The Best Science Fiction of the Year 2 by Terry Carr

'When We Went to See the End of the World' ( Robert Silverberg).

'Patron of the Arts' ( William Rotsler).

'Sky Blue' ( Alexei Panshin) and ( Cory Panshin).

'Their Thousandth Season' ( Edward Bryant).

' The Fifth Head of Cerberus' ( Gene Wolfe).

'The Meeting' ( Frederik Pohl) and ( C.

The stories were previously published in 1972 in the magazines The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Amazing Science Fiction, and Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, and the anthologies New Dimensions II, Infinity Four, Orbit 10, Infinity Three, New Writings in SF 20, Clarion II, Again, Dangerous Visions, Nova 2, and Universe 2. The book collects sixteen novellas, novelettes and short stories by various science fiction authors, with an introduction, notes and concluding essay by Carr. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in July 1973, and reissued in May 1976. T.The Best Science Fiction of the Year #2 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by American writer Terry Carr, the second volume in a series of sixteen. Continue reading → Updates: New Purchases No. The number of reprints this misfire of a story receives mystifies (it appeared in the regularly reprinted The Green Hills of Earth and The Past Through Tomorrow). Yes, yes, yes, I know this is far from what he was capable of. Heinlein in around a decade is exactly like I thought it would be–thoroughly disappointing. Heinlein, 2.75/5 (Vaguely Average): My first return to Robert A.

“Gentlemen, Be Seated!” (1948), Robert A. “Third Stage” (1963), Poul Anderson, 3.5/5 (Good): Previously reviewed in its own post here. “Cold War” (1949), Kris Neville, 3/5 (Average): Previously reviewed in its own post here.

I’ve previously reviewed five of the thirteen stories in their own posts–linked for easy consultation. The stories, gathered from some of the big names of the day (Robert Heinlein, Robert Silverberg, Theodore Sturgeon, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, etc.), are grouped as if part of the same future with headings such as “To the Planets” and “To the Stars.” As with most anthologies, this contains a range of gems (such as Sturgeon’s “The Man Who Lost the Sea”) and duds (Ross Rocklynne’s “Jaywalker”). Published a few months before the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, Robert Hoskins’ anthology First Step Outward (1969) charts an imagined future history of humanity’s exploration of the galaxy.

John Berkey’s cover for the 1st edition.

The Best Science Fiction of the Year 2 by Terry Carr