World's Best Science Fiction 1967. Edited by Donald A Wollheim and Terry Carr

World’s Best Science Fiction 1967 is rated 79%.

8 good / 3 average / 1 poor.

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The introduction to this collection discusses the trend towards longer narratives within science fiction. It was based on the idea that the sciences fictionalized were more in the social science arena and therefore required longer to work out. Looking back on this collection with the hindsight of more than fifty years, these longer stories do not seem to be anything special. Later best of the year collections would be dominated by novellas that would have been published as a novel in earlier times.

That aside, this collections contains three incredibly well known stories and one truly great story. “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale,” “Behold the Man,” and “Light of Other Days” have stood the test of time, but the least well known “Light of Other Days” is the only true classic in my book

World’s Best Science Fiction 1967 is rated 79%.

8 good / 3 average / 1 poor.

How do I arrive at a rating?

1. "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick

   Good. The story from which “Total Recall” is based. A great idea with a solid story wrapped around it. A man wishes to travel to Mars, but can’t afford it. What he can afford is to submit to a procedure that will allow him to remember a trip that never happened.

2. "Light of Other Days" by Bob Shaw

   Great. This is a delicate heart-rending tale of a couple who stop to buy ‘slow glass’ which allow the viewer to see past moment. A true classic

3. "The Keys to December" by Roger Zelazny

   Good. A group of people customized to work on another planet (Catform) run into terraforming complications when the planet they are changing may have intelligent life.

4. "Nine Hundred Grandmothers" by R. A. Lafferty

   Average. Asteroid miners with unusual names meet a race of people who may never die.

5. "Bircher" by A. A. Walde

   Good. A murder occurs in a future where robot surveillance is everywhere. Not very original but comfortable SF murder mystery

6. "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock

   Good. A man who is versed in Carl Jung travels in search of the historical Jesus and then things spiral out of control.

7. "Bumberboom" by Avram Davidson

   DNF. A note that I wrote while in high school reads, “Like everything by Avram Davidson, this is unreadable.” Apparently I still think so.

8. "Day Million" by Frederik Pohl

   Good. A snarky, tongue-in-cheek tale of dating and society a million years in our future.

9. "The Wings of a Bat" by Paul Ash

   Good. A time-traveling doctor is conscripted to care for a baby pteradactyl.

10. "The Man from When" by Dannie Plachta

    Good. A cute short-short of a story that stars with alcohol and an explosion, but ends with alcohol and a wry joke.

11. "Amen and Out" by Brian W. Aldiss

    Average. The collection starts to wear thin with this tale of supercomputers as religion.

12. "For a Breath I Tarry" by Roger Zelazny

    Average. A fairy-tale-like story of super-robots competing on the earth after the age of Man is over.

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