THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS … EDITED by: Harlan Ellison and J. Michael Stracynski
Published: 10/ 1/ 2024 by Blackstone Publications
Page Count: 450




Finally! The long awaited completion of the legendary trilogy of “Dangerous Visions” has arrived. Sadly it arrives six years after Ellison’s death in 2018 …. and more than fifty years after it’s originally announced publication. Regardless, it provides a welcome tribute and addition to the lore of this magnificent giant of the genre. Ellison’s close friend has successfully taken on this monumental task of bringing this dream to fruition. J. Michael Stracynski provides a marvelous essay to help explain the demons that haunted Ellison throughout his career which was responsible for his misunderstood demeanor and inability to complete this project. His essay alone is worth the price of admission. Presented are thirty-two stories of speculative fiction … some are dated, but all worth the reading. Just to mention a few five-star stories:
the compelling ,War stories by Edward Bryant; the haunting, The Final Pogrom by Dan Simmons; Binary System by Kayo Hartenbaum. Stracynski provides an introduction and author biography for each story in the tradition of Ellison’s previous works.
Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. I would recommend this original anthology to any fan of speculative fiction. I have longed to read this since the original publication of Dangerous Visions in 1967, which shaped by love for the genre.

Harlan Ellison was a complicated man. If you’d like to know just how complicated, J. Michael “Joe” Straczynski has written a beautiful tribute to his closest friend. I recommend getting this book for that alone, really. However, the anthology also contains some good stories, and I loved immersing myself in the different science fiction worlds and realities. There are some duds, of course, but there’s more good than bad here.

Pick this up in October!

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I was not familiar with the Dangerous Visions anthology series previous to this last edition, and rather was familiarized with Ellison's work from simply I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream. After learning about The Last Dangerous Visions and the hurdles that took place while collecting these stories, to the point of this last installment being published posthumously, I can't help but feel honored to have the chance of reading this ARC. All the work that went into completing this, as well as Ellison's all personal life getting in the way of the project, this is truly a work that is a labor of his love for Dangerous Visions and his struggle to see it through, as well as a project that honors him, in the way others took on the torch to carry this project to this point in time.

I will say tho, reviewing anthologies still proves a great personal challenge, specially as they are usually so many that I just am not interested in, or that I go into knowing nothing about, yet, I read forth. "First Sight" was a specific favorite of mine to read specially after just reading another book by Tchaikovsky.

Is it possible to wait 50 years for one book? Yes. Fans of Harlan Ellison and/or his Dangerous Visions collections have been waiting for this particular book for just that long.
Is it possible for a book that one has been waiting for for half a century to even come close to meeting fifty years' worth of expectations? Ahhh, that is the real question, isn't it? The answer is a resounding "Yes!" The stories ... well let me get to the stories in a minute.

Although this project was underway in the 1970's, the late Harlan Ellison was constantly questioned "When would it come out?" "What's taking so long?" This isn't a surprise. The first two books garnered a lot of attention, really pushed some boundaries and quite probably changed the face of science fiction and speculative fiction. So, the last volume ... where is it?

The brilliant J. Michael Straczynski - author, editor, and perhaps Harlan Ellison's closest living friend - has picked up the Dangerous Visions torch and seen it through to publication. In doing so, Straczynski opens the books (after the Introduction) with a 58 page essay titled "Ellison Exegesis" in which he explains the real reasons why this book was fifty years in the making. If you are human, and not a psychopath, you will certainly be moved by what you read. Straczynski is frank and almost brutal - though the word has a negative connotation and I don't mean it that way at all.

Harlan Ellison suffered his demons. Those of us who were not friends, but fans, were not aware of this. Our heroes aren't supposed to be human, after all.

What Straczynski reveals - from his relationship with Ellison to the depths of Harlan's troubles - is worth the price of the book. Especially if you have been waiting 50 years for this volume or you're a fan of Ellison's work.

