Best SF


science fiction awards database
Wollheim/Carr: World's Best SF <— Anthologies —> Del Rey: Best SF
Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss launched their series with a "Credo" by James Blish that snipes at the two extant year's best anthology series and suggests minimum standards for a better one. The result is far closer to Merril than to Wollheim/Carr, with numerous works from non-genre sources and the occasional poem or film review (of 2001). For once the titles reflect the contents: Best SF: 1967, published in 1968, contains stories first published in 1967. The first volume was a paperback original from Berkley Medallion, the next six hardcovers from Putnam's with paperback reprints from Berkley Medallion, and then came two final hardcovers from Bobbs Merril that never had US paperback editions. Each volume opens with an informal introduction by Harrison on changes in the field, and closes with a longer, incisive essay by Aldiss on the state of the literature.


  • Best SF: 1967, (Berkley Medallion, 1968) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 1968, (G.P. Putnam's, 1969) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 1969, (G.P. Putnam's, 1970) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 1970, (G.P. Putnam's, 1971) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 1971, (G.P. Putnam's, 1972) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 1972, (G.P. Putnam's, 1973) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 1973, (G.P. Putnam's, 1974) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 1974, (Bobbs Merrill, 1975) (isfdb)
  • Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual, (Bobbs Merrill, 1976) (isfdb)



