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The Best Science Fiction of the Year 3
Ballantine Del Rey, 1974. Mass market paperback. There were two 1974 (silver cover) and 1976 (purple cover). Includes introduction and "honorable mentions" list from editor Terry Carr, plus the following
“Something Up There Likes Me” by Alfred Bester
"The World As Will and Wallpaper” by R. A. Lafferty
"Breckenridge and the Continuum” by Robert Silverberg
"Rumfuddle” by Jack Vance
"Tell Me All About Yourself” by F. M. Busby
"The Deathbird” by Harlan Ellison
"Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand” by Vonda N. McIntyre
"The Death of Dr. Island” by Gene Wolfe
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
"Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind” by Philip José Farmer
"The Women Men Don't See” by James Tiptree, Jr.
“Something Up There Likes Me” by Alfred Bester
"The World As Will and Wallpaper” by R. A. Lafferty
"Breckenridge and the Continuum” by Robert Silverberg
"Rumfuddle” by Jack Vance
"Tell Me All About Yourself” by F. M. Busby
"The Deathbird” by Harlan Ellison
"Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand” by Vonda N. McIntyre
"The Death of Dr. Island” by Gene Wolfe
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
"Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind” by Philip José Farmer
"The Women Men Don't See” by James Tiptree, Jr.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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51 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
September 5, 2019
-Con alguna salvedad, y en conjunto, antología por encima de la media.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Las ruinas de mi cerebro (publicación original: The Best Science Fiction of the Year 3, 1974) es una antología de trabajos cortos de ciencia ficción seleccionados por Terry Carr entre los publicados en 1973 y que, en esta edición en español, ofrece solo seis de los once trabajos del original.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Las ruinas de mi cerebro (publicación original: The Best Science Fiction of the Year 3, 1974) es una antología de trabajos cortos de ciencia ficción seleccionados por Terry Carr entre los publicados en 1973 y que, en esta edición en español, ofrece solo seis de los once trabajos del original.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
June 17, 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). 1974 was the third year that each edited their own volume, with their picks of the best of 1973. One story appears in both, The Deathbird by Harlan Ellison. I preferred Carr's book again this year, though both are excellent. Carr has good stories from Alfred Bester, R.A. Lafferty, F.M. Busby, and Philip Jose Farmer, and great stories by James Tiptree, Jr. (The Women Men Don't See), Ursula K. LeGuin (The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas), Gene Wolfe (The Death of Doctor Island), Vonda N. McIntyre (Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand), Jack Vance (Rumfuddle), and Robert Silverberg (Breckenridge and the Continuum). 1973 was a great year for the field!
October 12, 2025
This was a lucky find at the thrift store. I'd previously read Terry Carr's story, "They Live On Levels", a prime example of trippy early 70's psychedelic era sci-fi. The mind bending brilliance of that story is reflected in some of his choices for the stories in this anthology that he edited. Though Carr chose not to include any of his own stories in the collection, most of the stories have a similar reality warping quality that would fit nicely side by side with Carr's "They Live On Levels". Most of the stories in this collection are great, only one story that I flat out didn't like, and another one that was ok but not very memorable. A few were re-reads for me, and they happened to be stories that were worth revisiting.
The opening story, "Someone Up There Likes Me", but Alfred Bester, develops interesting ideas about the possibilities of AI and what may happen if it were to become sentient. The story presents a topic that is widely discussed in the present day, but published back in 1973. It's an intriguing story of a computer system on a satellite developing a mind of it's own.
There's a lot of great stories in this collection that involve alternate realities, enclosed artificial worlds, or the alteration of time. RA Lafferty's "The World as Will And Wallpaper", Robert Silverberg's "Breckenridge And The Continuum", Jack Vance's "Rumfuddle", Gene Wolf's "The Death Of Island", and Phillips Jose Farmer's "Sketches Among The Ruins Of My Mind, all show the shifting in the genre of science fiction at that time towards content that explored the nature of reality itself.
Vonda N McIntyre's "Of Mist, And Grass, And Sand," was a major highlight. Though more of a fantasy that sci-fi, it describes a world of nomadic desert dwellers. In this world, sometimes medicine is practiced through a form of shamanism that involves snakes. The characters in this story, along with the descriptions of the shamanic rituals, were fascinating.
I was glad to have the opportunity to re-read Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", and Harland Ellison's "The Death Bird" in this collection. "Omelas" still maintains it's disturbing impact with each re-read, and "The Death Brid" remained as perplexing as the first time around.
"Tell Me About Yourself", by F.M Busby was a re-read I could have skipped. Still disgusting as the first time around when I read it in another anthology.
