Press Association. The first mailing was distributed in July of that year and included this statement from Wollheim: "There are many fans desiring to put out a voice who dare not, for fear of being obliged to keep it up, and for the worry and time taken by subscriptions and advertising. It is for them and for the fan who admits it is his hobby and not his business that we formed the FAPA."

Wollheim was also a member of the New York Science Fiction League, one of the clubs established by Hugo Gernsback to promote science fiction. When Wollheim published a complaint of non-payment for stories against Gernsback, Gernsback dissolved the New York chapter of the club.

Wollheim's first story, "The Man from Ariel," was published in the January 1934 issue of Wonder Stories when Wollheim was nineteen. Wollheim was not paid for the story and when he began to look into the situation, he learned that many other authors had not been paid for their work, publishing his findings in the Bulletin of the Terrestrial Fantascience Guild. Gernsback eventually settled the case with Wollheim and other authors out of court for $75, but when Wollheim submitted another story to Gernsback, under the pseudonym "Millard Verne Gordon," he was again not paid. One of Wollheim's short stories, "Mimic" was made into the feature film of the same name, which was released in 1997.

He left Avon Books in 1952 to work for A. A. Wyn at Ace Books. In 1953 he introduced science fiction to the Ace lineup, and for 20 years edited their renowned sf list. Ace was well known for the Ace Doubles series which consisted of pairs of books, usually by different authors, bound back-to-back with two "front" covers. Because these paired books had to fit a fixed total page-length, one or both were usually heavily abridged to fit, and Wollheim often made many other editorial alterations and title changes — as witness the many differences between Poul Anderson's Ace novel War of the Wing-Men and its definitive revised edition, The Man Who Counts. It was also during the 1950s he bought the book Junk by William S. Burroughs, which, in his inimitable fashion, he retitled Junkie.

In 1965 Wollheim published an unauthorized Ace edition of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien in three volumes — the first mass-market paperback edition of Tolkien's epic. This was done because Wollheim believed the Houghton Mifflin hardcover editions failed to properly assert copyright. In a 2006 interview, Wollheim's daughter claimed that Tolkien had angered her father by saying that his magnum opus would never be published in so ‘degenerate a form’ as the paperback book. However, Tolkien had previously authorized a paperback edition of The Hobbit in 1961, and eventually supported paperback editions of The Lord of the Rings and several of his other texts. In any case, Ace was forced to cease publishing the unauthorized edition and to pay Tolkien for their sales following a grass-roots campaign and boycott by Tolkien's U.S. fans. In 1993 a court found that the copyright loophole suggested by Ace Books was incorrect and their paperback edition found to have been a violation of Tolkien's copyright under US law.

After leaving Ace he founded DAW Books in 1971, named by his initials, which can claim to be the first mass market specialist science fiction and fantasy fiction publishing house. In later years, when his distributors, New American Library, threatened to withhold distribution of Thomas Burnett Swann's Biblical fantasy How are the Mighty Fallen (1974) because of its homosexual con

Reviews

[Austin Beeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE 1984 ANNUAL WORLD’S BEST SF
RATED 80% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 4.00 / 5
10 STORIES : 4 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 2 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF

The most interesting thing about this anthology - going in - was that so many of the authors were new to me. Not “I’ve never read any of their stories” New, but “I’ve never heard this author’s name New. It was a bit disappointing when most of the Great work was by authors that were already known to me.

Despite a mediocre ‘percent positive,’ there is much to enjoy here with four 4 Great stores:

Homefaring • (1983) • novella by Robert Silverberg. Completely unexpected and quite wonderful. A scientist volunteers to have his consciousness transported into the future and ends up millions of years ahead within a the body of an intelligent lobster-being. This inspires a quest across a strange and wonderful undersea future world. This is a stunning “Sense of Wonder” story that I absolutely loved.

Blood Music • (1983) • novelette by Greg Bear. A brilliant, but unsophisticated scientist injects himself with his most recent experiment and goes to his friend for help. What starts as self-improvement eventually becomes horror.

The Leaves of October • (1983) • novelette by Don Sakers. A lyrical story told in the voice of an intelligent alien tree. Human are the only species that hasn’t been ‘raised’ by ancient tree-aliens and one brave tree is sent to live among humans and try to understand them. Another wistful and beautifully told story.

Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair • (1983) • short story by Frederik Pohl. A quiet and haunting story of a family that attends a Fair. The Fair is full of wonders, but each one collects a calculated price.

