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The Best Science Fiction of the Year 8
Contents:
Introduction - Terry Carr - in
The Barbie Murders - John Varley - nv IASFM Jan/Feb ’78
A Hiss of Dragon - Gregory Benford & Marc Laidlaw - nv Omni Dec ’78
Black Glass - Fritz Leiber - nv Andromeda 3, ed. Peter Weston, London: Futura, 1978
To Bring in the Steel - Donald Kingsbury - nv Analog Jul ’78
The Very Slow Time Machine - Ian Watson - nv Anticipations, ed. Christopher Priest, Scribner’s, 1978
Devil You Don’t Know - Dean Ing - nv Analog Jan ’78
Count the Clock That Tells the Time - Harlan Ellison - ss Omni Dec ’78
View from a Height - Joan D. Vinge - ss Analog Jun ’78
The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck - Hilbert Schenck - nv F&SF Sep ’78
Vermeer’s Window - Gordon Eklund - ss Universe 8, ed. Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1978
The Man Who Had No Idea - Thomas M. Disch - nv F&SF Oct ’78
Death Therapy - James Patrick Kelly - nv F&SF Jul ’78
Recommended Reading—1978 - Terry Carr - bi
The Science Fiction Year - Charles N. Brown - ar
Introduction - Terry Carr - in
The Barbie Murders - John Varley - nv IASFM Jan/Feb ’78
A Hiss of Dragon - Gregory Benford & Marc Laidlaw - nv Omni Dec ’78
Black Glass - Fritz Leiber - nv Andromeda 3, ed. Peter Weston, London: Futura, 1978
To Bring in the Steel - Donald Kingsbury - nv Analog Jul ’78
The Very Slow Time Machine - Ian Watson - nv Anticipations, ed. Christopher Priest, Scribner’s, 1978
Devil You Don’t Know - Dean Ing - nv Analog Jan ’78
Count the Clock That Tells the Time - Harlan Ellison - ss Omni Dec ’78
View from a Height - Joan D. Vinge - ss Analog Jun ’78
The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck - Hilbert Schenck - nv F&SF Sep ’78
Vermeer’s Window - Gordon Eklund - ss Universe 8, ed. Terry Carr, Doubleday, 1978
The Man Who Had No Idea - Thomas M. Disch - nv F&SF Oct ’78
Death Therapy - James Patrick Kelly - nv F&SF Jul ’78
Recommended Reading—1978 - Terry Carr - bi
The Science Fiction Year - Charles N. Brown - ar
372 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
About the author
Terry Carr
202 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 5, 2022
Sometimes, when I watch Stranger Things or other 80s period pieces, or when I’m feeling frustrated about the job market or the general state of things gestures broadly, I wish I was born a couple decades earlier. Then I read a book like The Best Science Fiction of the Year #8 and that wish dissipates. Like the last science fiction collection I read from decades past, The 1988 Annual World’s Best SF, it’s probably the title I take umbrage with, as the stories (at least, most of them) aren’t terrible, but it’s just... irresponsible.
The Barbie Murders
They drew new components from the walking wounded of society, the people who had not done well in a world that preached conformity, passivity, and tolerance of your billions of neighbors, yet rewarded only those who were individualistic and aggressive enough to stand apart from the herd.
A strong start for the collection. Classic SF; “what would the ramifications for society be if x were true?” where x is “everyone looks and acts, or attempts to act, exactly the same”. It has a noir detective slant, with a protagonist that it seems the author put effort into developing to be more than a plot delivery device. Still felt amateurish at times. 4/5
A Hiss of Dragon
Science fiction in the way that Dragonriders of Pern is science fiction, i.e., only by technicality and not really. Felt less like a short story and more like a chapter from a book, but it wasn’t interesting enough for me to find out. 2/5
Black Glass
I’d reached the age where the rest of life is mostly downhill and more and more alone, when you know that what you haven’t gotten already you most likely will never get - or be able to enjoy if you do
Written in that pretentious, near-impenetrable style of Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation. I would have DNF’d this if it weren’t a short story. Author had an obnoxious tendency to describe things not as they were, but not altogether as they were not. I was aware of a not altogether pleasant change, not an unpleasant change. I noted that oddly but not unpleasantly jarring feature, not that pleasantly jarring feature. I was not altogether surprised to find the scene around me altered still further, not unsurprised to find the scene altered. Those three examples occur over two pages. Absolutely disgusting. 1/5
To Bring in the Steel
”Men make me sick,” she said. She took his hand and held it against her breast. “That’s soft! How can you call that a weapon? How can I respect creatures who fall apart when they are smiled at?”