"The Women Men Don't See" by James Tiptree was alright, but it didn't really grab me, and it felt like a weak conclusion to the collection, compared to the other highlights. It's mostly a decent story of survival after a plane crash in the jungle that later takes a turn towards sci-fi, but I didn't think it all gelled together very well.
Overall, this collection is a good cross-section of stories, showing a time when sci-fi was learning to get weirder.
The opening story, "Someone Up There Likes Me", but Alfred Bester, develops interesting ideas about the possibilities of AI and what may happen if it were to become sentient. The story presents a topic that is widely discussed in the present day, but published back in 1973. It's an intriguing story of a computer system on a satellite developing a mind of it's own.
There's a lot of great stories in this collection that involve alternate realities, enclosed artificial worlds, or the alteration of time. RA Lafferty's "The World as Will And Wallpaper", Robert Silverberg's "Breckenridge And The Continuum", Jack Vance's "Rumfuddle", Gene Wolf's "The Death Of Island", and Phillips Jose Farmer's "Sketches Among The Ruins Of My Mind, all show the shifting in the genre of science fiction at that time towards content that explored the nature of reality itself.
Vonda N McIntyre's "Of Mist, And Grass, And Sand," was a major highlight. Though more of a fantasy that sci-fi, it describes a world of nomadic desert dwellers. In this world, sometimes medicine is practiced through a form of shamanism that involves snakes. The characters in this story, along with the descriptions of the shamanic rituals, were fascinating.
I was glad to have the opportunity to re-read Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", and Harland Ellison's "The Death Bird" in this collection. "Omelas" still maintains it's disturbing impact with each re-read, and "The Death Brid" remained as perplexing as the first time around.
"Tell Me About Yourself", by F.M Busby was a re-read I could have skipped. Still disgusting as the first time around when I read it in another anthology.
"The Women Men Don't See" by James Tiptree was alright, but it didn't really grab me, and it felt like a weak conclusion to the collection, compared to the other highlights. It's mostly a decent story of survival after a plane crash in the jungle that later takes a turn towards sci-fi, but I didn't think it all gelled together very well.
Overall, this collection is a good cross-section of stories, showing a time when sci-fi was learning to get weirder.
November 14, 2015
‘La ruinas de mi cerebro’ es una selección de relatos de ciencia ficción publicados en 1973, realizada por Terry Carr. Como toda antología, hay relatos mejores que otros, pero la media es bastante buena. Estos soy los seis cuentos incluidos en la recopilación:
La ruinas de mi cerebro, de Philip José Farmer. El protagonista se despierta un día creyendo que es miércoles, hasta que al recibir el periódico comprueba que en realidad es domingo. Acaba de perder cuatro días y no sabe cómo. Un objeto misterioso que orbita la tierra, apodado La Bola, parece ser el causante de que la población mundial haya perdido cuatro días de recuerdos. El relato está narrado en forma de diario por el protagonista, ya que cada día a la 1:00 de la madrugada, se pierden otros cuatro días, lo que le obliga a escribir sobre lo que le va sucediendo a él y a su familia. El mejor relato de la antología.
La muerte del Dr. Isla, de Gene Wolfe. Nicholas, Ignacio y Diane son tres pacientes que parecen estar internos en una especie de planeta psiquiátrico. Nick habla con el Dr. Isla, que parece ser la IA del planeta, la cual asume diferentes apariencias, como una ola o un mono. Nick tiene el cerebro dividido, Diane sufre estados catatónicos, e Ignacio es un psicópata. Extraño y confuso relato. Como siempre me pasa con Wolfe, creo que me estoy perdiendo cosas, no sé si porque Wolfe abusa de la confusión, o porque directamente no me he enterado. De todos modos, el cuento es interesante.
Los que se alejan de Omelas, de Ursula K. Le Guin. En Omelas se va a celebrar el Festival del Verano, con música y desfiles. Sus habitantes están alegres y felices. Pero Omelas guarda un secreto. En pocas páginas, Le Guin es capaz de dejar huella en el lector. Gran relato, todo un clásico.
Breckenridge y el continuum, de Robert Silverberg. Breckenridge está en el desierto con sus compañeros, a las puertas de una ciudad abandonada, en lo que parece una época antigua. A la vez, parece que también trabaja en Wall Street, en el siglo XX. Silverberg mezcla espacio y tiempo, en un relato a dos bandas, donde lo más interesante sucede en esa ciudad abandonada. Interesante.
El satélite travieso, de Alfred Bester. Este relato no me interesó nada, y ni siquiera lo terminé de leer. Muy flojo.
