by Harlan Ellison
p. 1967
This collection of short stories was my first introduction
to science fiction writer, Harlan Ellison, lent to me by a friend who knew I
would enjoy Ellison’s style. Indeed, the man does have a certain offbeat
approach to science fiction which focuses on the characters over setting and
plot. Ellison is not afraid to disgust his readers, to challenge them to form
opinions on his writing. The titular story—which details the horrific, torturous lives of the five remaining humans in the wasteland reality that was
the result of a vengeful supercomputer taking over the world—is an ugly,
violent picture of a dystopian future of our own doing. In each of his stories,
Ellison is nothing if not insistent that we bring our greatest pain on
ourselves.
My favorite story of the bunch was “Delusion for a
Dragonslayer,” the dreamlike account of a man’s immediate entry into the
afterlife after living an unfulfilled life. Upon arrival, he is given the
opportunity to achieve the more eminent life he’s always coveted, but only upon
completion of a quest... which he promptly fails in a hilarious rejection of
convention that I was not expecting. It’s only then he is confronted with the reality of his failures in
life as the ‘dream’ turns into a hellish nightmare. I particularly liked the unusual intro to this story, a list of unplanned and peculiar deaths reminiscent of the protagonist's own untimely demise.
If I had one complaint about Ellison’s collection presented
here, it’s that almost every single story in the bunch had a female character
who betrayed the male protagonist or at the very least failed to love him. As a
consequence, the female characters—even if they did nothing to deserve it—are frequently
abused, verbally or physically, and not given much care or consideration, much
less characterization. It’s hard not to wonder how much of Ellison’s true character is peeking through in these depictions; if I had to hazard a guess I’d
say Ellison’s own experience with feminine betrayal inspired a great deal of
these stories.
Ellison had the unique habit of preceding every story in
this book—and the collection as a whole—with his own personal introductions, a
little slice into the mind of the man poised above the typewriter. I found them
to be a little cheesy but it was interesting to get an idea of what Ellison was
all about when he conceived of each story. Near the end, he mentions that some
people hate the intros, some people abide them, and a select few absolutely
love them and wish he would write an entire book just using his real voice. As
I generally liked his self-deprecating and conversational style, I probably
would the idea of some sort of creative nonfiction book by Ellison, assuming he
had an interesting story to tell and not one about the bitch who double-crossed
and abandoned him. Otherwise, that might get a little tedious. Until then, I
will stick to his detours into the darker side of science fiction.
* Bonus points for the best title I've ever seen on a pulp sci-fi novel. As soon as Zach told me what this book was called I knew I had to read it for myself.
