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michaeldrakich's review against another edition
2.0
I found this oldie hiding in my storage shed. It's been fifty years since it's been published and I was interested in seeing how science fiction differed from then to now. I don't think I was given a fair chance to evaluate that difference. The editor, Judith Merrill, in her selection of what she considered "THE YEAR'S BEST S-F" was sadly mistaken in her judgement. There are 33 short stories in total and a significant portion of them would never qualify as science fiction in my book. Supernatural tales abounded throughout this collection - ghost stories, religious stories, if you're looking for 60's references, the kind of stuff you might find on Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone", but not the mix one would expect on "The Outer Limits".
Here is the list as I reviewed them.
"AUTOMATIC TIGER by Kit Reed. The opening story, although an interesting look into the psychi of a man who buys a robotic tiger, it lacks much in the way of actual science fiction. 3 stars."
"THE CARSON EFFECT by Richard Wilson. When you're a reporter and you need to write a newspaper story about the end of the world to be due out in tomorrow's paper when the world ends today, what do you write? An entertaining twist on an end of the world story. 4 stars"
"THE SHINING ONES by Arthur C Clarke. The ocean floor is a tough place to conduct work and when installed equipment at 3000 feet below sea level is damaged, the source of the sabotage brings many questions about what lies in the deep. 5 stars"
"PACIFIST by Mack Reynolds. The sixties were known for political statements in science fiction and this story is nothing but one. Relevent then maybe, but not today. 2 stars"
"THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIST by Stephen Becker. After reading it twice, I still don't know what the story was. Like clippings from an encyclopedia, this was a boring and filled with too many difficult words as possible. 1 star"
"THE LEGEND OF JOE LEE by John D. MacDonald. Well written and entertaining. Here's the problem. In no way is there one ounce of science fiction in the story. It's a ghost story, plain and simple. The tale involves a young couple racing round the county at night and the police can't catch them. As a result I lower my score from 5 to 3 stars."
"GAS MASK by James D. Houston. An entertaining look at the ultimate car gridlock. Not wowed by the ending. 4 stars"
"A SINISTER METAMORPHOSIS by Russell Baker. Funny, cute, real short story on robots being replaced by people. 5 stars"
"SONNY by Rick Raphael. What happens when the least likely of people, a hillbilly from West Virginia, exhibits extraordinary powers. A comedy of events follows. 5 stars"
"THE LAST SECRET WEAPON OF THE THIRD REICH by Josef Nesvadha. Speed child bearing gone haywire. Women having babies grown to full adults in one week. This one bordered on downright silly. 2 stars"
"DESCENDING by Thomas M. Disch. A forever down escalator. This is second story I've read that has no scifi. It's told like a horror, not scifi. It reminded me of the novel Fear by L. Ron Hubbard. Didn't care for that either. 2 stars"
"DECADENCE by Romain Gary. A tale of a mobster union boss going agog over the arts. Although reasonably well told, someone please explain to me how this is science fiction. 2 stars."