Las mujeres que los hombres no ven, de James Tiptree, Jr. Un avión se ha estrellado en Centroamérica, con dos hombres y dos mujeres a bordo. Parece una historia de supervivencia, hasta la última parte, donde aparece el elemento fantástico. Flojo.
La ruinas de mi cerebro, de Philip José Farmer. El protagonista se despierta un día creyendo que es miércoles, hasta que al recibir el periódico comprueba que en realidad es domingo. Acaba de perder cuatro días y no sabe cómo. Un objeto misterioso que orbita la tierra, apodado La Bola, parece ser el causante de que la población mundial haya perdido cuatro días de recuerdos. El relato está narrado en forma de diario por el protagonista, ya que cada día a la 1:00 de la madrugada, se pierden otros cuatro días, lo que le obliga a escribir sobre lo que le va sucediendo a él y a su familia. El mejor relato de la antología.
La muerte del Dr. Isla, de Gene Wolfe. Nicholas, Ignacio y Diane son tres pacientes que parecen estar internos en una especie de planeta psiquiátrico. Nick habla con el Dr. Isla, que parece ser la IA del planeta, la cual asume diferentes apariencias, como una ola o un mono. Nick tiene el cerebro dividido, Diane sufre estados catatónicos, e Ignacio es un psicópata. Extraño y confuso relato. Como siempre me pasa con Wolfe, creo que me estoy perdiendo cosas, no sé si porque Wolfe abusa de la confusión, o porque directamente no me he enterado. De todos modos, el cuento es interesante.
Los que se alejan de Omelas, de Ursula K. Le Guin. En Omelas se va a celebrar el Festival del Verano, con música y desfiles. Sus habitantes están alegres y felices. Pero Omelas guarda un secreto. En pocas páginas, Le Guin es capaz de dejar huella en el lector. Gran relato, todo un clásico.
Breckenridge y el continuum, de Robert Silverberg. Breckenridge está en el desierto con sus compañeros, a las puertas de una ciudad abandonada, en lo que parece una época antigua. A la vez, parece que también trabaja en Wall Street, en el siglo XX. Silverberg mezcla espacio y tiempo, en un relato a dos bandas, donde lo más interesante sucede en esa ciudad abandonada. Interesante.
El satélite travieso, de Alfred Bester. Este relato no me interesó nada, y ni siquiera lo terminé de leer. Muy flojo.
Las mujeres que los hombres no ven, de James Tiptree, Jr. Un avión se ha estrellado en Centroamérica, con dos hombres y dos mujeres a bordo. Parece una historia de supervivencia, hasta la última parte, donde aparece el elemento fantástico. Flojo.
October 18, 2024
2024 Book #35:
The Best Science Fiction of the Year #3 (1973), edited by Terry Carr
A solid collection of SF short stories, all originally published in the year 1973. In fact, this book has the rare distinction of containing no bad stories; each is skillfully composed and displays the paradigmatic qualities of its writer. If there’s something to fault this anthology for, it’s that some of the stories are a bit vague. This is especially notable in the highly allusive Wolfe and Silverberg selections, which are certainly intriguing and readable, but difficult to parse in terms of theme. You get the sense that these writers may have been trying a little too hard to be profound, and the effect is not always successful (maybe I just need to re-read them). The stories that I found most successful – those by Farmer, Tiptree, and Bester – do not feel pretentious at all, but manage to balance stylishness with a compelling story and scrutable (yet still often challenging) themes. The only one of these stories that I had heard of before was Le Guin’s, which is not really a story at all (more of a short, bare-bones thought experiment). It mostly works, but goes perhaps too far to the other extreme from the literary pretentions of Wolfe or Ellison. All of this is nitpicking, however. 1973 was clearly a great year for SF, and each of these tales offers something unique. Star-ratings below:
***** Philip José Farmer, “Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind”
***** James Tiptree Jr., “The Women Men Don’t See”
**** Alfred Bester, “Something Up There Likes Me”
**** R. A. Lafferty, “The World as Will and Wallpaper”
**** Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
**** Jack Vance, “Rumfuddle”
**** F. M. Busby, “Tell Me All About Yourself”
**** Gene Wolfe, “The Death of Dr. Island”
**** Vonda N. McIntyre, “Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand”
**** Robert Silverberg, “Breckenridge and the Continuum”
**** Harlan Ellison, “The Deathbird”
The Best Science Fiction of the Year #3 (1973), edited by Terry Carr
