eBook Dangerous Visions download

Simply the best short story collection in the history of Science Fiction. Given the extraordinary hubris of Mr. Ellison, it's amazing that for once his swagger is warranted. At its core is a collection of better-than-average short stories by a bunch of the writers circa mid-60s. But what makes this collection is Harlan's foreward, and the authors' rebuttals of that in their own afterwords, and their reflections on their own writings. In this version Harlan adds another layer of reflection on the lives of the authors who have now passed away or otherwise faded from view. Entertaining as sci-fi and fascinating for anyone who aspires to writing.

The best part of this book is Harlan Ellison's introductions. He's got two for the book and one for each story. That makes 33 total. The man likes to write and it shows. Another thing that comes through is the respect that he holds for his writers. He truly loves them and their stories. It's hard for the reader to not get caught up when the editor himself is such an adamant cheerleader.

I have to admit I didn't find much of it dangerous, but I could see that that wouldn't have been true back when it was first published. We're different now and what we've seen in our entertainment has changed much in the last 40 years. We've matured. Most of the stories are well written, though, and it doesn't matter if they are no longer dangerous. Carol Emshwiller's writing style is as fresh now as it was back in the 60s. Same with PKD. Great discoveries for me include the Hollywood writer: Howard Rodman; the weird writer: David R. Bunch; the beautiful writer: Roger Zelazny; the tried and true writer: Lester Del Rey.

The most dangerous story here was Theodore Sturgeon's. It was a tale of accepted incest. Still controversial and weird in my opinion. I am a fan of Sturgeon's work, but I must say, this story felt overwritten to me. A disappointment almost. He's a great writer and I enjoyed the ride, but it did go on a bit.

Good book to have in your collection because there are so many references to it. And when it comes to science fiction, anything new is old after a decade, so you can't expect it to remain astounding, amazing, dangerous forever.

The main thing is the literary quality. It's tops. That more than anything else has kept this book on the required reading pile. You could have worse homework.

This collection is the second volume of science fiction stories collected by Harlan Ellison. He intends them to represent the creative and unrestrained voices that were emerging in the genre at that time. The first volume is Dangerous Visions; a planned third volume was never published.

Here are five of the forty that I liked a little more than the rest:

Ursula Le Guin's "The Word for World is Forest" is the novella version of the subsequently published novel The Word for World is Forest. Heavily influenced by the author's view of the Vietnam War, the story chronicles human colonization of the planet Athshe and their exploitation of its native sentient species. Initially passive, the natives eventual decide they have had enough.

Joanna Russ's "When It Changed" takes place on the planet Whileaway where there have been no men for centuries. When male astronauts from Earth reestablish contact with this lost colony, it is clear that contact with men will impact the planet's culture and values. Not everyone is pleased at the prospect.

Chad Olliver's "King of the Hill" begins in the near future on an Earth expiring in a swamp of pollutants. Sam looks around him for some way to use his great wealth to make this dying place a little better. He sees no hope. So he turns his attention to who will inherit when he is gone.

Piers Anthony's "In the Barn" is built around the existence of parallel realities, each with its own Earth, solar system, stars, etc. Some realities differ greatly from ours, some differ only slightly. Hitch is an investigator who travels between realities to evaluate differences from our own and the advisability of official contact. In his latest investigation he makes a close contact within Reality #772's dairy industry and learns the importance of proper breeding.

Ben Bova's "Zero Gee" is a roommate story. Chet, Jill, and Linda spend a few days in a space station on a mission for the U.S. Air Force. There isn't a lot of privacy. And sometimes three really is a crowd. `Nuff said.

And there is even some interesting poetry by Ray Bradbury. There are some good stories here. Most do not have that frantic, trying-too-hard-to-shock feel that was too much present in the first volume. Perhaps the nearly ten years that passed between the two publication dates had something to do with it. The new voices were starting to become the voices we were used to. Whatever the reason, the result is a better collection of stories. Enjoy!

Read this quite a while ago with my science fiction book club and my recollection is that it was well-received by nearly everyone. Based more on some written notes I found tucked inside than on any concrete memory of the book, it looks like my favorite stories were "Roll Them Bones" (Leiber), "Lord Randy, My Son" (Hensley), "Judas" (Brunner), "Auto-Da-Fé" (Zelazny), and "Aye, and Gomorrah" (Delany). Highlights also included the afterwards written by Zelazny and Delany for their respective stories. Zelazny's is an explanation of what a writer does, and Delany's is an explanation of sci-fi itself.