Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison
Originally released in 1967, Dangerous Visions is still widely regarded as the most outstanding collection of science fiction stories ever assembled. Over 30 short tales, novelettes, and novellas are included in it. Each one has an introduction, almost often written by the collection’s editor Harlan Ellison, who himself contributes a story and a brief afterword by the author.
One of the best authors of science fiction and fantasy short stories is Harlan Ellison, and I have every book he has ever published. When this book was launched, there was a lot of excitement because it comprised brief writings by both well-known and lesser-known authors, all of whom had the goal of crafting a tale that would question accepted worldviews.
Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison
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- Used Book in Good Condition
These thirty-two tales were gathered by Harlan Ellison to introduce readers to the “new” voice in science fiction of the 1960s, a voice that flouted norms, broke taboos, and raised questions. He desired narratives that made a point. “Each tale is almost inexorably amusing. However, each one also contains many concepts. Not just the same old pulp fiction concepts you’ve read a hundred times before, but new and risky concepts.”
This anthology and its follow-up, Again, Dangerous Visions, are significant turning points in the history of science fiction and they are full of fresh and thought-provoking concepts. Many of the stories pop out at the reader with a perceptible, but not off-putting, air of adolescence. Two of the shorter stories give you an idea of this. Without saying much further, Henry Slesar’s “Ersatz” shocks 1960s sensibilities in a sexual way. In a similar way, Damon Knight’s “Shall the Dust Praise Thee?” uses religion for no good reason. It is a 1960s phenomenon.