A solid collection of SF short stories, all originally published in the year 1973. In fact, this book has the rare distinction of containing no bad stories; each is skillfully composed and displays the paradigmatic qualities of its writer. If there’s something to fault this anthology for, it’s that some of the stories are a bit vague. This is especially notable in the highly allusive Wolfe and Silverberg selections, which are certainly intriguing and readable, but difficult to parse in terms of theme. You get the sense that these writers may have been trying a little too hard to be profound, and the effect is not always successful (maybe I just need to re-read them). The stories that I found most successful – those by Farmer, Tiptree, and Bester – do not feel pretentious at all, but manage to balance stylishness with a compelling story and scrutable (yet still often challenging) themes. The only one of these stories that I had heard of before was Le Guin’s, which is not really a story at all (more of a short, bare-bones thought experiment). It mostly works, but goes perhaps too far to the other extreme from the literary pretentions of Wolfe or Ellison. All of this is nitpicking, however. 1973 was clearly a great year for SF, and each of these tales offers something unique. Star-ratings below:
***** Philip José Farmer, “Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind”
***** James Tiptree Jr., “The Women Men Don’t See”
**** Alfred Bester, “Something Up There Likes Me”
**** R. A. Lafferty, “The World as Will and Wallpaper”
**** Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
**** Jack Vance, “Rumfuddle”
**** F. M. Busby, “Tell Me All About Yourself”
**** Gene Wolfe, “The Death of Dr. Island”
**** Vonda N. McIntyre, “Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand”
**** Robert Silverberg, “Breckenridge and the Continuum”
**** Harlan Ellison, “The Deathbird”
August 31, 2022
the Terry Carr annual anthologies were my teenage gateway to sf - or, at least, sf that wasn't written by Clarke, Bradbury, Asimov or Heinlein ... first re-read in decades ...
5 stars:
The Death of Dr. Island - Gene Wolfe
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Women Men Don't See - James Tiptree, Jr.
4 stars:
Something Up There Likes Me - Alfred Bester
Rumfuddle - Jack Vance
Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand - Vonda N. McIntyre
Breckenridge and the Continuum - Robert Silverberg
3 stars:
The World as Will and Wallpaper - R. A. Lafferty
Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind - Philip Jose Farmer
1 star:
The Deathbird - Harlan Ellison
negative 100 stars:
Tell Me All About Yourself - F. M. Busby
====
Thoughts: Three of the greatest SF writers in top form: Wolfe, Le Guin and Tiptree with three of their most highly respected stories ...
it's amusing to read poor wrong-footed Carr's introduction to the Tiptree: "Last year Joanna Russ won a Nebula Award for a feminist story called When It Changed, this year James Tiptree, Jr., offers a male viewpoint on the same subject. As you might expect, other than in the basic theme, there's very little similarity between the two stories" ... Tiptree, of course, would be famously outed a few years later as the pseudonym of Alice Sheldon, and this story would increase in critical estimation as an important feminist work ... that this story's feminist message could go unrecognized by so many (the so so slimy narrator!) and was accepted as "male viewpoint" does not speak well of the SF climate of the early 70s ...
that being said, Terry Carr was actually one of the best writers of story introductions, he never seemed to give away too much, usually managing in a few words to just touch on a thematic aspect of a story, enough to intrigue but never so much to spoil ... (I am reminded of how much I appreciate this talent because I am in the middle of a collection of Lafferty stories which also includes the "Will and Wallpaper" story here - a collection that has introductions for every story, introductions by famous fans and authors as a selling point, that invariably spoil the Lafferty magic they are praising by giving it all away ahead of time) ...
Bester's amusing contribution marked a welcome return to SF writing after a decade's absence, for my money, the best Bester was some of the very best of the mid century sf ...
Ellison's story is, even by his low standards, barely readable, stomach-churning, modernist SF gobbledygook he tries to redeem with self-consciously clever bits and a couple of maudlin detours ... full disclosure, the funny thing about my hating on Ellison's Deathbird so much now is that back when I was a 9th or 10th grader I loved this story so much (God's crazy! the Serpent was the good guy! so cool, right?) that I basically plagiarized it for a Creative Writing Class assignment hoping to shock the teacher, back then I thought this was the best story in the book - just no accounting for teenage taste ...
Silverberg's "Continuum" touches on similar themes as Ellison's sophomoric show-offy scribblings, but much more professionally - artistic, organized and focused - it was as if he gazed through the time continuum, saw that his story would be in the same anthology as as Ellison's and decided to troll the famed egomaniac and show him how to write with quality ...
