6th Annual Edition: The Year's Best S-F

The Year's Best S-F (Merril) #6

by Judith Merril (editor), Ward Moore

8 • Introduction (The 6th Annual of the Year's Best S-F) • (1961) • essay by Judith Merril
9 • Double, Double, Toil and Trouble • (1960) • short story by Holley Cantine
26 • The Never-Ending Penny • (1960) • novelette by Bernard Wolfe (aka The Never Ending Penny)
41 • The Fellow Who Married the Maxill Girl • (1960) • novelette by Ward Moore
69 • Something Invented Me • (1960) • short story by R. C. Phelan
79 • A Sigh for Cybernetics • (1961) • poem by Felicia Lamport
81 • I Remember Babylon • (1960) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke
93 • The Lagging Profession • (1961) • essay by Theodore L. Thomas [as by Leonard Lockhard ]
109 • Report on the Nature of the Lunar Surface • (1960) • short story by John Brunner
112 • J.G. (Excerpt from J.G. the Upright Ape) • (1960) • short fiction by Roger Price (US)
138 • Chief • (1960) • short story by Henry Slesar
139 • Psalm • (1960) • poem by Lester del Rey
140 • The Large Ant • (1960) • short story by Howard Fast
150 • A Rose by Other Name . . . • (1960) • short story by Christopher Anvil (aka A Rose By Other Name 1959 )
160 • Enchantment • (1960) • short story by Elizabeth Emmett
175 • Thiotimoline and the Space Age • [Thiotimoline • 3] • (1960) • short story by Isaac Asimov
185 • Beach Scene • (1960) • short story by Marshall King
199 • Creature of the Snows • (1960) • short story by William Sambrot
211 • Abominable • (1960) • short story by Fredric Brown
214 • The Man on Top • (1951) • short story by Reginald Bretnor [as by R. Bretnor]
219 • David's Daddy • (1960) • short story by Rosel George Brown
233 • Something Bright • (1960) • short story by Zenna Henderson
250 • In the House, Another • (1960) • short story by Joseph Whitehill
254 • A Serious Search for Weird Worlds • (1960) • essay by Ray Bradbury
268 • Ed Lear Wasn't So Crazy! • (1960) • poem by Hilbert Schenck
270 • The Brotherhood of Keepers • (1960) • novelette by Dean McLaughlin
323 • Hemingway in Space • (1960) • short story by Kingsley Amis
329 • Mine Own Ways • (1960) • short story by Richard McKenna
346 • Old Hundredth • (1960) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss
359 • Radiation Blues • (1960) • poem by Theodore R. Cogswell
361 • Blowup Blues • (1960) • poem by Theodore R. Cogswell
363 • Ballad of the Shoshonu • (1961) • poem by Gordon R. Dickson
365 • How to Think a Science Fiction Story (Excerpt) • (1961) • essay by G. Harry Stine
374 • The Year in S-F (The 6th Annual of the Year's Best S-F) • (1961) • essay by Judith Merril
378 • S-F Books - 1960 • (1961) • essay by Anthony Boucher
381 • Honorable Mentions (The 6th Annual of the Year's Best S-F) • (1961) • essay by Judith Merril

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies

384 pages, paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Josephine Juliet Grossman

aka Cyril Judd (with C.M. Kornbluth)

Judith Josephine Grossman (Boston, Massachusetts, January 21, 1923 - Toronto, Ontario, September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist.

Although Judith Merril's first paid writing was in other genres, in her first few years of writing published science fiction she wrote her three novels (all but the first in collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth) and some stories. Her roughly four decades in that genre also included writing 26 published short stories, and editing a similar number of anthologies.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sixth annual anthology of Merril's picks of the best short speculative of the preceding year, and has her selections for 1960. I thought she went a little overboard in including songs, cartoons, jokes and nonfiction as well as her own lengthy comments, but she certainly succeeded in producing a well-rounded volume. The authors include Bernard Wolfe, Walt Kelly, Kingsley Amis, Shel Silverstein, and Howard Fast in addition to genre stalwarts such as Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov. I note the inclusion of a story by Zenna Henderson, a writer the genre should remember.

[Francisco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another of Judith Merril's collections of short stories, this time referring to the year 1960, it's the usual mixed bag of good and not so good stuff, although nothing is outright bad. What elevates these collections over the sum of their parts is really Merril's voice which chimes in between each story to introduce the next one and generally talk about science fiction and science. 

Merril's intros are a lot of fun, in the previous number she had a vendetta against Kingley Amis going, but in this number, she acknowledges it and adds a story by Amis, which isn't the best in the volume but which is a nice thing for her to do. 

Highlights of these volumes are the stories by such luminaries as Clarke, Asimov or Aldiss, but even more interesting are the authors that Merril particularly champions such as Zenna Henderson and her The People stories. Not the most stellar bunch of stories, but good enough.

[Ray Savarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good collection. Some that hit the mark, some that miss. Maybe a little more non-fiction than most of these collections have.