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Annual World's Best SF #9
The 1980 Annual World's Best SF
"Introduction" (Donald A. Wollheim)
"The Way of Cross and Dragon" (George R. R. Martin)
"The Thirteenth Utopia" (Somtow Sucharitkul)]
"Options" (John Varley)
"Unaccompanied Sonata" (Orson Scott Card)
"The Story Writer" (Richard Wilson)
"Daisy, in the Sun" (Connie Willis)
"The Locusts" (Larry Niven and Steven Barnes)
"The Thaw" (Tanith Lee)
"Out There Where the Big Ships Go" (Richard Cowper)
"Can These Bones Live?" (Ted Reynolds)
"The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand" (Joanna Russ)
"The Way of Cross and Dragon" (George R. R. Martin)
"The Thirteenth Utopia" (Somtow Sucharitkul)]
"Options" (John Varley)
"Unaccompanied Sonata" (Orson Scott Card)
"The Story Writer" (Richard Wilson)
"Daisy, in the Sun" (Connie Willis)
"The Locusts" (Larry Niven and Steven Barnes)
"The Thaw" (Tanith Lee)
"Out There Where the Big Ships Go" (Richard Cowper)
"Can These Bones Live?" (Ted Reynolds)
"The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand" (Joanna Russ)
284 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 6, 1980
4 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Donald A. Wollheim
295 books34 followersDonald 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 24, 2021
This is a volume of Wollheim's picks of the best short science fiction that appeared in 1979. I believe this is the sixteenth of his annual best anthologies. I didn't think any of the stories were truly classics this year. I liked the stories by Connie Willis, Joanna Russ (a nice Verne homage, and one of the few things by Russ I ever read in which she didn't sound angry), Orson Scott Card, and particularly The Way of Cross and Dragon by George R.R. Martin... which may presage philosophical thoughts for Westeros?
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April 25, 2017I collect these anthologies, and I'm currently reading or rereading them all and keeping track of my thoughts on each story.
First off, this particular collection's intro contains some stuff about 'primitive cultures' which has shall we say not aged well. It bothers me when sci fi types feel we have nothing to learn from any human culture that hasn't reached a certain level of technological advancement; humans are humans, and every human culture has something to tell us about ourselves as a species.
But anyway: stories!
The Way of Cross and Dragon by George R. R. Martin - Over the course of this project I've read a lot of lesser-known GRRM stories, and similar themes pop up over and over. The whole faith/happiness vs truth/despair thing in this story is very similar to A Song for Lya, for example... and of course, the idea of St. Judas conquering cities on his tamed dragons will probably ring a bell for ASOIAF fans. Honestly, though, I was more interested in this story for those reasons than in and of itself. It isn't bad, but it felt a bit too similar to other stories I've seen. (And the whole "space Catholicism" thing has never rung my particular bell; I didn't much like The Sparrow either.)
The Thirteenth Utopia by Somtow Sucharitkul - A neat idea that didn't really seem to have much of a point. A guy goes to disprove that a world is a utopia and fails because it actually is a utopia, thanks to the magnanimity of a friendly sentient star. Moral: sentient stars are great?
Options by John Varley - In a world where changing one's gender presentation is essentially effortless, would the procedure really stop with people who experience gender dysphoria? Or would a larger number of people begin to explore it, for a variety of reasons of their own? The main character is a woman who tentatively explores this and receives both pushback and encouragement from her family, colleagues, and friends. Varley is a great example of an author who incorporates nonstandard gender and sexuality into his stories without it seeming like a shameless effort to titillate the reader, and this story, while of course not 100% in line with modern understandings of gender identity, is surprisingly prescient of the modern genderqueer movement.
Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card - A world in which people with artistic potential are put into complete seclusion, so that their art will remain uncontaminated. One young man keeps allowing himself to be contaminated, but eventually becomes one of the enforcers of the anticontamination law. This is an odd one. Odd, because I really enjoyed the quietly bizarre atmosphere of the story, but I have absolutely no idea what the takeaway from it was supposed to be. And maybe it's because I know too much about Card as a person, but I have an uncomfortable suspicion that it's at least slightly an argument in favor of denying one's true nature for the 'greater good.' Am I reading too much into this?
The Story Writer by Richard Wilson - An aging pulp writer is chosen as a prophet by a race of aliens who have settled on Earth. To be honest, I liked the first half of this story (before anything SF happens) a lot more than the latter half. I might seek out other stories by this author, because he's clearly a great writer, but the conclusion of the story didn't really grab me.