"BE OF GOOD CHEER by Fritz Leiber. A comical look at how government responds to the absence of people in the future. 5 stars"
"IT COULD BE YOU by Frank Roberts. A game show with deadly consequences where someone in the country is killed everyday in an effort to drive consumerism. Quite unique in concept, didn't quite cross the finish line well. 4 stars"
"A BENEFACTOR OF HUMANITY by James T. Farrell. A man invents a machine that writes books. Interesting premise, no story. Yawn. 3 stars"
"SYNCHROMOCRACY by Hap Cawood. A one page political satire using weather reports for politics. 4 stars"
"THE SEARCH by Bruce Simonds. A tale of the advancement of robot kind done in a poem form. 3 stars"
"THE PIROKIN EFFECT by Larry Eisenberg. The ancient Jewish exodus to Mars? The debate is on. 3 stars"
"THE TWERLIK by Jack Sharkey. A very unique alien life form and its first interaction with humans. Unique and enjoyable. 5 stars"
"A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES by Roger Zelazny. More of a novelette than a short story, it is nevertheless another fine example of the mastery of the English language by Zelazny. Mankind's deepest interaction with the dying Martian race through a poet of some re-known is an examination both from outside and in of the protagonist. Truly a masterpiece. If I could go six stars, I would. 5 stars"
"THE TERMINAL BEACH by J. G. Ballard. Set in a nuclear test zone this story about a man looking for his wife and son features a number of disconnects to confuse the reader, like in a dream. A la Kurt Vonnegut, but no comparison. 3 stars"
"PROBLEM CHILD by Arthur Porges. A scientist has a child who displays unusual behavior. I liked the story, but this is not science fiction. 2 stars"
"THE WONDERFUL DOG SUIT by Donald Hall. A boy is able to wear a dog suit very convincingly enough to fool people. Not science fiction. 1 star"
"THE MATHENAUTS by Norman Kagan. Difficult to describe. Mathematics are used to create interstellar space flight, but it comes across like an LSD trip. Very difficult to follow and most unsatisfying. 1 star"
"FAMILY PORTRAIT by Morgan Kent. Junior develops super telekinesis powers. A cute story. 5 stars"
"THE RED EGG by Jose Maria Gironella. The life of a heavily mutated virus as it soars over a city. 3 stars"
"THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING by M. E. White. A cute story of disappearing people in a family. Supernatural? Maybe, but science fiction? Definitely not. 2 stars"
"A LIVING DOLL by Robert Wallace. When dolls become too lifelike is it time to upgrade a family member? 3 stars"
"TRAINING TALK by David R. Bunch. A single father has unique ways to teach his kids things. Supernatural, yes, science fiction no. 1 star"
"A MIRACLE TOO MANY by Philip H. Smith and Alan E. Kourse. A doctor wishes for healing hands and gets them and all that such a gift entails. More supernatural. No science fiction. 1 star."
"THE LAST LONELY MAN by John Brunner. A unique story where people's consciousness is absorbed by others after they die, but only with consent. 5 stars"
"THE MAN WHO FOUND PROTEUS by Robert Rohrer. Finding an ancient Greek god in a mine shaft leads to a number of difficulties. 3 stars"
"YACHID AND YECHIDA by Isaac Bashevis Singer. A religious themed story about life after death, where death is life as a human. MOre supernatural stuff, not sci-fi. 1 star"
Were it not for A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES by Roger Zelazny, a superb piece, this would have been a total waste of time. Sure, there were a couple of others I gave five stars to, but way too many with only one or two stars.
Here is the list as I reviewed them.
"AUTOMATIC TIGER by Kit Reed. The opening story, although an interesting look into the psychi of a man who buys a robotic tiger, it lacks much in the way of actual science fiction. 3 stars."
"THE CARSON EFFECT by Richard Wilson. When you're a reporter and you need to write a newspaper story about the end of the world to be due out in tomorrow's paper when the world ends today, what do you write? An entertaining twist on an end of the world story. 4 stars"
"THE SHINING ONES by Arthur C Clarke. The ocean floor is a tough place to conduct work and when installed equipment at 3000 feet below sea level is damaged, the source of the sabotage brings many questions about what lies in the deep. 5 stars"
"PACIFIST by Mack Reynolds. The sixties were known for political statements in science fiction and this story is nothing but one. Relevent then maybe, but not today. 2 stars"
"THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIST by Stephen Becker. After reading it twice, I still don't know what the story was. Like clippings from an encyclopedia, this was a boring and filled with too many difficult words as possible. 1 star"
"THE LEGEND OF JOE LEE by John D. MacDonald. Well written and entertaining. Here's the problem. In no way is there one ounce of science fiction in the story. It's a ghost story, plain and simple. The tale involves a young couple racing round the county at night and the police can't catch them. As a result I lower my score from 5 to 3 stars."
"GAS MASK by James D. Houston. An entertaining look at the ultimate car gridlock. Not wowed by the ending. 4 stars"
"A SINISTER METAMORPHOSIS by Russell Baker. Funny, cute, real short story on robots being replaced by people. 5 stars"
"SONNY by Rick Raphael. What happens when the least likely of people, a hillbilly from West Virginia, exhibits extraordinary powers. A comedy of events follows. 5 stars"
"THE LAST SECRET WEAPON OF THE THIRD REICH by Josef Nesvadha. Speed child bearing gone haywire. Women having babies grown to full adults in one week. This one bordered on downright silly. 2 stars"
"DESCENDING by Thomas M. Disch. A forever down escalator. This is second story I've read that has no scifi. It's told like a horror, not scifi. It reminded me of the novel Fear by L. Ron Hubbard. Didn't care for that either. 2 stars"
"DECADENCE by Romain Gary. A tale of a mobster union boss going agog over the arts. Although reasonably well told, someone please explain to me how this is science fiction. 2 stars."