This one is interesting. Feminists would probably harangue it for misogyny, because one of the main characters is a high-class hooker (complete with pimp), but it passes both the Bechdel and the sexy lamp tests, and the hooker turns into a systems engineer and productive member of an asteroid crew? Idk, I thought it was neat.
On the other hand, the writing was pretty bad at points.
They had given him one small out, a sop to his ego probably - a fatal error, that. He could have her - if he could find someone to take care of her. They didn’t think he could do it. He smiled, not trying to force his face into pleasant lines. He smiled for himself. They didn’t know how much power he really had.
Like, “this is the reason science fiction was still in the literary ghetto in the 70s” bad.
”They know they need him! What the hell!” roared Roy.
3/5
The Very Slow Time Machine
The only thing slower than the time machine in this story, was this story. I remember almost nothing, save the weird cult ending. 1/5
Devil You Don’t Know
The first story about psychic abilities I can remember enjoying, and the first story about mental institutions that didn’t feel worn out. Another one that would probably irk the feminists; it also passes the Bechdel and sexy lamp tests, even though one of the characters is, in fact, a sexy lamp. 4/5
Count the Clock That Tells the Time
Ian Ross had lived his life like the dust that lay in a film across the unseen top of the tall, wardrobe cabinet in his bedroom: colorless, unnoticed, inarticulate, neither giving nor taking.
The blurb ahead of the story explains that Harlan Ellison wrote this story in the lobby of the 1978 World Science Fiction Convention in Phoenix, taping each page to the wall as it was finished. It certainly belongs in a book called “The Best Science Fiction Written at a Science Fiction Convention”, but on its own, it feels like a gimmick.
Plus, I disagree with the central thesis. Some people are small people and are content in their smallness. The protagonist of The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol is one that immediately comes to mind. I, probably, am another. Who is Ellison to deny people their contentment? 2/5
View From a Height
When you confront the absolute indifference of magnitudes and vistas so overwhelming, the swollen ego of your self-important suffering is diminished...
This story affected me so little I completely forgot it was a part of this collection. It’s a journal, but given all the angst you’d assume it belonged to a teenager rather than the 40something woman who is the actual protagonist. 2/5, but only because I’m trying to be empathetic to the fact that this is probably someone’s niche.
The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck
”Now my daddy always said there was just three kinds: plain lies; mean, dirty, awful lies, and what’s in the Congressional Record.”
On the one hand, the story reads like the author thoroughly researched the period (1892) to create something genuine. On the other hand, the pseudoscience and made-up words had me rolling my eyes. I found the period piece more interesting than the science fiction, which says a lot about the writing of the period piece (and the science fiction). 3/5
Vermeer’s Window
Another one that is only science fiction by a technicality. Felt more like magical realism. Would have been better as magical realism; instead of shoehorning in the technological explanation in the beginning, a more esoteric explanation would have fit in with the soft, pastel feel of the story. 2/5
The Man Who Had No Idea
A successful revolution isn’t possible until the proletariat becomes conscious of their oppressions, and they can’t become conscious of anything until they are as articulate as their oppressors. Language and consciousness aren’t independent processes, after all. Talking is thinking turned inside out.
What would society be like if you couldn’t converse in public without a license acquired through rigorous oral exam? I suppose it was written pretty well, because I mostly didn’t think about the writing - and I felt things (annoyance, amusement, etc.) at the times I suppose the author wanted me to feel them.
It was a plain, pleasant one-and-a-half-room apartment that anyone could have lived in and almost everyone did, with potted plants to emphasize the available sunlight and pictures representing various vanished luxuries on the wall, the common range of furniture from aspiring to makeshift, and enough ordinary debris to suggest a life being carried on, with normative difficulty, among these carefully cultivated neutralities.
Now there’s some writing. And there was even some poetry which I didn’t hate:
Aubade
I was sorry to hear
That you’ve got to be going.
But you’re not?
Then I’m sorry to hear that.