Daisy, in the Sun by Connie Willis - The sun is going to go nova and everyone else is freaking out about it, society is crumbling because of it, but Daisy isn't worried. Unsettling, cool. And a very weird metaphor for puberty. I liked this one a lot, even though the ultimate SF conceit of it works much better as a metaphor than as any kind of actual science.
The Locusts by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes - Man, I just can't with Larry Niven. My problem with this story is the same as my problem with The Mote In God's Eye - EVOLUTION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY. AT ALL. Basic premise: the second humanity colonizes other planets, every human child born, anywhere, whether on Earth or on other planets, is born as a proto-human hominid. What in the hell is the mechanism for this supposed to be?
The Thaw by Tanith Lee - I clearly need to read more Tanith Lee, because I absolutely loved the POV character here. A flawed, snippy, hilarious, totally real-seeming person. And the character of her unearthly 'grandmother' with incredible powers of persuasion was genuinely scary. I really liked this one.
Out There Where the Big Ships Go by Richard Cowper - It's hard to explain why I loved this so much. The setting is kind of languidly explored, letting the reader get comfortable with this near-future world before laying out the weirdness of the premise (an alien game-cum-religion which humanity needs to master before it can join global society). I just really liked the characters, the detailed descriptions and worldbuilding, the lack of contrived conflict, the ultimate optimism of it. Apparently Richard Cowper was criticized in his day for being too emotional and not rigorous enough in his science; maybe it's time for him to be rediscovered, because this felt very modern to me for that very reason.
Can These Bones Live? by Ted Reynolds - I don't always connect with explicitly Biblically-themed SF, but this was a pretty good one. One woman is raised from the dead by a race of aliens who will allow her to ask for the rest of humanity to return as well, but she knows she can only ask one time, and her request will probably not be granted unless she asks correctly. Manages to sell an idea I usually hate - the 'humans are uniquely awesome among all intelligent races in the galaxy' idea - in a way that feels earned.
The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand by Joanna Russ - An homage to Jules Verne, about a woman who finds herself taking incredible journeys to other times and places whenever she runs to catch a certain train. Kind of fluffy but charming, and definitely seemed like a faithful homage.
Favorites in this one: Options, The Thaw, Out There Where the Big Ships Go
First off, this particular collection's intro contains some stuff about 'primitive cultures' which has shall we say not aged well. It bothers me when sci fi types feel we have nothing to learn from any human culture that hasn't reached a certain level of technological advancement; humans are humans, and every human culture has something to tell us about ourselves as a species.
But anyway: stories!
The Way of Cross and Dragon by George R. R. Martin - Over the course of this project I've read a lot of lesser-known GRRM stories, and similar themes pop up over and over. The whole faith/happiness vs truth/despair thing in this story is very similar to A Song for Lya, for example... and of course, the idea of St. Judas conquering cities on his tamed dragons will probably ring a bell for ASOIAF fans. Honestly, though, I was more interested in this story for those reasons than in and of itself. It isn't bad, but it felt a bit too similar to other stories I've seen. (And the whole "space Catholicism" thing has never rung my particular bell; I didn't much like The Sparrow either.)
The Thirteenth Utopia by Somtow Sucharitkul - A neat idea that didn't really seem to have much of a point. A guy goes to disprove that a world is a utopia and fails because it actually is a utopia, thanks to the magnanimity of a friendly sentient star. Moral: sentient stars are great?
Options by John Varley - In a world where changing one's gender presentation is essentially effortless, would the procedure really stop with people who experience gender dysphoria? Or would a larger number of people begin to explore it, for a variety of reasons of their own? The main character is a woman who tentatively explores this and receives both pushback and encouragement from her family, colleagues, and friends. Varley is a great example of an author who incorporates nonstandard gender and sexuality into his stories without it seeming like a shameless effort to titillate the reader, and this story, while of course not 100% in line with modern understandings of gender identity, is surprisingly prescient of the modern genderqueer movement.
Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card - A world in which people with artistic potential are put into complete seclusion, so that their art will remain uncontaminated. One young man keeps allowing himself to be contaminated, but eventually becomes one of the enforcers of the anticontamination law. This is an odd one. Odd, because I really enjoyed the quietly bizarre atmosphere of the story, but I have absolutely no idea what the takeaway from it was supposed to be. And maybe it's because I know too much about Card as a person, but I have an uncomfortable suspicion that it's at least slightly an argument in favor of denying one's true nature for the 'greater good.' Am I reading too much into this?
