SF: The Year's Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy: Third Annual Volume. edited by Judith Merril. 1958

SF: The Year’s Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy: Third Annual Volume

Rated 68% Positive. Story Score: 3.45 out of 5

11 Stories: 2 Great / 3 Good / 5 Average / 0 Poor / 1 DNF

This is an anthology with Sputnik on its mind: from the button on the cover that shouts “Science Fiction Becomes Science-Fact,” to the six nonfiction articles that finish the book. Those articles are excellent, which is more than I can say for most of the stories, which had a surprising number of average stories for a book that promotes itself as “Year’s Greatest.”

Thankfully there are a few gems in this book as well:

• The Fly • (1957) • novelette by George Langelaan (trans. of La mouche). A murder investigation leads to the even-more-horrific revelation of a teleportation experiment gone wrong. The well-known film based on this story has taken the punch out of the surprises, but that isn’t this story’s fault. It is deliberate, suspenseful and horrifying all the way to the final sentence.

• The Edge of the Sea • (1958) • short story by Algis Budrys. Thrilling and intense tale of a strong and simple man who discovers a strange craft or beacon in the sea. To salvage it, he braves a hurricane, the local police, and governmental agencies. The story is simple, but intense and visceral. From the first moments, you feel the power of the hurricane and the determination of our protagonist.

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SF: THE YEAR'S GREATEST SCIENCE-FICTION AND FANTASY: THIRD ANNUAL VOLUME

11 STORIES : 2 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 5 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 1 DNF

How do I arrive at a rating?

1. Let's Be Frank • (1957) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss

   Good. A mutation that allows one personality to inhabit multiple bodies leads to Frank growing increasingly powerful.

2. The Fly • (1957) • novelette by George Langelaan (trans. of La mouche)

   Great. A murder investigation leads to the even-more-horrific revelation of a teleportation experiment gone wrong.

3. Let's Get Together • (1957) • short story by Isaac Asimov

   Average. Soviet robots may have already infiltrated the United States. If they get together the explosion would be devastating.

4. The Wonder Horse • (1957) • short story by George Byram

   Good. A warm and charming story of a mutated racehorse that causes immense disruption in the world of horse racing.

5. You Know Willie • (1957) • short story by Theodore R. Cogswell

   Average. A horror story of a racist murderer getting his just desserts.

6. Near Miss • (1958) • short story by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore [as by Henry Kuttner]

   Average. It’s a American Businessman vs a Mexican Witchdoctor on the subject of how to transport prawns.

7. Game Preserve • (1957) • short story by Rog Phillips

   DNF. Starts with an Elf prancing through the woods and I’m out of there. Very quick DNF.

8. Now Let Us Sleep • (1957) • short story by Avram Davidson

   Average. Bleak story of recreational abuses of an alien population by humans.

9. Wilderness • [The People] • (1957) • novelette by Zenna Henderson

   Good. A teacher with telepathic powers tries to hide them until she finds a man with similar powers and strange story to tell about people who crashed their spacecraft somewhere nearby.

10. Flying High • (1957) • short story by Eugène Ionesco

    Average. A weird story of a couple who killed a man and have kept the body in their house. One day, it starts growing rapidly.

11. The Edge of the Sea • (1958) • short story by Algis Budrys

    Great. Thrilling and intense tale of a strong and simple man who discovers a strange craft or beacon in the sea. To salvage it, he braves a hurricane, the local police, and governmental agencies.