Cordwainer Smith. The Game of Rat and Dragon. (Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955.)
The story has many excellent turns of phrase, and leads the reader through the story introducing background concepts and technology, with the odd clever ‘reveal’.
The Ninth Annual of the Year’s Best SF. Judith Merril. Simon & Schuster 1964
Stories by : William Tenn, Fred Saberhagen, Peter Redgrove, R. Bretnor, John Gallagher, Alfred Bester, Allan Danzig, Bruce McAllister, Lloyd Biggle Jr. Fritz Leiber, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Julius Feiffer, Bernard Malamud, J.F. Bone, Walt & Leigh Richmond, Fredric Brown, Frank A. Javor, Ray Nelson, Ben Bova, Andre Maurois, W.J.J. Gordon, Hal Clement, Mort Gerberg, Cliff Owsley, E.C. Tubb, Gerald Kersh, Cordwainer Smith. (Contents only).
The Fifth Annual of the Year’s Best SF. Judith Merril. Simon & Schuster 1960
Stories by : Damon Knight, Jack Finney, Avram Davidson, Cordwainer Smith, Ray Bradbury, Gordon R. Dickson, Jack Sharkey, Daniel Keyes, John W. Campbell Jr., Ralph Davidson, Clifford D. Simak, Fritz Leiber, Roger Price, Carol Emshwiller, Randall Garret, Darrel T. Langart, J.G. Ballard, Will Worthington, Theodore Sturgeon, Lawrence Block, Mark Clifton, Hilbert Schenk Jr. (Contents only).
Best Science Fiction of the Year 5. ed Terry Carr. 1976
Stories by : Algis Budrys, Cordwainer Smith, Gene Wolfe., George R. R. Martin, Gregory Benford, Harlan Ellison, John Varley, Lisa Tuttle, P.J. Plauger, Richard A. Lupoff, Robert F. Young, Ursula K. Le Guin.
The Ultimate Cyberpunk edited by Pat Cadigan, (ibooks, 2002)
But, all in all, a bit of a curate’s egg. The early stories, and the final story, don’t quite fit IMHO. And with the lack of a ‘real’ introduction, and story intros, the extra size that this volume offers over ‘Mirrorshades’ hasn’t really be used to the full. A missed opportunity.
Robert Silverberg. Science Fiction 101. ibooks inc. 2001.
A ‘How to Start Reading and Enjoying Classic Short SF’. Compulsive and required reading for anyone who wants to get into what makes short SF.