A better collection than I expected from the time. A varied tone to the stories, and a good few real originals in subject matter and style. Story summaries (no spoilers) and one-line reviews follow:

Sunjammer - Arthur C. Clarke
A tale of a yacht race, but in space with solar sails. In space, storms of a different kind can still bring danger to sailors.

Ron Goulart - Calling Dr Clockwork

A cautionary tale about a future of two-tier medicine, where the lower tier get served by robots that just do it by the book.

Becalmed In Hell - Larry Niven

The first manned mission to Venus has two humans on board, but only one of them has a body. A twist on the embedded-brain story and what happens when the ship's failings aren't entirely mechanical. Or perhaps they are. Our protagonists don't really have the time to find out which.

Apartness - Vernon Vinge

A post-apocalyptic world where the Northern Hemisphere was pretty much wiped out, leaving South America, Africa and Australasia as the world powers in a post-technology society where astrologers once again have the ear of kings. A mission to Antarctica uncovers something unexpected.

Over the river and through the woods - Clifford D. Simak

Time-travelling children make it back to 19th century rural America. Where from and why?

Planet of Forgetting - James H. Schmitz

A story that has grown on me over time. It begins with the protagonist, a military spy of some sort, sitting disoriented on an unfamiliar world aware that he has lost an indeterminate amount of his recent memory. Tension thus established, the story then unfurls as he discovers more of that lost memory and more about what led him to lose it. There are two final twists, one more expected and heralded than the other. In many ways this story is very much of its time - a military setting, a casual assumption of war as an almost normal state and dated attitudes towards the few female characters. Yet it the idea is original and the exploration of it is well done, and these qualities redeem it. It's also worth noting that the author is almost certainly trying to make his female characters less cypher-like than many of his contemporaries, though the attempt ultimately fails.

"Repent, Harlequin" said the ticktockman - Harlan Ellison

One of Ellison's now-fabled stories, anthologised here in the year it was written. It bears all of his good and bad qualities. It is set on a future Earth where society is strictly controlled, by time more than any other value. Those who waste time are doomed to lose it, enforced by the TickTockMan. This is Ellison, so naturally there's a rebel with a 60s situationist feel to him, and finally there's an encounter. And, in this case, an ambiguous aftermath. Shouty, gaudy and original.

The Decision Makers - Joseph Green

As humans explore the stars, we have a small group of philosophers with us whose job is to assess whether life-forms we encounter are sufficiently intelligent to prevent exploitation of their worlds - the Decision Makers of the title. In this story, one such has an unusual case to assess. At least, it's presented as 'unusual' - I didn't find this or the outcome very satisfying. The telling is atmospheric, though, and the aliens involved have a genuine otherness to them.

Traveler's Rest - David I. Masson

A story that begins on the frontline of a war and slowly moves away from it, making clear in the process that some strange process of time compression operates between the front and the relatively peaceful hinterlands. The conclusion didn't come as a surprise but that doesn't detract from a powerful story which fits a lot of emotion in a small space.

Uncollected Works - Lin Carter

An elderly literary critic retells a tale from his youth; a mysterious encounter, a machine loosely based on the million monkeys with typewriters. They have successfully recreated the works of Shakespeare and much more. What did they do next?

A simple and original twist on a well-worn theme and expertly told.

Vanishing Point - Jonathan Brand

Bill Murray was a spaceship engineer. Now he's a father of two young daughters who love to hear him tell a tale of his youthful adventures, when he formed part of a delegation to meet a planetary Federation on a strange place on the solar system's edge.

A somewhat contrived premise that doesn't quite work - but the telling is done well.

In Our Block - R.A. Lafferty

Art and Jim wander out to the shacks at the bad end of town. There's a lot of new folks in them setting up in all sorts of trade. There again, there always were a lot of strange folk on that block.

I'm rarely disappointed by a Lafferty story, and this one maintains the standard. Gently humorous and with a great underlying idea.

Masque of the Red Shift - Fred Saberhagen

A ruthless emperor, an interstellar war, and the Berserkers - leftover war machines that just like destroying everyone. Intrigue and peril result.

Too much of the tone of sword-and-sorcery mixed with space opera for my taste.

The Captive Djinn - Christopher Anvil

"Any sufficiently advanced technology appears to be magic", said Arthur C. Clarke. In this case, it's the aliens who end up with this perception when encountering an Earthling. Their own internal divisions between effete court attendees and the military doesn't help them.

The Good New Days - Fritz Leiber

In an automated future people end up with multiple make-work jobs, such as smiling in public places to make people feel happier. Ma and her sons are fighting their way out of the slum, but Ma isn't too well. The robot doctor arrives.

A typical 1960s tale of post-consumer society, but a great atmospheric piece. ( )

Originally published as The World's Best SF 1966