The Story Writer by Richard Wilson - An aging pulp writer is chosen as a prophet by a race of aliens who have settled on Earth. To be honest, I liked the first half of this story (before anything SF happens) a lot more than the latter half. I might seek out other stories by this author, because he's clearly a great writer, but the conclusion of the story didn't really grab me.
Daisy, in the Sun by Connie Willis - The sun is going to go nova and everyone else is freaking out about it, society is crumbling because of it, but Daisy isn't worried. Unsettling, cool. And a very weird metaphor for puberty. I liked this one a lot, even though the ultimate SF conceit of it works much better as a metaphor than as any kind of actual science.
The Locusts by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes - Man, I just can't with Larry Niven. My problem with this story is the same as my problem with The Mote In God's Eye - EVOLUTION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY. AT ALL. Basic premise: the second humanity colonizes other planets, every human child born, anywhere, whether on Earth or on other planets, is born as a proto-human hominid. What in the hell is the mechanism for this supposed to be?
The Thaw by Tanith Lee - I clearly need to read more Tanith Lee, because I absolutely loved the POV character here. A flawed, snippy, hilarious, totally real-seeming person. And the character of her unearthly 'grandmother' with incredible powers of persuasion was genuinely scary. I really liked this one.
Out There Where the Big Ships Go by Richard Cowper - It's hard to explain why I loved this so much. The setting is kind of languidly explored, letting the reader get comfortable with this near-future world before laying out the weirdness of the premise (an alien game-cum-religion which humanity needs to master before it can join global society). I just really liked the characters, the detailed descriptions and worldbuilding, the lack of contrived conflict, the ultimate optimism of it. Apparently Richard Cowper was criticized in his day for being too emotional and not rigorous enough in his science; maybe it's time for him to be rediscovered, because this felt very modern to me for that very reason.
Can These Bones Live? by Ted Reynolds - I don't always connect with explicitly Biblically-themed SF, but this was a pretty good one. One woman is raised from the dead by a race of aliens who will allow her to ask for the rest of humanity to return as well, but she knows she can only ask one time, and her request will probably not be granted unless she asks correctly. Manages to sell an idea I usually hate - the 'humans are uniquely awesome among all intelligent races in the galaxy' idea - in a way that feels earned.
The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand by Joanna Russ - An homage to Jules Verne, about a woman who finds herself taking incredible journeys to other times and places whenever she runs to catch a certain train. Kind of fluffy but charming, and definitely seemed like a faithful homage.
Favorites in this one: Options, The Thaw, Out There Where the Big Ships Go
July 7, 2011
Theme: Utopia
"The Way of Cross and Dragon" - Space-traveling Catholic high Inquisitor encounters a heretic faith that has made a saint of Judas Iscariot. His investigation may test even his own faith. -- A very interesting take on religion. Easy to believe. 4.5 stars.
"The Thirteenth Utopia" - Very similar to the previous story in that it has a space-traveling inquisitor and a faith-challenging discovery. However, this was much more fanciful and relied on some serious future technology instead of a mere evolution of human religion. -- I wanna dance in the sun. 5.0 stars.
"Options" - In a society where one can go back and forth between genders in a relatively inexpensive and painless process, one female-born person decides whether to make the change and how that will affect her family, particularly her marriage. -- The psychology and characterization in this short tale propels it to 5.5 stars (out of 5, so that's a lot.)
"Unaccompanied Sonata" - Everyone in this society is chosen at birth to do what they do best, but there are some pretty strict rules and some excessive consequences for breaking them. -- I've read this before, probably a couple of times. I always love Orson Scott Card, and it was not a burden to read again. 4.0 stars
"The Story Writer" - A man sits at a typewriter at a flea market and sells people their story at a dollar per page. A very interesting customer arrives and propels the tale into sci-fi territory. 3.5 stars
"Daisy, In the Sun" - Daisy's in a Train. Outside it appears to be snowing, but that's not really what's going on. I can't tell you what is, because the reveal is just too beautiful. That's all. 4.5 stars.
"The Locusts" - Earth's first colony arrives and begins to set up their new home. However, there's a problem with the babies. -- An interesting take on evolution and what the "next level" might be. 4.0 stars
"The Thaw" - Some cryogenically frozen folks are awoken. Hope there's no ill effects. Of course, there totally are. - Not a particular fan of this one. Not sure why. 3.0 stars.