***

THE 1984 ANNUAL WORLD’S BEST SF IS RATED 80% POSITIVE

10 STORIES : 4 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 2 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF

Blood Music • (1983) • novelette by Greg Bear

Great. A brilliant scientist goes to a friend for help after injecting himself with the intelligent results of illegal experiments.

Potential • [Multivac] • (1983) • short story by Isaac Asimov

Average. Scientist investigate a young man that the giant computer says has the DNA for telepathy.

Knight of Shallows • (1983) • novelette by Rand B. Lee

Good. Rollicking time-travel/multi-universe adventure as a man tracks a murderous version of himself.

Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair • (1983) • short story by Frederik Pohl

Great. A quiet and haunting story of a family that attends a fair. The fair is full of wonders, but each one collects a calculated price.

In the Face of My Enemy • [Kim Ryan] • (1983) • novella by Joseph H. Delaney

Good. An expedition to approve a planet for colonization is sabotaged. A woman and an Indian man must try to make it back to base. Thankfully the Indian had been altered millennia ago by aliens and has superhuman powers.

The Nanny • (1983) • novelette by Thomas Wylde

Average. The last hope for humanity falls to one man when he is awakened 18 years early and has to be responsible for hundreds of embryos in storage on the spaceship.

The Leaves of October • (1983) • novelette by Don Sakers

Great. A lyrical story told in the voice of an intelligent alien tree. Human are the only species that hasn’t been ‘raised’ by ancient tree-aliens and one brave tree is sent to live among humans and try to understand them.

As Time Goes By • (1983) • short story by Tanith Lee

Good. A space station on a time-neutral way point. A dashing space pirate at an elegant bar. A beautiful woman with a secret and a paradox. Plus a ghost ship.

The Harvest of Wolves • (1983) • short story by Mary Gentle [as by Mary R. Gentle]

Poor. In a trite fascist future America, an old woman talks about the old times to an angry young man who doesn’t care.

Homefaring • (1983) • novella by Robert Silverberg

Great. Masterful and poignant story of a scientist whose consciousness is sent into the distant future and into the body of an intelligent lobster.

[Christopher K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the power of short form sci fi. All of these stories which vary widely in form, length, style, and content prove what dreams, emotions, fears, and joys can be elicited by a great sci fi short story.
There are some really big names in this edition and a roster of stories that doesn’t have any misses.
Blood Music- really good, amazing bio/nano sci fi that was the start of the full length(which I haven’t read), but this story more than gets the job done in its short few pages.
Potential- Asimov is doing what he does best, sets you up, and then at the last minute hits you with that wild curve ball you were not expecting.
Knight of Shallows- A time travel, multi verse noir thriller with a romance thrown in , expertly told and an ending that hits hard.
Lottery Fair- Pohl hits mean and fast and you should read it.
In the Face of My Enemy- A classic new world story that starts off one way and goes in a completely unexpected and exciting direction I dare not spoil.
The Nanny- probably my least favorite, but still a brain turning philosophical sci fi story worth a read.
The Leaves of October- not at all what I expected, and ended up being my third favorite story in the collection- wholly unique.
As Time Goes By- you may have to read this one twice, that’s a compliment.
The Harvest of the Wolves- the most “1984” out of all the stores, and like “1984” the ending hits hard.
Homefaring- A longer Novella that starts out like juvenile fiction, but quickly turns into a philosophy and ethics meditation that is very rewarding and ending up being my favorite read of the book.
If for some reason I had to pick a favorite out of this series I have read so far, this would be the book I recommend to people, every story was great, and the majority were exceptional.

[J. Bone · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most collections each reader will find their favourites. What is crap to one might be a delight to another (though I think we can all agree that THE NANNY by Thomas Wylde is sexist bullshit).

My favourites by far are THE LEAVES OF OCTOBER by Don Sakers and HOMEFARING by Robert Silverberg. Both speculate a future where man isn’t the only, or dominant, intelligence on the planet.
The Hlut, in the Leaves of October, reminded me of the Ents from Tolkien’s world though lacking mouths they communicated through colour patterns on their trunks. A beautiful image to consider. I disagree with the final decision made by the Hlut collective - which you’ll have to read if you want to know what I think about humans as a destructive force.
The HOMEFARING unfolds in such a fascinating way that you really need to read it yourself. To have it described would ruin the experience.