Farmer's story is one of those common sf "concept" stories that exist mostly to milk every single last drop of concept out of them at the expense of cardboard thin characterization ... to be fair, "milking the concept" to the infinite degree is a sf tradition that goes all the way back to the tale of Gulliver and his four Travels ... and yet, the diary format sort of saved it, I still enjoyed it ...
speaking of concepts ... Busby's story is so reprehensible (doubling down on the vilest concept imaginable with first person narration!) that I won't mention a thing about it and hope it gets erased from the memory cells again ...
5 stars:
The Death of Dr. Island - Gene Wolfe
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Women Men Don't See - James Tiptree, Jr.
4 stars:
Something Up There Likes Me - Alfred Bester
Rumfuddle - Jack Vance
Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand - Vonda N. McIntyre
Breckenridge and the Continuum - Robert Silverberg
3 stars:
The World as Will and Wallpaper - R. A. Lafferty
Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind - Philip Jose Farmer
1 star:
The Deathbird - Harlan Ellison
negative 100 stars:
Tell Me All About Yourself - F. M. Busby
====
Thoughts: Three of the greatest SF writers in top form: Wolfe, Le Guin and Tiptree with three of their most highly respected stories ...
it's amusing to read poor wrong-footed Carr's introduction to the Tiptree: "Last year Joanna Russ won a Nebula Award for a feminist story called When It Changed, this year James Tiptree, Jr., offers a male viewpoint on the same subject. As you might expect, other than in the basic theme, there's very little similarity between the two stories" ... Tiptree, of course, would be famously outed a few years later as the pseudonym of Alice Sheldon, and this story would increase in critical estimation as an important feminist work ... that this story's feminist message could go unrecognized by so many (the so so slimy narrator!) and was accepted as "male viewpoint" does not speak well of the SF climate of the early 70s ...
that being said, Terry Carr was actually one of the best writers of story introductions, he never seemed to give away too much, usually managing in a few words to just touch on a thematic aspect of a story, enough to intrigue but never so much to spoil ... (I am reminded of how much I appreciate this talent because I am in the middle of a collection of Lafferty stories which also includes the "Will and Wallpaper" story here - a collection that has introductions for every story, introductions by famous fans and authors as a selling point, that invariably spoil the Lafferty magic they are praising by giving it all away ahead of time) ...
Bester's amusing contribution marked a welcome return to SF writing after a decade's absence, for my money, the best Bester was some of the very best of the mid century sf ...
Ellison's story is, even by his low standards, barely readable, stomach-churning, modernist SF gobbledygook he tries to redeem with self-consciously clever bits and a couple of maudlin detours ... full disclosure, the funny thing about my hating on Ellison's Deathbird so much now is that back when I was a 9th or 10th grader I loved this story so much (God's crazy! the Serpent was the good guy! so cool, right?) that I basically plagiarized it for a Creative Writing Class assignment hoping to shock the teacher, back then I thought this was the best story in the book - just no accounting for teenage taste ...
Silverberg's "Continuum" touches on similar themes as Ellison's sophomoric show-offy scribblings, but much more professionally - artistic, organized and focused - it was as if he gazed through the time continuum, saw that his story would be in the same anthology as as Ellison's and decided to troll the famed egomaniac and show him how to write with quality ...
Farmer's story is one of those common sf "concept" stories that exist mostly to milk every single last drop of concept out of them at the expense of cardboard thin characterization ... to be fair, "milking the concept" to the infinite degree is a sf tradition that goes all the way back to the tale of Gulliver and his four Travels ... and yet, the diary format sort of saved it, I still enjoyed it ...
speaking of concepts ... Busby's story is so reprehensible (doubling down on the vilest concept imaginable with first person narration!) that I won't mention a thing about it and hope it gets erased from the memory cells again ...
March 3, 2017
"No basta vivir; ni siquiera es suficiente tener un buen cerebro, pensar con claridad. Tienes que añadir algo más a lo realizado por la Humanidad, algo real, valioso. Tienes que dar . Mozart, Newton, Colón, que fueron capaces de llegar al fondo de la creación, a ese caos hirviente de energía pura. Hay que extraer algo, darle forma, crear algo único y nuevo. Ganar dinero no es suficiente"
July 3, 2015
Impresionante libro de relatos cortos de ciéncia- ficción de la mano de conocidos autores del género.
Especial atención al que abre la novela y lleva el titulo: las ruinas de mi cerebro, excepcional, perfecto!
Especial atención al que abre la novela y lleva el titulo: las ruinas de mi cerebro, excepcional, perfecto!
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August 22, 2008BST SCI FIC OF YR#3-1976 (Best Science Fiction of the Year) by Terry Carr (1976)
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