Complete Contents by Author and Title


Duane Ackerson
  • DNA (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Science Fiction Story (1973) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Brian W. Aldiss
  • As for Our Fatal Continuity... (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • The Hunter at His Ease (1970) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Listen with Big Brother (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Progression of the Species (1967) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Serpent Burning on an Altar (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • The Serpent of Kundalini (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Working in the Spaceship Yards (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Dick Allen
  • Backward, Into Beasts Evolving... (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Kingsley Amis
  • Mason's Life (1972) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Report (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Gleb Anfilov
  • Erem (1963) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Isaac Asimov
  • Segregationist (1967) -- Best SF: 1968
  • W. H. Auden
  • A Curse (1972) -- Best SF: 1973
  • J. G. Ballard
  • The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race (1966) -- Best SF: 1967
  • The Killing Ground (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Leo L. Barrow
  • Darkness, by André Carneiro (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Donald Barthelme
  • The Genius (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Thomas Baum
  • Lost and Found (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Charles Baxter
  • The Ideal Police State (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Patricia Beer
  • After Death (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Max Beerbohm
  • Ten Years Ago... (1972) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Kenneth Bernard
  • Sister Francetta and Pig Baby (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Alfred Bester
  • The Four-Hour Fugue (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Michael Bishop
  • The Windows in Dante's Hell (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • James Blish
  • Statistician's Day (1970) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Ben Bova
  • Fifteen Miles (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Tor Åge Bringsvaerd
  • The Man Who Collected the First of September, 1973 (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Algis Budrys
  • Now Hear the Word of the Lord (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • A Scraping at the Bones (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Anthony Burgess
  • The Muse (1968) -- Best SF: 1969
  • B. Alan Burhoe
  • Ornithanthropus (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • André Carneiro
  • Darkness (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Angela Carter
  • The Executioner's Beautiful Daughter (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • A. Bertram Chandler
  • The Left-Hand Way (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Arthur C. Clarke
  • A Meeting with Medusa (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Theodore R. Cogswell
  • Early Bird (by TRC & Theodore Thomas) (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Faex Delenda Est (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Lisa Conesa
  • Eyes of a Woman—from a Portrait by Picasso (tbd) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Robert Coover
  • A Pedestrian Accident (1969) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Alan Coren
  • Owing to Circumstances Beyond Our Control 1984 Has Been Unavoidably Detained... (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • John Cotton
  • Columbus on St. Domenica (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Report Back (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Richard Cowper
  • The Custodians (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Philip K. Dick
  • The Electric Ant (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Thomas M. Disch
  • Angouleme (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • The Asian Shore (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • The Birds (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • The Santa Claus Compromise (1974) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • William J. Earls
  • Traffic Problem (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Paul R. Ehrlich
  • Eco-Catastrophe! (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Harlan Ellison
  • Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Jerry Farber
  • Gorman (1969) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Philip José Farmer
  • After King Kong Fell (1973) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Stephen Goldin
  • Sweet Dreams, Melissa (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Alvin Greenberg
  • "Franz Kafka" by Jorge Luís Borges (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • James Gunn
  • The Old Folks (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Anthony Haden-Guest
  • Auto-Apotheosis (1972) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Joe Haldeman
  • End Game (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Hero (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • We Are Very Happy Here (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Alex Hamilton
  • Words of Warning (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • M. John Harrison
  • Settling the World (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • William Harrison
  • Roller Ball Murder (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Jon Hartridge
  • Like Father (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Steve Herbst
  • An Uneven Evening (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Hayden Howard
  • Oil-Mad Bug-Eyed Monsters (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Fred Hoyle
  • Blackmail (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Clive James
  • The Rise of Airstrip One (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • R. A. Lafferty
  • Parthen (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Keith Laumer
  • The Last Command (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Nine Lives (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Fritz Leiber
  • Answering Service (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • One Station of the Way (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • John D. MacDonald
  • The Annex (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Barry N. Malzberg
  • Conquest (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Final War (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • A Galaxy Called Rome (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Gehenna (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Pacem Est (by Kris Neville & BNM) (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • David I. Masson
  • Lost Ground (1966) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Bruce McAllister
  • The Man Inside (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Naomi Mitchison
  • Mary and Joe (1962) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Michael Moorcock
  • A Dead Singer (1974) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Slawomir Mrozek
  • The Ugupu Bird (1968) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Howard L. Myers
  • Out, Wit! (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Josef Nesvadba
  • Captain Nemo's Last Adventure (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • The Lost Face (1964) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Kris Neville
  • The Forest of Zil (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Pacem Est (by KN & Barry N. Malzberg) (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Robert R. Olsen
  • Paleontology: An Experimental Science (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Cynthia Ozick
  • The Pagan Rabbi (1966) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Richard Peck
  • Gantlet (1972) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Louis Phillips
  • The Lop-Eared Cat that Devoured Philadelphia (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • John R. Pierce
  • The Rime of the Ancient SF Author, or Conventions and Recollections (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Doris Piserchia
  • A Typical Day (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Frederik Pohl
  • The Schematic Man (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Christopher Priest
  • The Head and the Hand (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Ken W. Purdy
  • The Dannold Cheque (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • In the Matter of the Assassin Merefirs (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Peter Redgrove
  • A Twelvemonth (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Kit Reed
  • Golden Acres (1967) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Songs of War (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • The Vine (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Mack Reynolds
  • Criminal in Utopia (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Keith Roberts
  • Weihnachtabend (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Stephen Robinett
  • The Linguist (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Frank M. Robinson
  • The Wreck of the Ship John B. (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Lawrence Sail
  • After Weightlessness (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Cymbal Player (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Fisherman (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • A Picture by Klee (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Report from the Planet Proteus (1972) -- Best SF: 1972
  • Steven Schrader
  • The Cohen Dog Exclusion Act (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • C. C. Shackleton
  • Ultimate Construction (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Bob Shaw
  • Appointment on Prila (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • Robert Sheckley
  • Doctor Zombie and His Furry Little Friends (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Welcome to the Standard Nightmare (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Robert Silverberg
  • Black Is Beautiful (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Hawksbill Station (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • To the Dark Star (1968) -- Best SF: 1968
  • The Wind and the Rain (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • John Sladek
  • 1937 A.D.! (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Norman Spinrad
  • No Direction Home (1971) -- Best SF: 1971
  • Craig Strete
  • Time Deer (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • D. M. Thomas
  • Hospital of Transplanted Hearts (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Theodore Thomas
  • Early Bird (by Theodore R. Cogswell & TT) (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • James Thurber
  • Interview with a Lemming (1941) -- Best SF: 1967
  • James Tiptree, Jr.
  • The Snows Are Melted, The Snows Are Gone (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • The Women Men Don't See (1973) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Lisa Tuttle
  • Changelings (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • John Updike
  • The Chaste Planet (1975) -- Best SF: 75, The Ninth Annual
  • Steven Utley
  • Sport (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Sydney J. Van Scyoc
  • When Petals Fall (1973) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Ilya Varshavsky
  • Escape (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • William John Watkins
  • Two Poems (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Ian Watson
  • Programmed Love Story (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Joseph Wesley
  • Womb to Tomb (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Kate Wilhelm
  • The Scream (1974) -- Best SF: 1974
  • Robin Scott Wilson
  • Gone Fishin' (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Gene Wolfe
  • La Befana (1973) -- Best SF: 1973
  • Car Sinister (1970) -- Best SF: 1970
  • Gary Wright
  • Mirror of Ice (1967) -- Best SF: 1967
  • Pg Wyal
  • The Castle on the Crag (1969) -- Best SF: 1969
  • Robert F. Young
  • The Years (1972) -- Best SF: 1972

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