Reviews

The 1972 Annual World's Best SF by Joanna Russ, Harlan Ellison, Poul Anderson, Theodore Sturgeon, Michael G. Coney, Christopher Priest, Arthur W. Saha, Leonard Tushnet, R.A. Lafferty, Stephen Tall, Alan Dean Foster, Barry N. Malzberg, Donald A. Wollheim, Arthur C. Clarke, Eddy C. Bertin, Larry Niven

dee9401's review

2.0

Some very good stories, some okay ones and some I couldn't even finish. Most of these year anthologies are like this, so this is par for the course.

I really liked Christopher Priest's "Real-Time World" and Arthur C. Clarke's "Transit of Earth". I thought Alan Dean Foster's "With Friends Like These...", Barry Malzberg's "Gehenna" and Harlan Ellison's "One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty" were good stories. Malzberg's wasn't his best but it was pure Malzberg, so fun to read. I thought Poul Anderson's "A Little Knowledge" was cute.

Of the others, mostly they were meh, ugh, or I couldn't finish them.

mehitabels's review

4.0

"You're an optimistic bleeder, aren't you?"
"Realistic, dear boy. It's being right all the time that keeps me cheerful."

cclurejam's review

4.0

1972 seems to have been a very good year for science fiction. The stories are a good mix, with several well known authors, and several lesser known, but overall good quality throughout.