[Stefan Johnsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was average at best. Half of the stories were okay to poor. Though, I've read Greg Bear's "Blood Music" before and really liked the concept and thought he put into it. Also, "Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair" by Fredrik Pohl, In the Face of My Enemy by Joseph Delaney, and "The Nanny" by Thomas Wylde were all worthwhile reads. Robert Silverberg's novella called "Homefaring" was by far the best and most other reviewers agree. My least favorite was Don Sakers' "The Leaves of October." I disagree with most reviewers who liked it and found it lacking.

Ultimately, there are definitely much better books out there, but if you do get it, it's still a quick and easy read. Skip to the end if you find the other stories lacking and read "Homefaring."

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been enjoying Wollheim's anthologies immensely, albeit a mite tardily. He has attracted the best writers in science fiction. The short stories are generally top of the line, future Hugo and Nebula Award winners. If you're reading this, and haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. Reading time is precious, and I wish I had more, especially when I find a book like this that I can hardly put down.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite story was the last one...beautifully written and almost the perfect length. I wanted more of a denouement, but it was the only story in the bunch that I didn't want to put down.

I've found at least one "new" author to read!

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the stories was more-or-less outdated, and a few others had minor lapses in forecasting new technologies, but on the whole one of the best anthologies I have read lately. The stories are quite diverse in subject and tone.

[John Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this is the 1984 edition, this collection has a strong dystopian sub-theme but not so much that you'd notice if you didn't know this was the 1984 edition, possibly because dystopian worlds are generally not uncommon in Science Fiction anyway. In the introduction, the editor makes note of the year and how it did and did not impact the selections but it's all really beside the point because when it comes down to it, Science Fiction is about the impact of current and potential future science on humanity (It doesn't matter if the potential science is nonsense. There are many cases of nonsense science in older science fiction that proved to be prophetic facsimiles of future realities) and every impact is easily taken to the nth degree in regards to it's ultimate contribution towards whichever side of the utopian/dystopian scale (For recent examples think of Ray Bradbury or the artist formerly and once again known as Prince and the reasons behind their strong aversions to the internet. Or there's the issue of GMOs and how some see them as the eventual final cure for world hunger while others go so far as to see them as the final step in human extinction).

But let's not fool ourselves with an evenly balanced scale because I'm pretty sure the dystopian side is touching the ground. This is because humanity has a very "devil you know" attitude towards change and in reality, I think most dystopian fears are really rooted in a misplaced fear of change and the unknown.

I guess what it comes down to, is that I'm on vacation and am taking advantage of this rare opportunity to write this long and rambling review of what is basically a decent collection of short stories. There's what I felt to be one long stinker in there, but otherwise the rest range from ok to really-quite-good. My favorite of the bunch was one that I started out disliking and in the end was won over by.

In closing, I'll be re-donating these books back to the thrift shop when I'm done with them so if you run into them, I'd recommend picking them up.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a decent collection of Science Fiction short stories. I don't know if I'd really refer to them as the World's Best, though. I guess that's subjective.

The first story, "Blood Music" was a rather shocking and slightly stomach-turning. The concept of injecting self-replicating intelligent microbes into one's blood has some far-reaching implications. What will they decide to do to you?

The most fascinating, yet also the most confusing (to me, at least) was "Knight of Shallows." Roger is told by a mysterious corporation that an alternate Roger from another 'potential timeline' is going about murdering other Rogers in lots of other timelines. This corporation commissions this Roger (dubbed 'Roger Prime') to track the murdering 'Roger Rogue' and try to capture him. The timelines and multiple Rogers were a little hard to keep track of, as well as the time-jumping. I had to read the ending of this story a couple of times and I'm still not sure I understand it as the author intended it. Fascinating concept, though.

"The Leaves of October" is a heartbreaking tale of a sentient tree from another planet who may hold the fate of the world in it's...um...branches. The concept is familiar: sentient extra-terrestrials decide humanity is too dangerous, war-mongering, and insane; they must be completely wiped out, however; the particular extra-terrestrial involved, the tree, has such an unique and compelling voice that it seems singularly distinct.

The remaining tales in this collection were, like I said earlier, decent. "As Time Goes By" started well, ended poorly. "In the Face of My Enemy" was rather long for a short story, and the payoff at the end not really worth it. In fact, now that I think about it, the other stories all can be described as "interesting concept, decent beginning, disappointing ending."

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good authors, but one of the more depressing in the series. Lots of armaggedon's and bleak views of humanity.