The first annual anthology for any serial fiction, edited by Everett Bleiler and T. E. Dikty and published in 1949. Twelve Science Fiction stories (both Short Story and Novelette) from the previous year of Pulp Magazines (1948) are collected into a single hardcover Genre Anthology.
In addition to the preface that each of the successive volumes used, this book also includes an introduction by Melvin Korshak, about the (then-)current trends of Science Fiction stories.
Works in this Anthology:
- "Mars Is Heaven", by Ray Bradbury
- "Ex Machina", by Lewis Padgett
- "The Strange Case Of John Kingman", by Murray Leinster
- "Doughnut Jockey", by Erik Fennel
- "Thang", by Martin Gardner
- "Period Piece", by JJ Coupling
- "Knock", by Fredric Brown
- "Genius", by Poul Anderson
- "And The Moon Be Still As Bright", by Ray Bradbury
- "No Connection", by Isaac Asimov
- "In Hiding", by Wilmar H Shiras
- "Happy Ending", by Henry Kuttner
The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949 contains examples of:
- "Best Of" Anthology: Published in 1949 by editors Everett F Bleiler and TE Dikty, a Genre Anthology representing works found in Pulp Magazines during the previous year. Also the first ever annual "Best Of" anthologies for Science Fiction.
- Downer Ending: Ray Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven!": The explorers land on Mars and find all their deceased relatives, apparently alive and well, until the captain of the ship realizes something was amiss, and the shapeshifting telepathic Martians go on a killing spree.
- Fake Memories: JJ Coupling's "Period Piece": After talking about Time Travel during a dinner party, Smith realizes the next morning that he couldn't have memories from a thousand years ago if there isn't any possibility of Time Travel.
- In Space, Everyone Can See Your Face: The cover has a character in a spacesuit wearing a "bubble" helmet to help market the Anthology as a Science Fiction work.
- The Last Man Heard a Knock...: Fredric Brown's "Knock": The story begins by quoting a Flash Fiction often known as the world's shortest horror story; "The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door." It continues by subverting the horror, making the knock a hopeful sign: it's the return of the last woman on Earth.
- Literary Allusion Title: Ray Bradbury's "And The Moon Be Still As Bright": The title takes its name from a line of Lord Byron's "So We'll Go No More A-Roving".
- Lotus-Eater Machine: Ray Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven!": Part of The Martian Chronicles, this story starts out as a sort of Ontological Mystery in the beginning. A crew from Earth land on Mars, which looks like Ohio at the turn of the 20th century. However, their long lost dead relatives start appearing, and everyone gets lost in the excitement of seeing old faces again. It has a Downer Ending: the residents of the town are shape-shifting telepathic Martians who put up the facade to throw the spacemen off guard. It works: that night, just as the Captain is beginning to realize this, his "brother" turns into an alien and stabs him to death. The same thing happens all over town. The next day, they have a funeral for the spacemen... and then take on their true forms and gleefully tear the ship apart.
- Master of Illusion: Ray Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven!": An expedition to Mars is surprised to find an Earth village populated by all their deceased relatives, only to realize too late it's a trap designed to lure them outside their rocketship so they can be easily murdered.
- Nostalgia Heaven: Ray Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven!": Some explorers land on Mars and are stunned to find their childhood hometown, populated by all their deceased relatives, very much alive and well. It's a trick.
- One-Word Title:
- Poul Anderson's "Genius"
- Fredric Brown's "Knock"
- Martin Gardner's "Thang"
- Pen Name:
- Lewis Padgett: "Ex Machina" is attributed to Lewis Padgett, an alias used by both Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, a husband-and-wife writing team.
- JJ Coupling: "Period Piece" is credited to Coupling, a pseudonym occasionally used by John R Pierce.
- Physical God: Lewis Padgett's "Ex Machina": Horrifyingly, one of the main characters is revealed to be a de facto god.
- Planet Eater: Martin Gardner's "Thang": The titular creature is large enough to grasp Earth between two fingers. It clears off all water and ice before chewing the planet, core and all. It, in turn, is also eaten by a planet-eater eater.
- Telepathic Spacemen: Ray Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven!": The telepathic Martians create a Lotus-Eater Machine to trap the crew of a human spaceship until they're all asleep, so the Martians can murder them easily.
- Tomato in the Mirror: JJ Coupling's "Period Piece": Smith quickly realizes that he couldn't be a time-traveller from the twentieth century, and is actually a robot with fake memories created from records of the twentieth century.
