''The 1986 Annual World's Best SF'' is an
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
of
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
short stories edited by
Donald A. Wollheim
Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearso ...
and
Arthur W. Saha, the fourteenth volume in a
series of nineteen. It was first published in paperback by
DAW Books in June 1986, followed by a hardcover edition issued in August of the same year by the same publisher as a selection of the
Science Fiction Book Club. For the hardcover edition the original cover art by
Vincent Di Fate
Vincent Di Fate (born November 21, 1945) is an American artist specializing in science fiction, fantasy and realistic space art (hardware art) illustration. He was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on June 25, 2011.
Di Fate was bor ...
was replaced by a new cover painting by
Ron Walotsky
Ron Walotsky (21 August 1943 – July 29, 2002) was an American science fiction and fantasy artist who studied at the School of Visual Arts.
Born in Brooklyn, he began a long and prolific career painting book and magazine covers starting with t ...
.
The book collects ten novellas, novelettes and short stories by various science fiction authors, with an introduction by Wollheim. The stories were previously published in 1985 in the magazines ''
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'', ''
Amazing Stories'', ''
Omni'', ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...
'', ''
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine'', and the anthologies ''
The Third Omni Book of Science Fiction'' and ''
Afterwar''.
Contents
*"Introduction" (
Donald A. Wollheim
Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearso ...
)
*"Earthgate" (
J. Brian Clarke)
*"
On the Dream Channel Panel" (
Ian Watson)
*"The Gods of Mars" (
Gardner Dozois,
Jack Dann
Jack Dann (born February 15, 1945) is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-edit ...
and
Michael Swanwick)
*"The Jaguar Hunter" (
Lucius Shepard)
*"
Sailing to Byzantium
"Sailing to Byzantium" is a poem by William Butler Yeats, first published in the 1928 collection '' The Tower''. It comprises four stanzas in ottava rima, each made up of eight lines of iambic pentameter. It uses a journey to Byzantium (Const ...
" (
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...
)
*"Webrider" (
Jayge Carr)
*"With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole" (
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
)
*"The Curse of Kings" (
Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than ...
)
*"Fermi and Frost" (
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...
)
*"Pots" (
C. J. Cherryh
Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award-winning novels '' Downbelo ...
)
Awards
The anthology placed ninth in the 1987
Locus Poll Award for Best Anthology.
"The Gods of Mars" was nominated for the 1985
Nebula Award for Best Short Story
The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...
and placed ninth in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Short Story.
"The Jaguar Hunter" was nominated for the 1985
Nebula Award for Best Novelette and the 1986
World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, and placed fourth in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Novelette.
"Sailing to Byzantium" won the 1985
Nebula Award for Best Novella
The Nebula Award for Best Novella is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novellas. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novella if it is between 17,500 and 40 ...
, was nominated for the 1986
Hugo Award for Best Novella and the 1986
SF Chronicle Award for Best Novella, and placed second in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Novella.
"With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole" placed first in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Short Story.
"The Curse of Kings" placed twelfth in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Novella.
"Fermi and Frost" won the 1986
Hugo Award for Best Short Story
The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...
, was nominated for the 1986
SF Chronicle Award for Best Short Story, and placed second in the 1986
Locus Poll Award for Best Short Story.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 Annual World's Best SF
1986 anthologies
The Annual World's Best SF
DAW Books books
1980s science fiction works