The 1972 Annual World's Best SF

I appreciate Wollheim's taste, and the fact that he doesn't feel the need to write a big salutary intro. for each story but rather a pointed paragraph.

"The Fourth Profession" Larry Niven ... long, but interesting, prob. the only thing from Niven that I'll like. I particular like the exploration of the 'knowledge pill' that the woman took.
"Gleepsite" Joanna Russ ... even in small doses I just don't get Russ. Sorry.
"The Bear with the Knot on His Tail" Stephen Tall ... poignant, but flawed ending with no parent-figure, how are those babies going to settle a new world? A few of the doomed adults should have been brought aboard the humans' ship, imo. "We complement each other like salt and vinegar." (Says one man of the one he knows will show more always have his back on a tough mission.)

"The Sharks of Pentreath" Michael G. Coney... not sure of the science (social or physical) but the poignancy of the main story is cute.
"A Little Knowledge" Poul Anderson ... the cost of hubris, and of not actually getting to know the 'natives' respectfully
"Real-Time World" Christopher Priest ... wheels within wheels? hmm.... "In the developed countries, pollution was the main problem, with interracial conflict a close second."

"All Pieces of a River Shore" R.A. Lafferty ... too long for the punchline, but still a fun read; gotta love reading the bit about the professor in Rolla, Missouri, which is where we're living now & I'm reading this book from the university library ;)
"With Friends Like These..." Alan Dean Foster ... one of the first appearances of one of this popular and prolific author's most famous stories
"Aunt Jennie's Tonic" Leonard Tushnet ... too long, and protag too stupid to deserve the more 'realistic' happy ending

"Timestorm" Eddy C. Bertin ... I believe this is the only "world" story promised by the title; it's from Belgium; interesting at first but ends with a question TT has asked many times before
"Transit of Earth" Arthur C. Clarke ... no bad guys, just a brave astronaut and hard science
"Gehenna" K.M. O'Donnell ... yup, we're all doomed, no matter what version of reality we're in

"One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty" Harlan Ellison... reads like a memoir, as if the cocky bantam has decided to explain why he often acted like a jerk.
"Occam's Scalpel" Theodore Sturgeon ... Well, maybe. Or maybe there's a whole 'nother thing going on.

I realize from this particular sampler that I want to consider reading more Lafferty & Priest. I also will read more of Wollheim's collections, as he didn't have any real clunkers here, or anything besides the Russ that was overly experimental or dark or shocking.

I only recommend it omnivorous and insatiable fans of the form, though. show less

Overall, this a good collection of stories whose quality is well above the average. Most are also still a refreshingly good read 37 years after their first publication with less datedness than is sometimes the case.

Theodore Sturgeon's "Occam's Scalpel" is a particularly impressive story with more than one unexpected twist and with some interesting ideas about solving environmental problems.

Larry Niven's "The Fourth Profession" is an original story about alien contact on earth, in a bar, involving a few pills along the way, and some unexpected results. But it is one of those "the aliens might be smart, but darn it, us humans'll outsmart 'em" stories which I'm not so keen on. But the ideas and the writing make up for much of that.

Joanna show more Russ's "Gleepsite" is a strange fragment of a story which only hints at the world in which it is set, in which alluring dreams are sold for reasons we can only guess at to shy, middle-aged women.

"The Bear With The Knot On His Tail" was for me a more mixed story, but with a moving central idea of a race, knowing it faces imminent doom, wanting to ensure its memory and culture lives on - wanting to know that someone else knew that they existed.

"The Sharks of Pentreath" is a beautiful and bitter-sweet story about future tourism that at first seems very familiar but ends with unexpected sadness.

"A little knowledge" sees some frankly unpleasant humans get their come-uppance from some idealistic aliens.

"Real-time world" is a gem, but bleak. A story about observed and observers which is PK Dick-like in its layers of reality and unreality and doubt about all of them.

R.A. Lafferty's "All pieces of a river shore" is a sterling example of what I've always enjoyed about Lafferty's short stories. A whimsical execution of a tale about a collector of stuff which leads up to an utterly unexpected and original idea.

"With friends like these" is light and humourous in tone, with aliens desperate to overcome a foe and unleashing something that might be even worse to do so.

in "Aunt Jennie's Tonic" the elixir of life is found and lost - as it must be in tales like this.

"Timestorm" starts with a very different take on time travel and historical interference and ends with philosophical musing on the necessity of evil.

"Transit of earth" is a simple story about the sad ending of an expedition to Mars which leaves many of those on it dead.

"Gehenna" is the only really weak story in the collection for me. A simple tale is told from four viewpoints, each seeing a different reality. But I can't quite see the point.

"One life, furnished in early poverty" is Harlan Ellison in a different mood from many of the stories of his I've read. Another speculation on time travel and interfering with the past, this time one's own. show less