Roland Green in Booklist calls the book "a worthwhile addition for most sf collections" that "could be characterized as 'how the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America view the field.'"

He views the excerpt from the best novel winner as typically "inadequate" and Harrison's profile of Grand Master Brian Aldis as "idiosyncratic," while feeling Author Emeritus Daniel Keyes "speaks eloquently for himself about the origins and history of his sf masterpiece, Flowers for Algernon (1965).

But "[o]n the downside," the reviewer scores "the reluctance of SF/fantasy to examine itself," giving as examples the introduction, in which Silverberg "burbles gently," and Wolfe's handling of "the year's roundup ...; not surprisingly, he has nothing cogent to say," and decries the fact that, "despite the passing of such luminaries as A. E. van Vogt, Marion Zimmer Bradley, James White, and Stanley Kubrick, no obituaries appear."

The review also takes to task Author Emeritus Daniel Keyes's description of "the genesis of his extraordinary and moving story 'Flowers for Algernon'; perusing this piece, readers will also understand why he never wrote anything else of real consequence."

In summation, "[t]he quality of the fiction's not in dispute, but it's hard to justify that sky-high price tag for a short volume consisting mostly of reprints.