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The Best Science Fiction of the Year 2
paperback.
370 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1973
58 people want to read
About the author
Terry Carr
203 books32 followersCarr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley from 1954 to 1959.
Carr discovered science fiction fandom in 1949, where he became an enthusiastic publisher of fanzines, which later helped open his way into the commercial publishing world. (He was one of the two fans responsible for the hoax fan 'Carl Brandon' after whom the Carl Brandon Society takes its name.) Despite a long career as a science fiction professional, he continued to participate as a fan until his death. He was nominated five times for Hugos for Best Fanzine (1959–1961, 1967–1968), winning in 1959, was nominated three times for Best Fan Writer (1971–1973), winning in 1973, and was Fan Guest of Honor at ConFederation in 1986.
Though he published some fiction in the early 1960s, Carr concentrated on editing. He first worked at Ace Books, establishing the Ace Science Fiction Specials series which published, among other novels, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin.
After conflicts with Ace head Donald A. Wollheim, he worked as a freelancer. He edited an original story anthology series called Universe, and a popular series of The Best Science Fiction of the Year anthologies that ran from 1972 until his death in 1987. He also edited numerous one-off anthologies over the same time span. He was nominated for the Hugo for Best Editor thirteen times (1973–1975, 1977–1979, 1981–1987), winning twice (1985 and 1987). His win in 1985 was the first time a freelance editor had won.
Carr taught at the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University in 1978, where his students included Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy.
Carr discovered science fiction fandom in 1949, where he became an enthusiastic publisher of fanzines, which later helped open his way into the commercial publishing world. (He was one of the two fans responsible for the hoax fan 'Carl Brandon' after whom the Carl Brandon Society takes its name.) Despite a long career as a science fiction professional, he continued to participate as a fan until his death. He was nominated five times for Hugos for Best Fanzine (1959–1961, 1967–1968), winning in 1959, was nominated three times for Best Fan Writer (1971–1973), winning in 1973, and was Fan Guest of Honor at ConFederation in 1986.
Though he published some fiction in the early 1960s, Carr concentrated on editing. He first worked at Ace Books, establishing the Ace Science Fiction Specials series which published, among other novels, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin.
After conflicts with Ace head Donald A. Wollheim, he worked as a freelancer. He edited an original story anthology series called Universe, and a popular series of The Best Science Fiction of the Year anthologies that ran from 1972 until his death in 1987. He also edited numerous one-off anthologies over the same time span. He was nominated for the Hugo for Best Editor thirteen times (1973–1975, 1977–1979, 1981–1987), winning twice (1985 and 1987). His win in 1985 was the first time a freelance editor had won.
Carr taught at the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University in 1978, where his students included Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 14, 2021
After several years of collaboratively editing their World's Best annual anthologies of their picks for the best short science fiction stories published in the previous year, Carr and Donald A. Wollheim began editing separate annual anthologies in 1972. Wollheim had left Ace to found DAW Books, and Carr's series appeared from Ballantine Books (before their line was renamed Del Rey Books). This second year (published in 1973, with their picks of the best of 1972), there was no overlap between the two books. I would say Carr's book is by far the superior of the two for this year. It contains two good, memorable stories from Robert Silverberg, as well as fine ones from Edward Bryant, R.A. Lafferty, James Tiptree, Jr., and one of my favorites, William Rotsler's Patron of the Arts. The highest points are two classic novellas, Hero by Joe W. Haldeman and The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe.
April 17, 2025
As always, a story by story quick review:
The meeting, by Frederik Pohl and CM Kornbluth: Oof, what a way to begin the collection. As we inch ever closer to brain transplants, this story hits very hard on the emotional aspect of transplanting personalities....especially those of children. 10/10
Nobody's Home, by Joanna Russ. Now this one I didn't get. Interesting world but I'm not at all sure what the author's point was. Or is it supposed to be a generic utopian sci-fi character study? 4/10.
Fortune Hunter, by Poul Anderson. Oh now we're getting into the meat of it again. I absolutely loved this one--just dystopian enough to be fiction, just real and emotional enough to connect with. 9/10
The Fifth head of Cerberus, by Gene Wolfe. I still need some time to wrap my head about this one. I *THINK* I loved it. It combines gothic horror and sci-fi masterfully and is a shining example of the novella format. I still need to think about it. 10/10.
Caliban, by Robert Silverberg. Silverberg at his best, with body and psychological horror aspects. To the point, direct, punchy, yet all the same lacking something. 8/10
Conversational Mode, by Grahame Leman. Definitely experimental fiction. Not bad at all, just different. A dialogue between a possible insane person and his computer psychoanalyst/interrogator. 7/10.
Their Thousandth Season, by Edward Bryant. You could have swapped this one with Nobody's home (above) and I don't think I would have noticed a difference. Unremarkable. 4/10
Eurema's Dam, by R.A. Lafferty. A man so stupid as to be able to make a machine to do anything for him! What a rollicking tale. Whimsical and a delight to read. 8/10
Zero Gee, by Ben Bova. Surely by now there have been people who have had sex in space, right? Well this was written in a time when there hadn't been. A story from a different era. 7/10
Sky Blue, by Alexei and Cory Panshin. Cuddly symbolism, fresh and exciting to read. Reads like a fairy tale, complete with a healthy help of nonsense. 8/10
Miss Omega Raven, by Naomi Mitchison. I really get what the author was trying to for--a story about making an already intelligent species even more intelligent--but I think the story tries to do too much in too short a time. A shame, because there's definitely potential here.
Patron of the Arts, by William Rotsler. Oh my god. A story that really illustrates the relationship between artist and patron, between real love and the love on TV (To quote another group of love-lorn artists in the early 21st century). This one is hauntingly good. 10/10
Grasshopper Time, by Gordon Eklund. The story itself is nothing special, but the world-building and the emotional characterization are astounding. I want to know more, both before and after the events of the story. 9/10
Hero, by Joe Haldeman. Reading this--and knowing that this is the germ of what would eventually become the fantastic "The Forever War" by the same author, as well as inspiring John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" series--is quite the insight into his mental status. The author is writing this as part story, part catharsis of the horrors of Vietnam. The peri-Vietnam war period is quite the challenge to read Sci-fi in because you have to read each story as the author(s) grappling psychologically with the horrors of the war and the changed society they returned to. I am reminded not a little about "Dream Baby" by Bruce McAllister, which is much more explicitly a catharsis of the horrors of Vietnam, but hits about the same emotionally. 10/10
When we went to see the end of the world, by Robert Silverberg. Ah yes, Silverberg at his most cynical, and I how I love it indeed. One wonders in these times, whether selling tickets to the end of the world might be a good way to get rich....9/10
Painwise, by James Tiptree, Jr. An interesting story, but one that is a bit too experimental for me. I personally would have ended the book on the story above. 5/10.
The meeting, by Frederik Pohl and CM Kornbluth: Oof, what a way to begin the collection. As we inch ever closer to brain transplants, this story hits very hard on the emotional aspect of transplanting personalities....especially those of children. 10/10
Nobody's Home, by Joanna Russ. Now this one I didn't get. Interesting world but I'm not at all sure what the author's point was. Or is it supposed to be a generic utopian sci-fi character study? 4/10.
Fortune Hunter, by Poul Anderson. Oh now we're getting into the meat of it again. I absolutely loved this one--just dystopian enough to be fiction, just real and emotional enough to connect with. 9/10
The Fifth head of Cerberus, by Gene Wolfe. I still need some time to wrap my head about this one. I *THINK* I loved it. It combines gothic horror and sci-fi masterfully and is a shining example of the novella format. I still need to think about it. 10/10.
Caliban, by Robert Silverberg. Silverberg at his best, with body and psychological horror aspects. To the point, direct, punchy, yet all the same lacking something. 8/10
Conversational Mode, by Grahame Leman. Definitely experimental fiction. Not bad at all, just different. A dialogue between a possible insane person and his computer psychoanalyst/interrogator. 7/10.
Their Thousandth Season, by Edward Bryant. You could have swapped this one with Nobody's home (above) and I don't think I would have noticed a difference. Unremarkable. 4/10
Eurema's Dam, by R.A. Lafferty. A man so stupid as to be able to make a machine to do anything for him! What a rollicking tale. Whimsical and a delight to read. 8/10
Zero Gee, by Ben Bova. Surely by now there have been people who have had sex in space, right? Well this was written in a time when there hadn't been. A story from a different era. 7/10
Sky Blue, by Alexei and Cory Panshin. Cuddly symbolism, fresh and exciting to read. Reads like a fairy tale, complete with a healthy help of nonsense. 8/10
Miss Omega Raven, by Naomi Mitchison. I really get what the author was trying to for--a story about making an already intelligent species even more intelligent--but I think the story tries to do too much in too short a time. A shame, because there's definitely potential here.
