SF 12 [Hardcover]

Judith Merril (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1968

paperback

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; 1st edition (January 1, 1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 112269590X
• ISBN-13: 978-1122695909
• ASIN: B00005WTGY
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,572,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Old but parts are great, April 24, 2010

By 

Lazy reviewer (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SF12: The Cinemagicians; In Seclusion; The Food Farm; Gogol's Wife; The Balloon; The Cloud Sculptors of Coral; Luana; W-A-V-E-R; During the Jurassic; The Fall of Frenchy Steiner; Light of Other Days; Beyond the Weeds; The Crap Apple Crisis (Paperback)

As far as I know, this was the last 'Best SF of the Year' collection by Judith Merril from her late, post-modern period. I think it's the best of all the 'Best SF' collections, with some outstanding underrecognized stories. On of my list of top SF stories ever is 'An Ornament to his Profession' by Charles Harness--absolutely uncanny if you like the Faust myth, Goethe version. It's about selling your soul to/for your work, consciously or unconsciously. Maybe better than Zelazny's 'For a Breath I Tarry', though Harness' point is completely different and novel. Another is Samuel Delany's 'The Star-Pit.' I would say it's his top work of all sorts [pace Babel-17 and Dhalgren], or at least top 3--and the best, because most mature, short story. He balances out his enamorement with child prodigies via an adult protagonist with reasonable-portrayed, mature, socially rooted hang-ups. Plus too many good-to-great others by good-to-great authors to list. If you're open to older SF that's pretty indistinguashable from the latest, this collection is worth any of the Amazon prices.