"BE OF GOOD CHEER by Fritz Leiber. A comical look at how government responds to the absence of people in the future. 5 stars"
"IT COULD BE YOU by Frank Roberts. A game show with deadly consequences where someone in the country is killed everyday in an effort to drive consumerism. Quite unique in concept, didn't quite cross the finish line well. 4 stars"
"A BENEFACTOR OF HUMANITY by James T. Farrell. A man invents a machine that writes books. Interesting premise, no story. Yawn. 3 stars"
"SYNCHROMOCRACY by Hap Cawood. A one page political satire using weather reports for politics. 4 stars"
"THE SEARCH by Bruce Simonds. A tale of the advancement of robot kind done in a poem form. 3 stars"
"THE PIROKIN EFFECT by Larry Eisenberg. The ancient Jewish exodus to Mars? The debate is on. 3 stars"
"THE TWERLIK by Jack Sharkey. A very unique alien life form and its first interaction with humans. Unique and enjoyable. 5 stars"
"A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES by Roger Zelazny. More of a novelette than a short story, it is nevertheless another fine example of the mastery of the English language by Zelazny. Mankind's deepest interaction with the dying Martian race through a poet of some re-known is an examination both from outside and in of the protagonist. Truly a masterpiece. If I could go six stars, I would. 5 stars"
"THE TERMINAL BEACH by J. G. Ballard. Set in a nuclear test zone this story about a man looking for his wife and son features a number of disconnects to confuse the reader, like in a dream. A la Kurt Vonnegut, but no comparison. 3 stars"
"PROBLEM CHILD by Arthur Porges. A scientist has a child who displays unusual behavior. I liked the story, but this is not science fiction. 2 stars"
"THE WONDERFUL DOG SUIT by Donald Hall. A boy is able to wear a dog suit very convincingly enough to fool people. Not science fiction. 1 star"
"THE MATHENAUTS by Norman Kagan. Difficult to describe. Mathematics are used to create interstellar space flight, but it comes across like an LSD trip. Very difficult to follow and most unsatisfying. 1 star"
"FAMILY PORTRAIT by Morgan Kent. Junior develops super telekinesis powers. A cute story. 5 stars"
"THE RED EGG by Jose Maria Gironella. The life of a heavily mutated virus as it soars over a city. 3 stars"
"THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING by M. E. White. A cute story of disappearing people in a family. Supernatural? Maybe, but science fiction? Definitely not. 2 stars"
"A LIVING DOLL by Robert Wallace. When dolls become too lifelike is it time to upgrade a family member? 3 stars"
"TRAINING TALK by David R. Bunch. A single father has unique ways to teach his kids things. Supernatural, yes, science fiction no. 1 star"
"A MIRACLE TOO MANY by Philip H. Smith and Alan E. Kourse. A doctor wishes for healing hands and gets them and all that such a gift entails. More supernatural. No science fiction. 1 star."
"THE LAST LONELY MAN by John Brunner. A unique story where people's consciousness is absorbed by others after they die, but only with consent. 5 stars"
"THE MAN WHO FOUND PROTEUS by Robert Rohrer. Finding an ancient Greek god in a mine shaft leads to a number of difficulties. 3 stars"
"YACHID AND YECHIDA by Isaac Bashevis Singer. A religious themed story about life after death, where death is life as a human. MOre supernatural stuff, not sci-fi. 1 star"
Were it not for A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES by Roger Zelazny, a superb piece, this would have been a total waste of time. Sure, there were a couple of others I gave five stars to, but way too many with only one or two stars.
porsane's review
4.0
This 1967 collection is pretty good for several reasons. For one, it has a much less narrow view of what is science fiction than we do now, so it's pleasing to find some magic realism stories sneaking in and secondly, it's not afraid to include stories translated into English. A very astute collection and at least half of the stories have aged very well indeed.
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