Patron of the Arts, by William Rotsler. Oh my god. A story that really illustrates the relationship between artist and patron, between real love and the love on TV (To quote another group of love-lorn artists in the early 21st century). This one is hauntingly good. 10/10
Grasshopper Time, by Gordon Eklund. The story itself is nothing special, but the world-building and the emotional characterization are astounding. I want to know more, both before and after the events of the story. 9/10
Hero, by Joe Haldeman. Reading this--and knowing that this is the germ of what would eventually become the fantastic "The Forever War" by the same author, as well as inspiring John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" series--is quite the insight into his mental status. The author is writing this as part story, part catharsis of the horrors of Vietnam. The peri-Vietnam war period is quite the challenge to read Sci-fi in because you have to read each story as the author(s) grappling psychologically with the horrors of the war and the changed society they returned to. I am reminded not a little about "Dream Baby" by Bruce McAllister, which is much more explicitly a catharsis of the horrors of Vietnam, but hits about the same emotionally. 10/10
When we went to see the end of the world, by Robert Silverberg. Ah yes, Silverberg at his most cynical, and I how I love it indeed. One wonders in these times, whether selling tickets to the end of the world might be a good way to get rich....9/10
Painwise, by James Tiptree, Jr. An interesting story, but one that is a bit too experimental for me. I personally would have ended the book on the story above. 5/10.
September 14, 2020
This is the 7th anthology we've group read for the Facebook group Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories. The general reaction was rather mixed for these stories from 1972. Most of the people in the group are old enough to have read some of these stories when they came out. Terry Carr might have thought them all great in 1973, but almost 50 years later, several have failed the test of time.
My personal favorite for the anthology was "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" by Gene Wolfe. It has the feel of a decadent 19th century New Orleans but set in the far future on another world. Many of the stories in this volume were reactions to worldly problems of the early 1970s, so Wolfe made his story timeless by ignoring contemporary events. "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" is about a boy growing up in a whorehouse tutored by a robot trying to find out the secrets of his father.
I had two runners up favorites, "Zero Gee" by Ben Bova about an astronaut who wants to be the first man in space to get lucky, and "Patron of the Arts" by William Rotsler that reminded me of a futuristic version of The Great Gatsby.
I also liked "Nobody's Home" by Joanna Russ and "Grasshopper Time" by Gordon Eklund but they barely stand the test of time.
Joe Halderman's story "Hero" is excellent, but I kind of disqualified it as one of the best short works of the year because I consider it a novel fragment rather than a novella. I've read The Forever War twice, and "Hero" is the first section of the book called "Private Mandela."
Ultimately, there are enough so-so stories to being the star rating down to 3, otherwise, it would be 4-stars for all the stories I liked, and 5-stars for "The Fifth Head of Cerberus."
My personal favorite for the anthology was "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" by Gene Wolfe. It has the feel of a decadent 19th century New Orleans but set in the far future on another world. Many of the stories in this volume were reactions to worldly problems of the early 1970s, so Wolfe made his story timeless by ignoring contemporary events. "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" is about a boy growing up in a whorehouse tutored by a robot trying to find out the secrets of his father.
I had two runners up favorites, "Zero Gee" by Ben Bova about an astronaut who wants to be the first man in space to get lucky, and "Patron of the Arts" by William Rotsler that reminded me of a futuristic version of The Great Gatsby.
I also liked "Nobody's Home" by Joanna Russ and "Grasshopper Time" by Gordon Eklund but they barely stand the test of time.
Joe Halderman's story "Hero" is excellent, but I kind of disqualified it as one of the best short works of the year because I consider it a novel fragment rather than a novella. I've read The Forever War twice, and "Hero" is the first section of the book called "Private Mandela."
Ultimately, there are enough so-so stories to being the star rating down to 3, otherwise, it would be 4-stars for all the stories I liked, and 5-stars for "The Fifth Head of Cerberus."
Read
May 8, 2020It's a bit hard to rate a collection, especially when it's almost 50 year old SF. I thought the Gene Wolf (Fifth Head of Cerberus) and Joe Haldeman (Hero) stories held up well though
February 21, 2026
Between Best 1 and best 2 I wasn't inspired to buy best 3... just OK.
October 17, 2023
16 stories:
