BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES OF THE YEAR: Tenth Annual Collection

A derivative but pleasantly mixed bag of ten stories--of which three have appeared elsewhere in hardback, and four others in original paperback collections. Stand-out contributions: Howard Waldrop's whimsical Southern-fried dodo yarn, ""The Ugly Chickens""; a brisk tale of African sorcery from Naomi Mitchison; Gene Wolfe's robot toys in ""War Beneath the Tree""; Suzy McKee Charnas in typical good form, with Dracula consulting an analyst; James Tip-tree, Jr.'s ""Slow Music,"" a vision of humanity's end that successfully recaptures the timeless melancholy of Aldiss' classic ""Old Hundredth""; and a post-technological-breakdown yarn from the inexperienced but imaginative Michael Swanwick. The rest, unfortunately, are clunkers--from Larry Niven, Isaac Asimov, Edward Bryant (Mesozoic ghosts, after R. A. Lafferty), and George R. R. Martin (some intriguing alien trappings degenerate into familiar spaceship-gore)--but, with Dozois' informative rundown on sf in 1980, it's a solid enough addition to this worthy, if erratic, series.