Dangerous Visions!

I've finally done it. I've finally read all of the 1967 anthology Dangerous Visions edited by the rambunctious Harlan Ellison. For science fiction fans of a certain age this is who's who in the field. It's a crossroads of sorts with plenty of classic names from science fiction's "Golden Age" such as Asimov, Del Rey, Sturgeon, and Pohl. And fresher faces who went on to become a new generation of renowned talents such as Spinrad, Zelazny and Delany. And lots of talents who fall in between such as Farmer, Knight and Dick. The collection garnered two Hugos and two Nebulas for the stories within. Not a bad showing at all for novice editor Harlan Ellison.  

As much as I enjoy Ellison's fiction, I think I prefer his nonfiction better. And this collection offers up some dazzling little essays introducing the various talents. His snark is full on display as he praises and pinches the writers within. Those who are his friends get especially sharp barbs. Each story is also accompanied by an afterword from the author. They range from a single sentence to much larger reflections. 

Here is the table of contents: 

"Foreword 1 - The Second Revolution" by Isaac Asimov'

"Foreword 2 - Harlan and I" by Asimov

"Thirty-Two Soothsayers" (Introduction) by Harlan Ellison

"Evensong" by Lester Del Rey

"Flies" by Robert Silverberg

"The Day After the Martians Came" by Frederick Pohl

"Riders of the Purple Wage" by Phillip Jose Farmer (Hugo for bet novella)

"The Malley System" by Miriam Allen de Ford

"A Toy for Juliette" by Robert Bloch

"The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World" by Harlan Ellison

"The Night that All Time Broke Out" Brian W. Aldiss
"The Man Who Went to the Moon -- Twice" by Howard Rodman

"Faith of Our Fathers" by Philip K. Dick

"The Jigsaw Man" by Larry Niven

"Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Lieber (Hugo and Nebula for best Novelette)

"Lord Randy, My Son" Joe L. Hensley

"Eutopia" by Poul Anderson

"Incident in Moderan" and "The Escaping" by David R. Bunch

"The Doll-House" by Hugh Jones Parry

"Sex and/or Mr. Morrison" by Carol Emshwiller

"Shall the Dust Praise Thee?" Damon Knight

"If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?" by Ted Sturgeon

"What Happened to Auguste Clarot?" by Larry Eisenberg

"Ersatz" by Henry Slesar

"Go, Go, Go, Said the Bird" by Sony Dorman

'The Happy Breed" by John Sladek

"Encounter with a Hick" by Jonathan Brand

"From the Government Printing Office" by Kris Neville

"Land of the Great Horses" by R. A. Lafferty

"The Recognition" by J. G. Ballard

"Judas" by John Brunner
"Test to Destruction" by Keith Laumer

"Carcinoma Angels" by Norman Spinrad

"Auto-da-Fe" by Roger Zelazny

"Aye, and Gormorrah" by Samuel R. Delany (Nebula for best short story)

I haven't the inclination to review every story. But some that stood out were "Eutopia" by Anderson, "The Happy Breed" by Sladek, "Test to Destruction" by Laumer, "The Night that All Time Broke Out" by Aldiss, and "Evensong" by Del Rey. I found all the stories enjoyable in their own way, but I will have to say I'll need to read "Riders of the Purple Wage" by Farmer again to fully grok it. The stories were selected because in most cases they pushed boundaries at a time when boundaries desperately need to be pushed. (Actually, they probably need to be tested all the time.) I wasn't shocked especially by any story, but I'm reading these tales in 2025, over half a century from when they were concocted and first published. That the stories feel fresh at all is a triumph for the collection, but perhaps a sad commentary on society. 

As tall peak as Dangerous Visons was, it's sequel Again, Dangerous Visions is even more daunting. I've already dived into it and expect a report when I get get through with it. That's going to take a spell. 

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The Astounding, The Amazing, And The Unknown!

The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont is a rousing sequel to his novel The Chinatown Death  Cloud Peril, about the here-to-fore unknown adventures of pulp writers Walter Gibson and Lester Dent (both are also on hand for this adventure too). After too long a delay, I've at long last gotten around to reading this delicious story. This tale is set a few years later during 1944 when the momentum in the second World War was shifting to the side of the Allies (though of course they couldn't know that then). One of the best aspects of this novel is the way it presents the dread permeating the society as a deadly war engulfed the imagination and the resources of the entire globe.

At the center of this sprawling yarn is Nicola Tesla, the celebrated (now) genius who had among other things in his famous career tried to give the world free global communication and possibly power in 1908 with the Wardenclyffe Project, a grand mushroom-shaped tower which would broadcast energy worldwide. It was an unfinished project, which in our real world is becoming a museum to celebrate Tesla, but in this novel its the centerpiece of several schemes to possibly control the planet, if it works that is.

Drawn into this mystery are Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague DeCamp, and Isaac Asimov, three pulp writers collected by Astounding editor John W. Campbell as a braintrust of sorts for the military, their mission to dream up the war toys of the future before Hitler's boys do the same for the dictator. The center of their work in the city of Philadelphia is an experiment to render a battleship invisible to mines and possibly radar. We meet the men, their wives and their lovers as they wrestle with  each other, their superiors, and the enemy to accomplish their mission. The real and the fictional blend in fascinating ways in the hands of Malmont, a sure and confident writer.

Also along for this wild ride is one Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, another pulp writer who has had less than a distinguished Navy career and finds himself tagging along and finally apart from the above gang of writers as he follows his own part of the elaborate mission. His bizarre personal life, which includes peculiar and eccentric religious rites and strange sex, resonate through the story of what I might even call "the secret history of Scientology".

On display in a way which I've never quite seen is the world of fandom itself. These writers are strong personalities and they have history, history which is quite unseemly at times. Their feuds are at once funny and exceedingly callow, but we get a sense despite all that, these are men who truly believe in something outside themselves, wishing for something better and newer for the entire world.

We hear of a real-life story titled "Deadline" by Cleve Cartmill which scares the United States government so much they send agents to investigate what must have been a leak of national secrets. We meet other writers such as Norvell Page, Hugh B. Cave, Fred Pohl, and Ray Bradbury. We encounter celebrities doing service for their country like Jimmy Stewart and Albert Einstein. The story goes from Philadelphia to Alaska to New York City to the South Pacific and back again.

There's a lot going on in this novel which grabs you and never lets go. The story is full of humor and real danger, not just for our protagonists but for the world itself. We visit remote parts of the world and see little discussed parts of the great war. This is a rich novel which at once celebrates its pulp writer heroes but at the same time makes them human in ways which make you care about them even more.

Highly recommended reading.

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