Annual World's Best Science Fiction, 1985

The best stuff to be found here is in the middle, back to back in fact, with Varley and Effinger. A 3.65 average, which is definitely good, but which is also a bit below your standard Year's Best of these days, and the percentage of average is too high, but still some good work from Shepard and Donaldson, too. Donald Wollheim 14 : The Picture Man - John Dalmas Donald Wollheim 14 : Cash Crop - Connie Willis Donald Wollheim 14 : We Remember Babylon - Ian Watson Donald Wollheim 14 : What Makes Us Human - Stephen R. Donaldson Donald Wollheim 14 : Salvador - Lucius Shepard Donald Wollheim 14 : PRESS ENTER - John Varley Donald Wollheim 14 : The Aliens Who Knew I Mean Everything - George Alec Effinger Donald Wollheim 14 : Bloodchild - Octavia E. Butler Donald Wollheim 14 : The Coming of the Goonga - Gary W. Shockley Donald Wollheim 14 : Medra - Tanith Lee Finnish precog racetrack plan. 4 out of 5 Breeding resistance. 3.5 out of 5 Satellite broadcast instruction propaganda. 3 out of 5 Berserker freeze out. 4 out of 5 Spooked Special Forces pill popper's spinout. 3.5 out of 5 Electronic entity killer discovery. 4.5 out of 5 Don't you worry about that, nuhp nuhp. 4.5 out of 5 Parasite pregnancy punishing for people. 3 out of 5 Alien invasion Loud Giant implant zeromaster coming. 3.5 out of 5 Goldman killrun doomsday device dame protection discovery. 3 out of 5

This collection of stories was enjoyable to read. All ten are decent stories that explore interesting ideas in SF. The aliens in particular are mostly quite original. The 5 star stories are "Press Enter" by John Varley, "Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler and "The Coming of the Goonga" by Gary Shockley. 4 stars for "Cash Crop" by Connie Willis, and "What Makes Us Human" by Stephen Donaldson. 3 stars for " The Picture Man" by John Dalmas, "We Remember Babylon" by Ian Watson, "Salvador" by Lucius Shepard,and "Medra" by Tanith Lee. 1 star for "The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything" by George Effinger. Pitifully unfunny Mad TV script I suppose. "The Coming of the Goonga" is probably my favorite. Those are truly original, intelligent aliens with a different culture and life. Love the zeromaster. Worthwhile buy.