• Introduction: The "Best" of the Year • essay by David Garnett [as by David S. Garnett]
• Forever Yours, Anna • (1987) • short story by Kate Wilhelm
• The Sun Spider • (1987) • novelette by Lucius Shepard
• Goodbye Houston Street, Goodbye • (1987) • short story by Richard Kadrey
• Friend's Best Man • (1987) • short story by Jonathan Carroll
• The Wound • (1987) • short story by Lisa Tuttle
• E-Ticket to 'Namland • (1987) • novelette by Dan Simmons (variant of E-Ticket to Namland)
• Ménage à Super-Trois • (1987) • short story by Felix C. Gotschalk
• Rachel in Love • (1987) • novelette by Pat Murphy
• Agents • (1987) • novelette by Paul Di Filippo
• Lapidary Nights • (1987) • short story by Marta Randall
• Murderers Walk • (1987) • short story by Garry Kilworth
• Thirty Minutes Over Broadway! • [Wild Cards] • (1987) • novelette by Howard Waldrop
• The Annotated Jetboy • (1986) • essay by Howard Waldrop
• Opposite Numbers • (1988) • essay by Brian W. Aldiss [as by Brian Aldiss]
• Science Fiction Novels of the Year (The Orbit Science Fiction Yearbook 1) • essay by John Clute
• Forever Changes • essay by David Garnett [as by David S. Garnett]