This is the second to last, or as the cognoscenti might say, the penultimate collection of what editor Donald Wollheim thinks were the best stories of the preceding year. The 1989 annual year's best has 11 stories in this collection, and all date from 1988. There were 26 years in the series starting with 1965 and I made it a point to try and read these every year for many years. I probably read 2/3 or more of these collections from about 1970. 1990 would be the last year of the series coinciding with Wollheim's death. Several of the last ones I never did get to, and this was one of them. The first seven years of the series, 65-71 were co-edited with Terry Carr and the later ones (72-90) with Arthur Saha.

There are what seems to me to be a few weak stories here, including the opening story which I found hard to believe was among the year's best despite having been written by notable author David Brin. It isn't bad, i just can't see it as "best." Other readers liked it better as it was nominated in the short story category for a Hugo. There are however a few very good or better stories in here, and no clunkers, and that made this an enjoyable read overall. The included stories are:

1 • Introduction • essay by Isaac Asimov
5 • The Giving Plague • shortstory by David Brin
25 • Peaches for Mad Molly • novelette by Steven Gould
49 • Shaman • novelette by John Shirley
83 • Schrödinger's Kitten • novelette by George Alec Effinger
109 • The Flies of Memory • novella by Ian Watson
159 • Skin Deep • shortstory by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
175 • A Madonna of the Machine • novelette by Tanith Lee
197 • Waiting for the Olympians • novelette by Frederik Pohl
241 • Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog • shortstory by B. W. Clough
253 • Adrift Among the Ghosts • shortstory by Jack L. Chalker
269 • Ripples in the Dirac Sea • shortstory by Geoffrey A. Landis

I'll comment on several that I thought were among the best here.

"Schrödinger's Kitten" was pretty good (and it won the 1988 Nebula award for best novelette), an early entry in Effinger's series of stories and novels set in a future world with a heavy arabic influence. "The Flies of Memory" by Ian Watson was long, just about novella length and luckily was modestly entertaining with a scenario of bug-like aliens arriving on earth. Do they come in peace? Are the here merely to watch and "remember" the earth with their flyselves all over the planet? I thought this might be light fluff at first but it became much more weird, complicated and interesting. The story was apparently expanded into a novel a couple of years later. I don't find Watson's writing style reader friendly however and it prevents me from saying I really liked it.

"Skin Deep" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch was very good. To me it had the feel of one of Ray Bradbury's better Martian Chronicles stories where colonists deal with the unknown. Nice, compact story that really packs a surprise punch. I was surprised to discover this was one of the author's first published stories. I also found Tanith Lee's "A Madonna of the Machine" quite interesting - it is set in a future where humans live and their needs met inside of a giant machine. All goes along until the visions start.

Jack Chalker's "Adrift Among the Ghosts" is a powerful story I have read before, and it is one that will stay with you. Out there among the stars a man is collecting the televised programs of earth.

"Ripples in the Dirac Sea" by Geoffrey Landis was the final story and my favorite of the collection. A man had discovered time travel and can travel backwards in time only. A very thoughtful and moving story is wrapped around this. ( )