Customer Reviews

SF 12

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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.