Dangerous Visions 1
★★★★★
An important anthology in the rise of the ’60s American new wave movement, breaking taboos, introducing sex to stories, and exploring experimental writing styles. Ellison adds copious forwards to each story, at times fawning over the authors and imbuing their work with more meaning than is usually delivered.
While I applaud experimentation in the genre, most of the stories miss the mark, often too reliant on shock value, or just plain heavy-handed. I’m sure in the context of the time I would feel differently, but looking back from 2025 this is purely of historical interest.
Evensong, Lester del Ray ⭐⭐⭐
Far future tale of godlike entities in pan-galactic conflict, with the emphasis on godlike.
Flies, Robert Silverberg ⭐⭐
A man is altered by aliens so that they can absorb emotions created by his grotesque actions.
The day after the day the Martians came, Fredrick Pohl ⭐⭐
A heavy-handed one-scene narrative using the discovery of Martians to highlight the racism of the period. Lacking nuance.
Riders of the purple wage, Philip José Farmer ☠️ DNF
A free-association stream-of-consciousness mess. Just awful.
The Malley system, Miriam Allen deFord ⭐
A weak excuse for some shock-value vignettes of violent crimes. I like my SF with a lot less brutal murder and molestation.
A toy for Juliette, Robert Bloch ⭐⭐
A short tale of a serial killer that’s all in the twist.
The prowler in the city at the edge of the world, Harlan Ellison ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ellison crafts an ethereal far future city that snares a killer. Crafted with a visceral sense of dislocation and horror.
The night that all time broke out, Brian W. Aldiss ⭐
A too pulpy story of man messing with time with disastrous consequences