"Out There Where the Big Ships Go" - Roger is a young boy at a tournament of The Game his mother is playing in. His encounter with the Master is life-changing for both of them. -- This was particularly beautiful. I want to play The Game (No, not that Game. Also, you lose.) 5.0 stars
"Can These Bones Live?" -- A woman awakens after remembering her death. She soon discovers she's mostly alone. She has an opportunity to ask for some company, but what does she do with this chance? -- A little boring, actually. Good ending, though.
"The Extraordinary Voyages" -- In the style of Verne, very French, very cozy. A man on a train platform nearly stumbles into an alternate universe, but is grabbed at the last second by a woman who's been traveling all over through this little portal. So sweet.
All together: 4.5 stars
"The Way of Cross and Dragon" - Space-traveling Catholic high Inquisitor encounters a heretic faith that has made a saint of Judas Iscariot. His investigation may test even his own faith. -- A very interesting take on religion. Easy to believe. 4.5 stars.
"The Thirteenth Utopia" - Very similar to the previous story in that it has a space-traveling inquisitor and a faith-challenging discovery. However, this was much more fanciful and relied on some serious future technology instead of a mere evolution of human religion. -- I wanna dance in the sun. 5.0 stars.
"Options" - In a society where one can go back and forth between genders in a relatively inexpensive and painless process, one female-born person decides whether to make the change and how that will affect her family, particularly her marriage. -- The psychology and characterization in this short tale propels it to 5.5 stars (out of 5, so that's a lot.)
"Unaccompanied Sonata" - Everyone in this society is chosen at birth to do what they do best, but there are some pretty strict rules and some excessive consequences for breaking them. -- I've read this before, probably a couple of times. I always love Orson Scott Card, and it was not a burden to read again. 4.0 stars
"The Story Writer" - A man sits at a typewriter at a flea market and sells people their story at a dollar per page. A very interesting customer arrives and propels the tale into sci-fi territory. 3.5 stars
"Daisy, In the Sun" - Daisy's in a Train. Outside it appears to be snowing, but that's not really what's going on. I can't tell you what is, because the reveal is just too beautiful. That's all. 4.5 stars.
"The Locusts" - Earth's first colony arrives and begins to set up their new home. However, there's a problem with the babies. -- An interesting take on evolution and what the "next level" might be. 4.0 stars
"The Thaw" - Some cryogenically frozen folks are awoken. Hope there's no ill effects. Of course, there totally are. - Not a particular fan of this one. Not sure why. 3.0 stars.
"Out There Where the Big Ships Go" - Roger is a young boy at a tournament of The Game his mother is playing in. His encounter with the Master is life-changing for both of them. -- This was particularly beautiful. I want to play The Game (No, not that Game. Also, you lose.) 5.0 stars
"Can These Bones Live?" -- A woman awakens after remembering her death. She soon discovers she's mostly alone. She has an opportunity to ask for some company, but what does she do with this chance? -- A little boring, actually. Good ending, though.
"The Extraordinary Voyages" -- In the style of Verne, very French, very cozy. A man on a train platform nearly stumbles into an alternate universe, but is grabbed at the last second by a woman who's been traveling all over through this little portal. So sweet.
All together: 4.5 stars
October 27, 2024
Reviewing anthologies is always confusing because some of these were absolutely amazing while others are certainly not worth your time. Though there was only one that I skipped, so that says something. Overall I at least appreciated 9 out of the 11 stories here and liked most of those 9 (basically meaning that there were only two that I explicitly disliked, which is honestly impressive for an anthology).
The two best of this collection were "The Thirteenth Utopia" by Somtow Sucharitkul and "Unaccompanied Sonata" by Orson Scott Card, and would highly recommend giving them a read. In general the theme for this collection is 'utopia' which is generally not the type of science fiction that I like but I did appreciate many of these stories.
The two best of this collection were "The Thirteenth Utopia" by Somtow Sucharitkul and "Unaccompanied Sonata" by Orson Scott Card, and would highly recommend giving them a read. In general the theme for this collection is 'utopia' which is generally not the type of science fiction that I like but I did appreciate many of these stories.
May 24, 2023
I've never read many "Year's Best" anthologies because they're either too long (looking at you, Mr. Dozios) or because I just can't find them in the wild. That being said, when I found the book club edition of this at a local library sale, I jumped at the cool cover art and picked this up. Now that I've read it I can say that 1979 was an interesting year for science fiction, and the Wollheim has the essential anthologizing ability to pick authors form a wide variety of subgenres and stylistic approaches. The downside to that is that not at all of these stories are written with the stylistic approaches that I enjoy, but I cannot argue that any of these stories are of low quality, and I enjoyed experiencing some of the authors which are on my insatiable to-do-list. I'll recap and review each story in the collection and decide just how much I enjoyed my first Wollheim-piloted collection.