To the collection:

Straczynski provides the majority of the introductions (read that "Ellison Exegesis" to understand the importance of this) and has picked a few stories to be added to the collection. As he explains, over the course of fifty years, some authors whose work has initially been selected to appear in the volume have asked for the rights back in order to be published elsewhere. Others are, perhaps, no longer 'dangerous' to the modern reader.

Overall I found the anthology to be of high caliber and great reading. So often in a collection like this there are one or two stories (at least I hope for only one or two) that don't speak to me at all. All the stories here were enjoyable and if I wasn't familiar with the author, I've already gone and looked them up to see what else of theirs is available to read.

Though nothing was a bomb, a couple of stories stood out to me. First was Cecil Castellucci's "After Taste" - an interesting storing of eating alien cuisine.

I can't say that I've been a big fan of Cory Doctorow's writing (I don't dislike it, but I'm generally not inclined to pick up a book with his name on it) but I did enjoy "The Weight of a Feather (The Weight of a Heart)".

Kayo Hartenbaum is one of those authors with whom I am not familiar. "Binary System" is possibly one of the more 'dangerous' stories in the collection and I was definitely impressed.

The book is very delightfully illustrated by artist Tim Kirk. I remember Kirk's work from the 1970's. The work here - whether from the 70's or the 2020's (I'm not sure when these were done) - is very strong.

This book contains the following:

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS by J. Michael Straczynski
ELLISON EXEGESIS by J. Michael Straczynski
ASSIGNMENT NO.1 by Stephen Robinett
HUNGER by Max Brooks
INTERMEZZO 1: BROKEN, BEAUTIFUL BODY ON BEACH by D. M. Rowles
NONE SO DEAF by Richard E. Peck
INTRODUCTION TO ED BRYANT’S “WAR STORIES” by Harlan Ellison
WAR STORIES by Edward Bryant
INTERMEZZO 2: BEDTIME STORY by D. M. Rowles
THE GREAT FOREST LAWN CLEARANCE SALE—HURRY, LAST DAYS! by Stephen Dedman
INTERMEZZO 3: EVEN BEYOND OLYMPUS by D. M. Rowles
AFTER TASTE by Cecil Castellucci
LEVELED BEST by Steve Herbst
THE TIME OF THE SKIN by A. E. Van Vogt
RUNDOWN by John Morressy
INTERMEZZO 4: ELEMENTAL by D. M. Rowles
THE WEIGHT OF A FEATHER (THE WEIGHT OF A HEART) by Cory Doctorow
THE MALIBU FAULT by Jonathan Fast
THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM by Howard Fast
INTERMEZZO 5: FIRST CONTACT by D. M. Rowles
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA by Robert Wissner
GOODBYE by Steven Utley
PRIMORDIAL FOLLIES by Robert Sheckley
MEN IN WHITE by David Brin
INTERMEZZO 6: CONTINUITY by D. M. Rowles
THE FINAL POGROM by Dan Simmons
INTERMEZZO 7: THE SPACE BEHIND THE OBVIOUS by D. M. Rowles
FALLING FROM GRACE by Ward Moore
FIRST SIGHT by Adrian Tchaikovsky
INTERMEZZO 8: PROOF by D. M. Rowles
BINARY SYSTEM by Kayo Hartenbaum
DARK THRESHOLD by P. C. Hodgell
THE DANANN CHILDREN LAUGH by Mildred Downey Broxon
JUDAS ISCARIOT DIDN’T KILL HIMSELF: A STORY IN FRAGMENTS by James S. A. Corey
AFTERWORD: TETELESTAI! COMPILING THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS
Looking for a good book? Last Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison (and J. Michael Straczynski) was worth waiting for, with powerful fiction for modern readers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley and Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Dangerous Visions is the final anthology edited by Harlan Ellison with acclaimed writers in various fields presenting challenging stories. Its being released in October posthumously and I received it early from Net Galley. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the two introductions for this anthology. And those introductions are great, especially the second one which gives the reader a better understanding of why Ellison was the way he was. It was a great read.

However, the anthology went downhill after that. Some of the stories were interesting, while others I felt were too complicated or dream like. The material is challenging and its supposed to be challenging and yet I didn't find most of it enjoyable. I have to admit that I gave up on the book half-way through. I just felt no drive to finish reading the rest of the stories. Ellison's own stories, in the Greatest Hits, were amazing. They were challenging but also gripping and I didn't want to stop reading them.

The Last Dangerous Visions was a mistake on my part though. I wish I hadn't requested it for review. I thought I'd love it. Yes, I knew it was stories by different authors other than Ellison but I thought I'd love it. I didn't and I want to apologize to the publisher. I thank you for giving me the chance to check this out. It was unfortunately not for me, but I do think that if you love challenging material and want stories that are unique and different, then perhaps this could be worth a look for you.

If you are an Harlan Ellison fan, the second introduction is at least worth reading. That was my favorite part of the anthology without a doubt. I learned more about Ellison and Straczynski. For me, that part was worth reading. I wish the rest of the anthology had kept my attention.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing a digital copy of this book for review. The Last Dangerous Visions comes out on October 1st, 2024.

Short story collections by their nature are hit and miss. The classic, almost unavoidable go-to review is calling a collection a “mixed bag” or noting only “some of the stories hit.” Honestly, I wish I could go that far with The Last Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison (kind of) and J. Michael Straczynski (kind of), but the disappointing reality is that most of these stories rather than some “didn’t hit” for me, and of the 32 pieces I could only name five or six I’d call good to excellent, with a pretty steep drop-off from that handful.

If you’ve been around a while, you’re familiar with Ellison the author and the controversial figure, with the first two Dangerous Visions volumes and their impact on the genre, and with at least some of the long, tortured story of why the always-planned final one is only appearing decades later and years after Ellison’s death. If you haven’t been around and all of that means nothing to you, I’m not going to go into it here as Straczynski does it far better, far more personally, and far more movingly than I could in the quite lengthy essay entitled “Ellison Exegesis” that opens the anthology. After the explanation, which involves a lot of painful revelations, we get the 32 stories, most originally chosen by Ellison, and a few commissioned by Straczynski. Woven throughout are several “Intermezzos” by D.M. Rowles, artwork by Tim Kirk, and introductions and author bios for each story, both written by Straczynski in the tradition of Ellison’s original two volumes.

I’m not going to belabor the issues I had with specific stories. Suffice to say a number of them felt flat stylistically, predictable in terms of plot, weak in terms of character depth, and some just seemed as if they’d aged out since the time they were selected. The two most common opening words in my end notes were “meh” and “predictable”, and a few stories I simply summed up with “just not good.” Overall, I just was all too rarely startled by language, surprised by plotting, or moved by characters and what they experienced. It’s hard therefore for me to recommend the collection save for completists. On the other hand, if you want to take it out of the library (always a great option for anthologies I think), these are the stories that struck me as standouts in the collection (in order of appearance, not quality).

“Intermezzo: Broken, Beautiful Body on Beach” by D.M. Rowles: my favorite by far of the Intermezzos, Rowles makes nice use of structure, repetition, and poetic language in this quite brief story of discovering “a beautiful body … lying very still, soaking the sand around it.”

“War Stories” by Ed Bryant: This is strong across the board: plot, structure, and style. One of the longer stories, it’s also one of the most interesting and compelling and more than earns its length

“The Final Pogrom” by Dan Simmons: One of the darkest tales in the collection and the one with the most chilling opening line despite, or more precisely, because of, its matter of factness: “The IBM, Honeywell ,and other advanced computers were immensely useful in the final roundup of the Jews.” The plotting suffers a bit toward the end, but despite being commissioned by Ellison decades ago, it remains a sadly relevant story.

“First Sight” by Adrian Tchaikovsky: a mostly excellent story of a First Contact gone horribly wrong though I’d say marred a bit by writing past its ending to serve up too much of a can-see-it-coming Twilight Zone close.

“Binary System” by Kao Harenbaum: a lovely, thoughtful story centered on a “lightship keeper” asking some big questions in a small, quiet voice

“Dark Threshold” by P.C. Hodgell: lyrical and poetic, involving a young girl, a missing cat, and a strange locked door in the house, it reminded me of a classic Ray Bradbury story, though not in any derivative sense. Hodgell has shown herself to be more than capable of writing beautiful “Hodgell” stories over the years.

I’ve been a huge fan of Harlan Ellison, whose story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream still terrifies me to this day, decades after I initially read it. I’d also loved the first two Dangerous Visions collections, and so jumped at the chance to read the third volume, one which I’d never thought would see the light of day.

Edited by J. Michael Stracynski, an author and also executor of Ellison’s estate, the book begins with a long essay (“Ellison Exegesis”) by the editor, reviewing both their lives and eventually explaining what happened to the book, initially scheduled to appear in 1974. It’s actually one of the best entries in the book. A number of the stories in this anthology are newer, chosen as if Ellison himself would have desired to include them. For this reader, unlike the prior two volumes (though my memory may not be serving me well as it’s been so long since I read them), the overall quality of the stories is uneven. However, there are some stories that were absolute knockouts, Dan Simmons’ “The Final Pogrom” and “After Taste” by Cecil Castellucci coming to mind. To be honest, there were also a few that I couldn’t figure out how they were even included.

Overall, while it’s gratifying to see that The Last Dangerous Visions is finally being published, there’s an ache of disappointment in my heart that this final installment just didn’t quite make the cut for this reader.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Blackstone Publishing for an advance copy of this short story collection that was the Holy Grail for many science fiction fans, thought lost forever, though no one knew why. Until now.

I have learned not to trust memoirs that so many people seem to be coming out with. There are many important moments in my life I can't remember, though memoirs are filled with dialogue, descriptions, weather and other descriptives that make a good story. I do remember the first movie I saw in theaters. Other things have become lost in time, or mythologized usually to my benefit. I don't remember what drew me to Harlan Ellison, an author whose books I own in multiple additions, on all sorts of media from LPS, audio tape, and VHS. Probably DVD that's slipping my mind, see don't trust memoirs. How I came across Ellison I have no idea. A short story, a critical review, a teleplay, on television. Was my introduction by Gay Talese in a classic articel about Frank Sinatra, or Tom Snyder who had Ellison on as a guest numerous times. I don't know. For half my life, Ellison was a writer I loved, admired,and wanted to meet more than anything. After reading this collection, a collection I never thought I would see, I have even more feelings for the man and what he suffered. And fans of Ellison owe quite a lot of thanks to J. Michael Straczynski for being a man who was more than willing for bear this burden, editing, compiling, deleting, and of course adding to this collection, a true labor of love. The Last Dangerous Visions is a collection of stories that looks at our future, our past, judges and finds us wanting in many ways, and yet leaves us with hope for both the future and literature. This is also one of the purest examples of love, respect and honoring the wishes of those who have gone before us, a real gift to us all.

The 60's and 70's were an eventful time for the world, writing and the author Harlan Ellison. Cool as any cucumber, Ellison was a multi-hyphenate of a a writer, movies, television, criticism, fiction, and being a character. Ellison had an idea, to shake up the moribund conservative world that science fiction was, and in many ways continues to be, with stories showing what was happening now, with writers, old and new trying things that were unknown in the genre. Dangerous Visions was a success,a bomb blasting the old and showing the new and the possible. A sequel, Again Dangerous Visions, did just as well, introducing new writers and making fans want more. The Last Dangerous Visions, was announced, stories collected, a list of chapters presented, and nothing. Not a whimper, just nothing. The books were demanding for Ellison, each story had an essay by Ellison, about the story, author or just life in the world, and Ellison was buying lots of stories, so people just thought the project was getting bigger. However the truth was far worse.

The first part of the book details in painful ways why the book was delayed, and explains a lot of the things that Ellison fans have had to wonder about a man who seemed so driven to write, and yet did not produce for quite a while. I won't go into detail, I will just say read it. J. Michael Straczynski a writer of note himself, is the literary executor for the Ellison estate, and was a long time friend. Straczynski details the problems in the forward and afterword, and they are many, and heart breaking.

The stories are at the heart and really hit hard. Even writers who I was familiar with Max Brooks, Cory Doctrow, Dan Simmons seemed to bring the A in the game, trying new things, new ideas. One can see the older stories have a sense of hope, while the newer ones in the era of this failed century seem more, think it's bad now, get ready. There were like in any collection, crossing eras, a few stories that were just ok. Standouts though include the Intermezzo stories by Deborah Shepard writing as D.M Roules, I loved the way that even though the stories were short, the writing, the ideas, and the way Shepard presented them. The art is also good, and make for a really fine collection. One well worth the weight.

As good as the stories are, the writing by J. Michael Straczynski is the reason to get this book. Straczynski's recollections of Ellison the importance of Ellison's writing to him are just beautiful to read. Reading this made me feel bad that Harlan seemed so sad, so alone in the world. However he wasn't he had a friend like J. Michael Straczynski, who I hope has someone keeping an eye on him. Straczynski more than deserves it. Without a doubt a buy for fans who love good stories, or reading about people who care for each other. Can't recommend enough.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did -- I've been a Harlan Ellison fan since my teens (I will never be able to forget 'I Have No Mouth and I must Scream' as THE creepiest (due to its complete plausibility) ever. The preface gave a long explanation of why this last Dangerous Visions book is only coming out now in stead of the originally scheduled 1974 -- the editor asks that we not spill the beans but it was not terribly surprising. I didn't love all of the stories, though. They didn't have dates so I couldn't tell which were old or new but the ones that seemed old did not actually feel like they aged well to me. Still, I'm happy to see the trilogy completed, some of the stories appealed, and I appreciated the personal touches about an absolute legend of a science fiction writer.

A science fiction anthology that has been in the making for over half a century. This third and final installment in the "Dangerous Visions" series includes a diverse range of stories from both renowned and emerging writers, capturing Ellison's enduring commitment to pushing the boundaries of speculative fiction. "The Last Dangerous Visions" features 30+ stories, essays, and poems, addressing provocative, controversial, and socially conscious themes. Contributors include notable authors like Max Brooks, Edward Bryant, James S. A. Corey, Dan Simmons, Robert Sheckley, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Cory Doctorow, and more. Each piece reflects the imaginative and often politically charged nature of the series. The anthology is seen as a historic publication, completing the "Dangerous Visions" legacy and offering a window into the evolving landscape of science fiction across decades.

For Ellison fans I’m sure it’s thrilling to see the third and final volume of this anthology series, announced in 1973 but never completed. Ellison died in 2018.

The book contains thirty-two new stories, some purchased by Ellison for inclusion in his version (he kept buying stories over the years, always with a thought he might see the thing through, while at the same time knowing he couldn’t as explained in the very interesting (but very, very sad) “Ellison Exegesis” which explains much about the man and the book, and wriitten by this book’s editor, Ellison’s executor and his great friend J. Michael Straczynski.

I’m a bit torn about this, in that the essay reveals so much private information about Ellison’s mental illness, and it sounds as if he was not open about this during his life, for the most part. However, it sounds as if Straczynski knew him better than anyone save his wife and presumably has the best idea about how Ellison would want to be remembered.

As with most anthologies the stories themselves were a mixed bag for me. My two favorites (“Hunger” by Max Brooks and “First Sight” by Adrian Tchaikovsky) were not among those Ellison chose, but rather two that Starczynski commissioned from writers he thought would be true to Ellison’s world view. There is a real lack of diversity here and the editor addresses that at the end; even still the book suffers a bit from a lack of variety in voice. I love that the editor offered a space to an unpublished writer and I enjoyed that story.

Overall, given its history it’s really a must read for those who read the first two volumes and for those who enjoy science fiction/speculative fiction short stories. A nice testimonial to the legend.