* The Meeting • C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl
**** Nobody's Home • Joanna Russ
** Fortune Hunter • Poul Anderson
***** The Fifth Head of Cerberus • Gene Wolfe
**** Caliban • Robert Silverberg
*** Conversational Mode • Grahame Leman
*** Their Thousandth Season • Edward Bryant
***** Eurema's Dam • R. A. Lafferty
(zero*) Zero Gee • Ben Bova
*** Sky Blue • Alexei and Cory Panshin
*** Miss Omega Raven • Naomi Mitchison
**** Patron of the Arts • William Rotsler
**** Grasshopper Time • Gordon Eklund
***** Hero • Joe Haldeman
**** When We Went to See the End of the World • Robert Silverberg
***** Painwise • James Tiptree, Jr.
Oh I did love these annual collections when I was teen just discovering science fiction … surprised I like everything here except for Bova and Pohl stories … the two novellas in the collection, by Wolfe and Haldeman, became the basis for their first serious novels, two of the greatest SF novels of all time, two books on my personal favorite of favorite’s list - The Fifth Head of Cerberus and The Forever War … holding this old book I feel the history - Wolfe, Haldeman and Tiptree just beginning legendary careers ... Lafferty’s only Hugo award winner … so the best of this collection is top notch … 5 enjoyable stories by authors I have never read before … not a lot of hard SF in this collection (except for the execrable Ben Bova entry) so the outdated quotient is not too high … the stories in my order of preference:
5 Stars:
Gene Wolfe: The Fifth Head of Cerberus
Joe Haldeman: Hero
James Tiptree, Jr: Painwise
R. A. Lafferty: Eurema’s Dam
4 Stars:
Joanna Russ: Nobody’s Home (not sure I got it but I just feel it is brilliant)
Robert Silverberg: When We Went to See the End of the World
Robert Silverberg: Caliban
Gordon Eklund: Grasshopper Time (the most moving story in the collection)
William Rotsler: Patron of the Arts (a little long and predictable but a rare sf story that mostly gets the arts right - and what a bio Rotsler had now that I have looked it up)
3 Stars:
Edward Bryant: Their Thousandth Season
Alexei and Cory Panshin: Sky Blue
Naomi Mitchison: Miss Omega Raven (another author I didn’t know with an amazing bio)
Graham Leman: Conversational Mode (outdated computer psychology yarn but saved by its dark humor)
2 Stars:
Poul Anderson: Fortune Hunter
1 Star:
Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth: The Meeting (Lafferty had to share his only Hugo with this morally misguided story? What were they thinking? …)
1/100th of 1 Star:
Ben Bova: Zero Gee (Yikes, what a stinker, the dullest of 50s-70s style info-dumping hard sf description / conversation combined with a teen male fantasy so slimy I felt like I needed a shower after reading it, so awful …)
* The Meeting • C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl
**** Nobody's Home • Joanna Russ
** Fortune Hunter • Poul Anderson
***** The Fifth Head of Cerberus • Gene Wolfe
**** Caliban • Robert Silverberg
*** Conversational Mode • Grahame Leman
*** Their Thousandth Season • Edward Bryant
***** Eurema's Dam • R. A. Lafferty
(zero*) Zero Gee • Ben Bova
*** Sky Blue • Alexei and Cory Panshin
*** Miss Omega Raven • Naomi Mitchison
**** Patron of the Arts • William Rotsler
**** Grasshopper Time • Gordon Eklund
***** Hero • Joe Haldeman
**** When We Went to See the End of the World • Robert Silverberg
***** Painwise • James Tiptree, Jr.
Oh I did love these annual collections when I was teen just discovering science fiction … surprised I like everything here except for Bova and Pohl stories … the two novellas in the collection, by Wolfe and Haldeman, became the basis for their first serious novels, two of the greatest SF novels of all time, two books on my personal favorite of favorite’s list - The Fifth Head of Cerberus and The Forever War … holding this old book I feel the history - Wolfe, Haldeman and Tiptree just beginning legendary careers ... Lafferty’s only Hugo award winner … so the best of this collection is top notch … 5 enjoyable stories by authors I have never read before … not a lot of hard SF in this collection (except for the execrable Ben Bova entry) so the outdated quotient is not too high … the stories in my order of preference:
5 Stars:
Gene Wolfe: The Fifth Head of Cerberus
Joe Haldeman: Hero
James Tiptree, Jr: Painwise
R. A. Lafferty: Eurema’s Dam
4 Stars:
Joanna Russ: Nobody’s Home (not sure I got it but I just feel it is brilliant)
Robert Silverberg: When We Went to See the End of the World
Robert Silverberg: Caliban
Gordon Eklund: Grasshopper Time (the most moving story in the collection)
William Rotsler: Patron of the Arts (a little long and predictable but a rare sf story that mostly gets the arts right - and what a bio Rotsler had now that I have looked it up)
3 Stars:
Edward Bryant: Their Thousandth Season
Alexei and Cory Panshin: Sky Blue
Naomi Mitchison: Miss Omega Raven (another author I didn’t know with an amazing bio)
Graham Leman: Conversational Mode (outdated computer psychology yarn but saved by its dark humor)
2 Stars:
Poul Anderson: Fortune Hunter
1 Star:
Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth: The Meeting (Lafferty had to share his only Hugo with this morally misguided story? What were they thinking? …)
1/100th of 1 Star:
Ben Bova: Zero Gee (Yikes, what a stinker, the dullest of 50s-70s style info-dumping hard sf description / conversation combined with a teen male fantasy so slimy I felt like I needed a shower after reading it, so awful …)
Read
August 22, 2008The Best Science Fiction of the Year #2 by Terry Carr (1973)
February 12, 2021
I read the first story out of this and it was a real good mind fuck.
April 9, 2012
Between Best 1 and best 2 I wasn't inspired to buy best 3... just OK.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews