Who among us is not happy about boxes of different chocolates, each one a complete surprise1even novelty? Anthologies are the narrative equivalent. While one might tire of reading one story after another by the same person2Anthologies mean that you open a box of chocolates containing stories from many authors. The only common denominator: the editor’s taste.
Long-running anthology series offer all of the above and more. When you finish a volume, there are even more boxes of chocolates to sample. Plus, a long-running series promises additional delights: search used bookstores for missing volumes. You simply can’t go wrong with long-running anthology series.3.
Here are five series you might want to add to your to-read pile (also known as Mount Tsundoku).
The best SF of the year edited by Judith Merril (1956–1968)
Judith Merrill The best SF of the year was notable for several reasons, one of which was that (as far as I know) her series was the only annual Best SF series run by a single woman in the 1920s.th century (at least in English). Another reason was Merril’s diligence in finding good stories in places other editors had overlooked.4and it also highlighted stories by authors not known as SF writers. You could never be quite sure what you would find in a Merril. Best SF Volume.
Published under various titles as SF: The best science fiction and fantasy of the year, The best SF of the year, 9th Annual SFAnd The best of science fiction, Best SF lasted twelve volumes… unless you count Merril’s The best of the bestwhich, depending on how one looks at the overlapping anthologies of Delacorte and Mayflower, added between one and three more volumes to the list5.
Nebula Award Stories (from 1966)
The Nebula Awards honor notable speculative fiction, as voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Initiated by Lloyd Biggle in 1965, anthologies featuring the Nebula winners and (some) runners-up have been published nearly every year since then, under the direction of rotating editors.
The series can be read as a documentary about the development of speculative fiction over the last seven decades. This is reflected in the delightful variety of titles under which the stories have been published: Nebula Award Stories, Nebula Winners, The Nebula Awards, Nebula Awards, Presentation of the Nebula Awardsand maybe others I missed. Despite what seem to be Covid-caused stumbling blocks on the road to the final volumes, the series has produced an impressive 55 volumes to date.
The best science fiction of the year (1984–2018)
Gardner Dozois’ The best science fiction of the year was easily recognized among the countless Best SF annuals. Dozois’ anthologies (which he inexplicably called “collections”) were massive tomes, ranging from just under six hundred to over seven hundred pages. Amazingly, The best science fiction of the year was a one-man show: Dozois read widely and extensively, without the legions of helpers he had probably recruited.
Not only is each volume so large that it presents a challenge to readers who are pressed for time, but Dozois has also published an astonishing number of volumes: thirty-five plus three additional volumes covering the The best of the best. The series would be worth a look just for its yearly summary of events in the field. Good thing that most (or all?) volumes seem to be in print, at least as e-books.
Tesseract (from 1985)
Tesseract curates remarkable Canadian science fiction6. First directed by Judith Merril – Merril appears again and again in the story of 20th Century SF – each volume is edited by a different editor or a different pair of editors7. Furthermore, the volumes are thematically different and have only the requirement in common to be as Canadian as possible under the circumstances.
To date, Tesseract comprises an impressive twenty-two numbered volumes, plus Tesseract Q (contains 20 years of science fiction stories by Quebec authors and is available in English translation). There doesn’t seem to have been a new volume since 2019 (is Covid to blame?). Unusually for a series whose first volumes were published so long ago, the entire series seems to be available from Edge publishers.
The best fantasy and horror novels of the year (1987–2008)
Originally titled The best fantasy of the yearHorror was added to the title in the third year. For many years, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling8 The editorial duties were shared by Datlow, who wrote horror, and Windling, who wrote fantasy. In later volumes, Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link took over the editing of Windling.
Like the Dozois series, this multiple World Fantasy Award winner offers a shelf-worthy read. Each of the twenty-one volumes is a tome. Although the series didn’t last quite as long as Dozois, Datlow, Windling, Grant and Link offered something Dozois didn’t: eye-catching cover art by Thomas Canty.
Have I missed your favorite long-running anthology series? One that’s sure to both delight and intimidate readers with its length, volume, and massive space requirements? Feel free to mention it in the comments below.