The Big Idea wasn’t that interesting, but the story was well-written, which makes it the high point of this collection. 5/5
Death Therapy
Meh. Might be good as a movie. 2/5
The Barbie Murders
They drew new components from the walking wounded of society, the people who had not done well in a world that preached conformity, passivity, and tolerance of your billions of neighbors, yet rewarded only those who were individualistic and aggressive enough to stand apart from the herd.
A strong start for the collection. Classic SF; “what would the ramifications for society be if x were true?” where x is “everyone looks and acts, or attempts to act, exactly the same”. It has a noir detective slant, with a protagonist that it seems the author put effort into developing to be more than a plot delivery device. Still felt amateurish at times. 4/5
A Hiss of Dragon
Science fiction in the way that Dragonriders of Pern is science fiction, i.e., only by technicality and not really. Felt less like a short story and more like a chapter from a book, but it wasn’t interesting enough for me to find out. 2/5
Black Glass
I’d reached the age where the rest of life is mostly downhill and more and more alone, when you know that what you haven’t gotten already you most likely will never get - or be able to enjoy if you do
Written in that pretentious, near-impenetrable style of Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation. I would have DNF’d this if it weren’t a short story. Author had an obnoxious tendency to describe things not as they were, but not altogether as they were not. I was aware of a not altogether pleasant change, not an unpleasant change. I noted that oddly but not unpleasantly jarring feature, not that pleasantly jarring feature. I was not altogether surprised to find the scene around me altered still further, not unsurprised to find the scene altered. Those three examples occur over two pages. Absolutely disgusting. 1/5
To Bring in the Steel
”Men make me sick,” she said. She took his hand and held it against her breast. “That’s soft! How can you call that a weapon? How can I respect creatures who fall apart when they are smiled at?”
This one is interesting. Feminists would probably harangue it for misogyny, because one of the main characters is a high-class hooker (complete with pimp), but it passes both the Bechdel and the sexy lamp tests, and the hooker turns into a systems engineer and productive member of an asteroid crew? Idk, I thought it was neat.
On the other hand, the writing was pretty bad at points.
They had given him one small out, a sop to his ego probably - a fatal error, that. He could have her - if he could find someone to take care of her. They didn’t think he could do it. He smiled, not trying to force his face into pleasant lines. He smiled for himself. They didn’t know how much power he really had.
Like, “this is the reason science fiction was still in the literary ghetto in the 70s” bad.
”They know they need him! What the hell!” roared Roy.
3/5
The Very Slow Time Machine
The only thing slower than the time machine in this story, was this story. I remember almost nothing, save the weird cult ending. 1/5
Devil You Don’t Know
The first story about psychic abilities I can remember enjoying, and the first story about mental institutions that didn’t feel worn out. Another one that would probably irk the feminists; it also passes the Bechdel and sexy lamp tests, even though one of the characters is, in fact, a sexy lamp. 4/5
Count the Clock That Tells the Time
Ian Ross had lived his life like the dust that lay in a film across the unseen top of the tall, wardrobe cabinet in his bedroom: colorless, unnoticed, inarticulate, neither giving nor taking.
The blurb ahead of the story explains that Harlan Ellison wrote this story in the lobby of the 1978 World Science Fiction Convention in Phoenix, taping each page to the wall as it was finished. It certainly belongs in a book called “The Best Science Fiction Written at a Science Fiction Convention”, but on its own, it feels like a gimmick.
Plus, I disagree with the central thesis. Some people are small people and are content in their smallness. The protagonist of The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol is one that immediately comes to mind. I, probably, am another. Who is Ellison to deny people their contentment? 2/5
View From a Height
When you confront the absolute indifference of magnitudes and vistas so overwhelming, the swollen ego of your self-important suffering is diminished...
This story affected me so little I completely forgot it was a part of this collection. It’s a journal, but given all the angst you’d assume it belonged to a teenager rather than the 40something woman who is the actual protagonist. 2/5, but only because I’m trying to be empathetic to the fact that this is probably someone’s niche.
The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck
”Now my daddy always said there was just three kinds: plain lies; mean, dirty, awful lies, and what’s in the Congressional Record.”