-The book opens with the first of two religious stories, "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R. R. Martin. I was tired when reading this due to busy life events (hosting a concert, specifically), but it was still thoughtful and engaging. There's this man in the future who gets sent to dispel a religion which worships Judas on a faraway world, and the story ends up being a musing on the meaning and potential worthlessness of religion. It's well-written and thematic and I'm looking forward to reading more Martin soon with *Nightflyers*, but for now, he gets an 8/10 from me.
-"The Thirteenth Utopia" by Somtow Sucharitkul (the closest thing to a "World SF" author in here) is a complimentary story in which an inquestor is sent to a planet which claims that it is a utopia. The main character's job is find the utopia's fatal flaw and destroy it, but first, he must understand what all these black boxes "of the sun" are really for. The end of the story turns his assumptions on his head, which is always nice to see, and I see this story as being both more pro-religion and more exotic than its compatriot reviewed above. I love a good religious story so this is probably my favorite one in here; it gets an 8.5/10, and I'll keep an eye out for his books.
-"Options" by John Varley is distinctly less religious in that it's about a world with instant sex change availability. There's this woman - a new mother - who becomes intrigued with the thought even though her husband is not. If you're pro-sex-change (unless you view Varley's philosophy as understandably outdated) you will find this liberating, and if you're not you will find this chilling. My favorite part is that it looked at what the ramifications of a parental sex change might have on their children. I would've enjoyed this element more of it had been followed through with, but as with the Varley novella I read earlier this month, his ending is a bit wimpy and sidesteps any impactful thematic stance. Overall, still an 8/10.
-Orson Scott Card stories get even better with a little distance, and "Unaccompanied Sonata" is no different. It takes place in a world where prodigies are assigned roles by the state, and disobeying their rules can end in harsh consequences. The title is great as this story is about a musical prodigy, and the more I think about this story, the more impactful it is; kind of like *Speaker For the Dead,* *Treason,* and *Red Prophet*. An 8/10 that may deserve a little higher than that.
-Richard Wilson's "The Story Writer" is where the collection started to lose me a little. It's about this guy who sat at a typewriter and wrote stories for flea-market-goers. It seems that everything he writes about comes true, and when a shadowy man asks for a story, he creates this epic saga about an alternate human race that inhabits our Earth but in an out-of-phase dimension. I liked the prose and thought it was clever, but there's no real meat that I expect to stick with me. 7.5/10.
-Connie Willis' "Daisy In the Sun" didn't do it for me. Willis is a good enough writer, but it didn't have anything cool going on until the end, when the nature of the reality experienced is revealed, and until then it was an adolescent girl refusing to grow up and... accept that she was growing into a sexual being? Maybe Willis was trying to say something, but I don't have time for it. 6/10.
-"The Locusts" by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes was fun, though. A group of colonists lands on a planet that they must terraform - exploration and colonization are always fun to me - but soon discover that the children they're having are inexplicably stunted. It has some really interesting and big-picture comparisons of humanity to the titular creature, and it was intriguing. 8/10.
-I hear a lot about Tanith Lee from the Outlaw Bookseller, so I was excited for "The Thaw," a story where a starving artist is paid for acclimating her many-greats-grandmother to the future world after generations spent in cryosleep. Her grandmother is seemingly off-kilter, though, and this story gets a bit weird and dark. I have similar thoughts about it to "Daisy in the Sun," even though it is slightly more compelling. 6.5/10.
-"Out There Where the Big Ships Go" is my first Richard Cowper, which was exciting. There's this little boy who tours the world with his mother as she competes in "The Game," an alien game brought back to Earth by the one man who made contact with said aliens. That man is now the Master and reigning champion of the game. The story is well written and has a smile-pulling ending and was nice. Not terribly memorable or thematic, but good enough for a 7.5/10.
-At first "Can These Bones Live?" by Ted Reynolds was shaping up to be the first full-on dud of the collection, but the last few pages (in which Earth's last remaining woman makes contact with ) were really good. I'd say it evens out to another 7.5/10.
