A collection of the best fifteen science fiction stories of 1972. Edited by Lester del Ray.

Contents When We Went to See the End of the World / Robert Silverberg Patron of the Arts / William Rotsler Eurema's Dam / R.A. Lafferty The Man Who Walked Home / James Tiptree, Jr. The Greatest Asset / Isaac Asimov Cloak of Anarchy / Larry Niven The Long Silence / Donald Noakes Long Shot / Vernor Vinge Thus Love Betrays Us / Phyllis MacLennan The Meeting / C.M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl Woman's Rib / Thomas N. Scortia Teratohippus / Robert L. Davis Underbelly / Gordon Eklund Watchdøg / Jack C. Haldeman, II Miscount / Carolyn Gloeckner The Science Fiction Yearbook (1972) / Lester del Rey Foreword: The Spice of Variety / Lester del Rey

CONTENTS: The Problem Of Pain by Poul Anderson; Something Up There Likes Me by Alfred Bester; The Population Implosion by Theodore R Cogswell; Think Only This Of Me by Michael Kurland; Parthen by R. A. Lafferty; With Mrning Comes Mistfall by George R. R. Martin; Afterword by Frederik Pohl; Thou Good And Faithful by Thomas N. Scortia; Construction Shack by Clifford Simak; The National Pastime by Norman Spinrad; A Thing Of Beauty by Norman Spinrad; Paradise Regained by Cogswell Thomas; Androids Don't Cry by Edward Wellen; Whatever Happened To The Olmecs by Kate Wilhelm; Ghosts by Robert F. Young.

YEAR OF THE BREAKOUT In the past year, science fiction has finally emerged from its isolation as the preserve of a limited number of readers and been recognized as one of the most vital and widely read kinds of writing. These seven stories show, dramatically, why that has happened. In their Hugo- and Nebula-winning "Stardance," Spider and Jeanne Robinson explore the grandest setting any performer ever had...John Varley's stranded space crew discovers unthought-of-wonders in "In the Hall of the Martian Kings"...Frankenstein's monster penetrates the depths of the Earth un Utley and Waldrop's "Black as the Pit, from Pole to Pole"...and Raccoona Sheldon, George R.R. Martin, Edward Bryant and Michael Bishop, contribute memorable tales of the limits of human experience. Introduction—The screwfly solution / Raccoona Sheldon—In the hall of the Martian kings / John Varley—Particle theory / Edward Bryant—Bitterblooms / George R. R.Martin—Black as the pit, from pole to pole / Steven Utley and Howard Waldrop—The house of compassionate sharers / Michael Bishop—Stardance / Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson.