S-F: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Year's Best S-F (Merril) #1

by R.R. Merliss (Editor), R.R. Merliss, E.C. Tubb

Introduction by Orson Welles
Preface by Judith Merril
"The Stutterer" by R. R. Merliss
"The Golem" by Avram Davidson
"Junior" by Robert Abernathy
"The Cave of Night" by James E. Gunn
"The Hoofer" by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
"Bulkhead" by Theodore Sturgeon
"Sense from Thought Divide" by Mark Clifton
"Pottage" by Zenna Henderson
"Nobody Bothers Gus" by Algis Budrys
"The Last Day of Summer" by E.C. Tubb
"One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts" by Shirley Jackson
"The Ethicators" by Willard Marsh
"Birds Can’t Count" by Mildred Clingerman
"Of Missing Persons" by Jack Finney
"Dreaming Is a Private Thing" by Isaac Asimov
"The Country of the Kind" by Damon Knight
"The Public Hating" by Steve Allen
"Home There’s No Returning" by Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore
"The Year’s S-F, Summation & Honorable Mentions" by Judith Merril

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Reuben Robert Merliss

Reviews

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

7,5 A fairly typical '50s collection, with some more fantasy like tales, a couple of classics and the usual '50's sexism (it's not really diverse). Interesting in this collection by a female editor (which shows that women were active in the genre also in the fifties, even as editors!) were several female authors. Zenna Henderson, with one of her beautifully written and elegiac 'People'-stories, Shirley Jackson (with a lighthearted tale with a twist at the end), Mildred Clingerman (with a story of the suburbs) and C.L. Moore (with Henry Kuttner) with an fun, action packed story about a robot run amock. The stories here were very diverse. I liked the story by Asimov about a new entertainment industry based on dreams (and the toll on the creatives in that industry), Junior by Robert Abernathy was a fun story about an interesting alien society and the divide between generations, 'Bulkhead' by Theodore Sturgeon has an astronaut slowly going crazy by loneliness and contacting the other occupant of his space ship behind the bulkhead ... Good story. 'The last day of summer' by E.C. Tubb has someone in his last days looking back on his life. 'On missing persons' by Jack Finney was beautiful and sad. Damon Knight shows the dark side of an utopia in 'Country of the kind'. All in all a fun collection. Not too exceptional, but the diversity on show made this very enjoyable (at least if you enjoy '50s SF).

[Gianfranco Montebello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one took me a bit more to finish than the first volume of this compilations I read. It surely was a result of a combination of factors, amongst which, the prevailing one was a particularly stressing month at work. However, I'd be a liar if I omitted, voluntarily, that the stories in this volume were slower-paced and less captivating.
Don't get me wrong there are amazing stories within the pages of this book, Asimov's perhaps being the one I enjoyed the most, but it didn't fulfill me quite as much as the first one I read a few weeks ago. 3.5-4 Star rating feels about right.

[Ari Pérez · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a great start for anybody wanting to dig in into sci-fi. Most stories can pass as literary fiction with weird ideas, very few actual sci-fi, but that really depends on the person's own definition of what that genre really is about. Mostly well written, but not enough interesting for my particular taste.

"The Stutterer" by R. R. Merliss *
"The Golem" by Avram Davidson **
"Junior" by Robert Abernathy **
"The Cave of Night" by James E. Gunn *
"The Hoofer" by Walter M. Miller, Jr. *
"Bulkhead" by Theodore Sturgeon **
"Sense from Thought Divide" by Mark Clifton *
"Pottage" by Zenna Henderson *
"Nobody Bothers Gus" by Algis Budrys *
"The Last Day of Summer" by E.C. Tubb *
"One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts" by Shirley Jackson ****
"The Ethicators" by Willard Marsh *
"Birds Can’t Count" by Mildred Clingerman ***
"Of Missing Persons" by Jack Finney ***
"Dreaming Is a Private Thing" by Isaac Asimov ***
"The Country of the Kind" by Damon Knight **
"The Public Hating" by Steve Allen ****
"Home There’s No Returning" by Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore ***

[Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume of what would be a long-standing institution in Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthologies that would last some 12 years up until 1968 and one of the classics of the genre. As usual in this kind of things there's a mixed bag in here, but it's a pretty coherently good one with only a couple of duds.

It's great to get an introduction by Orson Welles here, you read it with his voice and you can tell that he is quite a fan of Science Fiction, even if he has a kind of out of date perspective on what Science Fiction is even for 1955.

Some of the highlights here are the obvious names Asimov ("Dreaming is a Private Thing"), Damon Knight ("The Country of the Kind"), Shirley Jackson ("One Ordinary Day With Peanuts"), Theodore Sturgeon ("Bulkhead") and so on, the simple fact that there are so many obvious names in this collection of work put out in 1955 just goes to show what a golden age this was. However, the joy of reading these anthologies is also reading works by lesser known writers who are pretty great like Algis Budrys ("Nobody Bothers Gus"), Zenna Henderson ("Pottage") or Avram Davidson ("The Golem"). Track this down if you can, it's never less than entertaining and there are some quite brilliant tales in the mix.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this, I think, when I was in high school, but don't really remember much about any of the stories. I still possess the copy of the book which was originally my dad's, so maybe I will have to reread it sometime.

[Christine MH · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun peak into the past - 1950s sci-fi.

[S.A. Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, the classics. Some aspects are dated, of course-- the stories are all copyright 1954-55. The stories are all great reads and the human aspects are pretty much as timeless as humanity. Also interesting to read the stories involving spaceflight from a period before it had really (excuse the expression) gotten off the ground.