-Finally, "The Extraordinary Voyages of Amelie Bertrand" by Joanna Russ, a somewhat charming and somewhat insignificant Jules Verne pastiche in which a man stumbles across a train which, at a certain time, teleports its passenger(s) into a random area and time of the world. He is caught up to speed by Bertand, a frequent teleporter. It's nice, but a little forgettable? 7/10.
If we take all these individual scores and average them out, we get exactly 7.5, so I suppose that this book will get a very strong three star rating and a numerical value of 7.5/10. I believe this collection deserves a little more recognition that just three stars, but it's really only got five stories that I'll definitely hold onto. Other upsides to this collection is that they're all well-written and that it exposed me to some authors that I need to read more of to bone up my SF cred. Thankfully I just bought the 1987 edition of this series two months ago, and I imagine I'll be reading that this year too. Otherwise, I've got a ton more science fiction to read, so I'll take my bow. You should go read some SF too, unless - of course - you'd like to read more high-quality science fiction book reviews. Whatever you do, enjoy it. :)
-The book opens with the first of two religious stories, "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R. R. Martin. I was tired when reading this due to busy life events (hosting a concert, specifically), but it was still thoughtful and engaging. There's this man in the future who gets sent to dispel a religion which worships Judas on a faraway world, and the story ends up being a musing on the meaning and potential worthlessness of religion. It's well-written and thematic and I'm looking forward to reading more Martin soon with *Nightflyers*, but for now, he gets an 8/10 from me.
-"The Thirteenth Utopia" by Somtow Sucharitkul (the closest thing to a "World SF" author in here) is a complimentary story in which an inquestor is sent to a planet which claims that it is a utopia. The main character's job is find the utopia's fatal flaw and destroy it, but first, he must understand what all these black boxes "of the sun" are really for. The end of the story turns his assumptions on his head, which is always nice to see, and I see this story as being both more pro-religion and more exotic than its compatriot reviewed above. I love a good religious story so this is probably my favorite one in here; it gets an 8.5/10, and I'll keep an eye out for his books.
-"Options" by John Varley is distinctly less religious in that it's about a world with instant sex change availability. There's this woman - a new mother - who becomes intrigued with the thought even though her husband is not. If you're pro-sex-change (unless you view Varley's philosophy as understandably outdated) you will find this liberating, and if you're not you will find this chilling. My favorite part is that it looked at what the ramifications of a parental sex change might have on their children. I would've enjoyed this element more of it had been followed through with, but as with the Varley novella I read earlier this month, his ending is a bit wimpy and sidesteps any impactful thematic stance. Overall, still an 8/10.
-Orson Scott Card stories get even better with a little distance, and "Unaccompanied Sonata" is no different. It takes place in a world where prodigies are assigned roles by the state, and disobeying their rules can end in harsh consequences. The title is great as this story is about a musical prodigy, and the more I think about this story, the more impactful it is; kind of like *Speaker For the Dead,* *Treason,* and *Red Prophet*. An 8/10 that may deserve a little higher than that.
-Richard Wilson's "The Story Writer" is where the collection started to lose me a little. It's about this guy who sat at a typewriter and wrote stories for flea-market-goers. It seems that everything he writes about comes true, and when a shadowy man asks for a story, he creates this epic saga about an alternate human race that inhabits our Earth but in an out-of-phase dimension. I liked the prose and thought it was clever, but there's no real meat that I expect to stick with me. 7.5/10.
-Connie Willis' "Daisy In the Sun" didn't do it for me. Willis is a good enough writer, but it didn't have anything cool going on until the end, when the nature of the reality experienced is revealed, and until then it was an adolescent girl refusing to grow up and... accept that she was growing into a sexual being? Maybe Willis was trying to say something, but I don't have time for it. 6/10.
-"The Locusts" by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes was fun, though. A group of colonists lands on a planet that they must terraform - exploration and colonization are always fun to me - but soon discover that the children they're having are inexplicably stunted. It has some really interesting and big-picture comparisons of humanity to the titular creature, and it was intriguing. 8/10.
-I hear a lot about Tanith Lee from the Outlaw Bookseller, so I was excited for "The Thaw," a story where a starving artist is paid for acclimating her many-greats-grandmother to the future world after generations spent in cryosleep. Her grandmother is seemingly off-kilter, though, and this story gets a bit weird and dark. I have similar thoughts about it to "Daisy in the Sun," even though it is slightly more compelling. 6.5/10.
-"Out There Where the Big Ships Go" is my first Richard Cowper, which was exciting. There's this little boy who tours the world with his mother as she competes in "The Game," an alien game brought back to Earth by the one man who made contact with said aliens. That man is now the Master and reigning champion of the game. The story is well written and has a smile-pulling ending and was nice. Not terribly memorable or thematic, but good enough for a 7.5/10.
-At first "Can These Bones Live?" by Ted Reynolds was shaping up to be the first full-on dud of the collection, but the last few pages (in which Earth's last remaining woman makes contact with ) were really good. I'd say it evens out to another 7.5/10.
-Finally, "The Extraordinary Voyages of Amelie Bertrand" by Joanna Russ, a somewhat charming and somewhat insignificant Jules Verne pastiche in which a man stumbles across a train which, at a certain time, teleports its passenger(s) into a random area and time of the world. He is caught up to speed by Bertand, a frequent teleporter. It's nice, but a little forgettable? 7/10.
If we take all these individual scores and average them out, we get exactly 7.5, so I suppose that this book will get a very strong three star rating and a numerical value of 7.5/10. I believe this collection deserves a little more recognition that just three stars, but it's really only got five stories that I'll definitely hold onto. Other upsides to this collection is that they're all well-written and that it exposed me to some authors that I need to read more of to bone up my SF cred. Thankfully I just bought the 1987 edition of this series two months ago, and I imagine I'll be reading that this year too. Otherwise, I've got a ton more science fiction to read, so I'll take my bow. You should go read some SF too, unless - of course - you'd like to read more high-quality science fiction book reviews. Whatever you do, enjoy it. :)
August 25, 2016
Occasionally I come across a library book that I consider stealing. Now, I want to make quite clear that I have never stolen a book from a public library and do not condone stealing books from libraries. In fact, I think people who steal stuff from public libraries should be shot. But still I can't help at times be tempted. This is such a book to trigger tempting thoughts of theft.
1979 was apparently a banner year in science fiction because this anthology is amazing. The only low point (and it really wasn't so very low) was the last story -- an affectionate Jules Verne pastiche. The other stories made me feel as if I was caught up in different worlds or different times than my own. The stories dealt with some heavy themes but in an entirely believable and not too heavy-handed a way. A feather-light touch at times, such as in the oft-anthologized "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R. R. Martin or "The Locusts" by Larry Niven and another guy whose name I forget. Some were more heavy handed but rarely did I feel as if I was getting preached at.
I want to single out "Unaccompanied Sonata" not only because it is creepy and memorable but also vividly describes why music is so important to people. I thought I knew why music was important to me but after reading this I feel as if it was the first day in school for how to describe my feelings.
Another thing I really appreciated was that these eleven stories were easy to understand. Science fiction in the 1970s can be really confusing. You sometimes need a degree in rocket science in order to read about fictional rocket science. I like intelligent fiction but I don't want to be made to feel like a moron while reading it. I'm funny that way.
1979 was apparently a banner year in science fiction because this anthology is amazing. The only low point (and it really wasn't so very low) was the last story -- an affectionate Jules Verne pastiche. The other stories made me feel as if I was caught up in different worlds or different times than my own. The stories dealt with some heavy themes but in an entirely believable and not too heavy-handed a way. A feather-light touch at times, such as in the oft-anthologized "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R. R. Martin or "The Locusts" by Larry Niven and another guy whose name I forget. Some were more heavy handed but rarely did I feel as if I was getting preached at.
I want to single out "Unaccompanied Sonata" not only because it is creepy and memorable but also vividly describes why music is so important to people. I thought I knew why music was important to me but after reading this I feel as if it was the first day in school for how to describe my feelings.
Another thing I really appreciated was that these eleven stories were easy to understand. Science fiction in the 1970s can be really confusing. You sometimes need a degree in rocket science in order to read about fictional rocket science. I like intelligent fiction but I don't want to be made to feel like a moron while reading it. I'm funny that way.
June 14, 2019
I'm not a huge fan of "hard" sci fi, so my review is probably a little biased. Then again, most readers of hard sci fi might say that's not that this is. Regardless, it is an entertaining volume of stories. Some really good authors contributed to this one, and some of the stories are very good. Some of them just didn't do it for me. This one was hard for me to rate because as I stated this isn't my usual genre, but it was well worth a read and I don't regret giving it a try. I would be open to reading more volumes of this type in the future.
June 29, 2023
Best annual SF series ever. Might not agree with every story, but its what was there when. With the universe of sf, its hard to read everything. But beats reality hands down. Back then we said SF was for people who can't handle reality. Reality was for people who can't handle sf. And Rick, I lost them all. And you were right, A decent SF collection would save you from alpha and beta emissions in a nuclear war......
July 8, 2020
Again, like the others in this series, some stories are very good to good but most are on the verge of terrible.
November 24, 2025
Another excellent collection of short stories. This one has a focus on humanity and utopia and many stories that cross into both of these ideas, and all I found to be worthwhile.
November 26, 2022
It has been quite a while since I read this sort of anthology, though I read them all the time as a teen. It gave me a sense of nostalgia when I started, but that eventually gave way to annoyance. The stories are well-written and memorable (I actually remember reading one of them in a different collection 20+ years ago) but almost all of them were some variation of “let’s imagine a world in which Christianity and/or sexuality and/or the nuclear family has evolved away from the pathetically narrow-minded present.” I don’t know if that was the prevailing theme of late-70’s/early-80’s sci-fi or just the editor’s pet theme. After a while it just kind of felt preachy.
October 27, 2016
What this collection demonstrates best for me was how much the science fiction genre was in need of new life at this point. These stories are not bad but a half of them are just rehashing past glories whilst the other half are willing to push out into new areas:
The Way of the Cross and the Dragon by George RR Martin: This is well written but a really sententious anti-religious tract, a path that had been so well trodden by this point it was practically worn away.
The Thirteenth Utopia by S. P. Somtow: Interestingly this uses a very similar concept to the prior story but is much more morally ambiguous and reflexive tale. As such much better in my opinion
Options by John Varley: At the time this would have seemed very interesting but gender roles had been explored much more interestingly by better feminist writers in the 70s and the concept is now very problematic.
Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card: The usual "genius" narrative and heavy moralising. Not much of interest to me.
The Story Writer by Richard Wilson: A touch of interesting narrative experimentation but doesn't quite have the skill to pull it off.
Daisy, In The Sun by Connie Willis: Easily the bright star (pun intended) of the collection. It is beautiful, emotional and extremely clever. Obvious she was destined to have an incredible career ahead of her.
The Locusts by Niven and Barnes: Not a bad story technically and a solid concept but nothing dazzling. Definitely midrange.
The Thaw by Tanith Lee: Quite an innovative use cryogenics and look at how society changes.
Out There Where the Big Ships Go by Richard Cowper: An interesting idea but not one that really stuck with me.
Can These Bones Live? by Ted Reynolds: A strong beginning and a strong end but it really dragged in the middle for me.
The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand by Joanna Russ: Supposedly a homage to Jules Verne but it is much more than a pastiche. Rather a very modern type of Gaslight Fantasy which asks interesting questions.
The Way of the Cross and the Dragon by George RR Martin: This is well written but a really sententious anti-religious tract, a path that had been so well trodden by this point it was practically worn away.
The Thirteenth Utopia by S. P. Somtow: Interestingly this uses a very similar concept to the prior story but is much more morally ambiguous and reflexive tale. As such much better in my opinion
Options by John Varley: At the time this would have seemed very interesting but gender roles had been explored much more interestingly by better feminist writers in the 70s and the concept is now very problematic.
Unaccompanied Sonata by Orson Scott Card: The usual "genius" narrative and heavy moralising. Not much of interest to me.
The Story Writer by Richard Wilson: A touch of interesting narrative experimentation but doesn't quite have the skill to pull it off.
Daisy, In The Sun by Connie Willis: Easily the bright star (pun intended) of the collection. It is beautiful, emotional and extremely clever. Obvious she was destined to have an incredible career ahead of her.
The Locusts by Niven and Barnes: Not a bad story technically and a solid concept but nothing dazzling. Definitely midrange.
The Thaw by Tanith Lee: Quite an innovative use cryogenics and look at how society changes.
Out There Where the Big Ships Go by Richard Cowper: An interesting idea but not one that really stuck with me.
Can These Bones Live? by Ted Reynolds: A strong beginning and a strong end but it really dragged in the middle for me.
The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand by Joanna Russ: Supposedly a homage to Jules Verne but it is much more than a pastiche. Rather a very modern type of Gaslight Fantasy which asks interesting questions.
June 2, 2009
I would pick up these annuals as I found them as their content was generally pretty good. This was read during the 1983/84 winter break from school.
September 17, 2017
This was a lot of fun to read. It was full of interesting and thought provoking stories. The story by George R. R. Martin was a really fun surprise too. I don't normally read short stories but I'm really happy I picked this book up.
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