On the one hand, the story reads like the author thoroughly researched the period (1892) to create something genuine. On the other hand, the pseudoscience and made-up words had me rolling my eyes. I found the period piece more interesting than the science fiction, which says a lot about the writing of the period piece (and the science fiction). 3/5
Vermeer’s Window
Another one that is only science fiction by a technicality. Felt more like magical realism. Would have been better as magical realism; instead of shoehorning in the technological explanation in the beginning, a more esoteric explanation would have fit in with the soft, pastel feel of the story. 2/5
The Man Who Had No Idea
A successful revolution isn’t possible until the proletariat becomes conscious of their oppressions, and they can’t become conscious of anything until they are as articulate as their oppressors. Language and consciousness aren’t independent processes, after all. Talking is thinking turned inside out.
What would society be like if you couldn’t converse in public without a license acquired through rigorous oral exam? I suppose it was written pretty well, because I mostly didn’t think about the writing - and I felt things (annoyance, amusement, etc.) at the times I suppose the author wanted me to feel them.
It was a plain, pleasant one-and-a-half-room apartment that anyone could have lived in and almost everyone did, with potted plants to emphasize the available sunlight and pictures representing various vanished luxuries on the wall, the common range of furniture from aspiring to makeshift, and enough ordinary debris to suggest a life being carried on, with normative difficulty, among these carefully cultivated neutralities.
Now there’s some writing. And there was even some poetry which I didn’t hate:
Aubade
I was sorry to hear
That you’ve got to be going.
But you’re not?
Then I’m sorry to hear that.
The Big Idea wasn’t that interesting, but the story was well-written, which makes it the high point of this collection. 5/5
Death Therapy
Meh. Might be good as a movie. 2/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2026
Part of the charm of these sf story collections is finding the gems among the mediocre dribble.
In this case that gem is The Man Who Had No Idea by Thomas M. Disch.
It's a story about a society in which you've got to have a permit to have a conversation with other people. In order to turn his temporary permit into a permanent one, Barry Riordan has to get three recommendations from people who already have a permit.
It's an kafkaesque tale about communication and control in an oppressive and flawed system. Elegantly written, this is easily the best story in this uneven collection.
In this case that gem is The Man Who Had No Idea by Thomas M. Disch.
It's a story about a society in which you've got to have a permit to have a conversation with other people. In order to turn his temporary permit into a permanent one, Barry Riordan has to get three recommendations from people who already have a permit.
It's an kafkaesque tale about communication and control in an oppressive and flawed system. Elegantly written, this is easily the best story in this uneven collection.
August 14, 2021
A lot of these don’t stand the test of time very well, unfortunately. The Joan D. Vinge story was my favorite. It has inspired me to re-read one of my favorites, The House of Stairs by Barbara Vine, which also features a protagonist with Huntington’s.
September 25, 2023
Still fascinated that in the late 70s, the far future held many wonders...but still had land lines, malls and newspapers. Writing has come a long way.
Want to Read
May 30, 202612 stories:
(1/12 read)
**** The Barbie Murders • John Varley
A Hiss of Dragon • Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw
Black Glass • Fritz Leiber
To Bring in the Steel • Donald Kingsbury
The Very Slow Time Machine • Ian Watson
Devil You Don't Know • Dean Ing
Count the Clock That Tells the Time • Harlan Ellison
View from a Height • Joan D. Vinge
The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck • Hilbert Schenck
Vermeer's Window • Gordon Eklund
The Man Who Had No Idea • Thomas M. Disch
Death Therapy • James Patrick Kelly
12 stories and novelettes from 1978. Of a set with Carr's companion anthology, "Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year 1."
(1/12 read)
**** The Barbie Murders • John Varley
A Hiss of Dragon • Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw
Black Glass • Fritz Leiber
To Bring in the Steel • Donald Kingsbury
The Very Slow Time Machine • Ian Watson
Devil You Don't Know • Dean Ing
Count the Clock That Tells the Time • Harlan Ellison
View from a Height • Joan D. Vinge
The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck • Hilbert Schenck
Vermeer's Window • Gordon Eklund
The Man Who Had No Idea • Thomas M. Disch
Death Therapy • James Patrick Kelly
12 stories and novelettes from 1978. Of a set with Carr's companion anthology, "Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year 1."
Read
August 22, 2008The Best Science Fiction of the Year #8 by TERRY CARR (1979)
Read
May 16, 20131/8/12: "The Very Slow Time Machine" (1978) by Ian Watson
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews