Harland Ellison, an eight-time Hugo Award winner, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and four-time Nebula Award winner, was a very unique writer. He wrote for Men’s magazines, he wrote scripts for TV shows: Burke’s Law (4 episodes), Route 66, The Outer Limits, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2 episodes), Cimarron Strip and The Flying Nun.
Ellison wrote over 1700 short stories so Editor J. Michael Straczynsk had plenty to choose from for this collection. Straczynski decided to concentrate mostly on the Harlan Ellison stories that won awards.
Harlan Ellison was a controversial figure. He challenged the Science Fiction establishment with his string of award-winning stories and his criticism of publishing practices. “‘Repent, Harlequin,’ Said the Ticktockman” won the Hugo and Nebula Awards back in 1966 and put Ellison on the SF map Big Time. Ellison went on writing his terrific stories and making waves with his outspoken, combative personality. Ellison died in 2018. He was 84 years old.
Do you remember these Harlan Ellison stories? Any favorites here? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Preface by J. Michael Straczynski — xiii
- Foreword by Neil Gaiman — xix
- Introduction by Cassandra Khaw — xxv
- Angry Gods
- “Repent, Harlequin,” Said the Ticktockman (1966) Hugo Award, Nebula Award, 2015 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award –5
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967) Hugo Award — 19
- The Deathbird (1974) Hugo Award, Locus Award — 38
- Chatting with Anubis (1995) Bram Stoker Award, Deathrealm Award — 75
- The Whimper of Whipped Dogs (1973) Edgar Allan Poe Award — 83
- Lost Souls
- Jeffty Is Five (1977) British Fantasy Award, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, 1999 Locus Poll Winner for Best Short Story of All Time — 107
- Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes (1967) Hugo Award Nomination, Nebula Award Nomination — 132
- Shatterday (1980) Nebula Award Nomination, Twilight Zone episode — 157
- Mefisto in Onyx (1993) Bram Stoker Award, Locus Award, Hugo Award Nomination, Nebula Award Nomination, World Fantasy Award Nomination — 174
- On the Downhill Side (1972) Locus Award Nomination, Nebula Award Nomination — 233
- The Passage of Time
- Paladin of the Lost Hour (1986) Hugo Award, Locus Award, Nebula Award Nomination, Twilight Zone episode — 253
- The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (1969) Hugo Award — 281
- I’m Looking for Kadak (1974) — 293
- How Interesting: A Tiny Man (2010) Nebula Award — 319
- The Lighter Side
- Djinn, No Chaser (1983)Locus Award — 329
- How’s the Night Life on Cissalda? (1977) –353
- From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet (1976) –368
- Eidolons (1989) Locus Award –384
- The Last Word
- All the Lies That Are My Life (1981) Hugo Award Nomination –403
I’ve read pretty much everything Harlan eever wrote. I found him hit or miss. Mostly miss. He wrote maybe a dozen really good stories. Out of the stories included here I have never liked Mephisto in Onyx orAllthe Lies that are my life. Missing is A Boy and His Dog.
Steve,“Repent, Harlequin,” Said the Ticktockman” electrified me as a kid. Harlan Ellison’s prolific output produced many not-so-great stories.
I’ve read somewhere between a third and half of those listed! I remember liking them but have no memory of the plots or anything else! It’s been a long time! More recently I’ve watched his podcasts and usually enjoyed his outspoken manner and observations! I’m sure he would have bristled at “very unique,” just as he did when people pronounced Neanderthal with the “th” sound!
Lastly, Happy Birthday to one of the world’s finest: Beth Fedyn!!!
Bob, you’re right about Beth and World’s Finest! She’s the Best!
I’m not a big Ellison fan, but the disconnect is my fault, not his. I was fond of his two “Glass Teat” books collecting his TV criticism from the LA Free Press. I wonder how many casual, younger SF readers know him?
Fred, it’s astonishing that Harlan Ellison, who had a loyal group of fans and readers over the decades, seems to be fading into obscurity today…
Just not a big fan of Harlan’s either.
Jeff, I’m a fan of some of Harlan Ellison’s work, but as Steve points out, there’s a lot of ho-hum stories in Ellison’s oeuvre.
Unless they were filmed for TWILIGHT ZONE or ALFRED HITCHCOCK or STAR TREK I am unfamiliar with them.
Patti, Harlan Ellison wrote one of the most famous STAR TREK episodes: ‘City on the Edge of Forever”.
And MEMOS FROM PURGATORY was cut down for dramatization for THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR. And he was the initial story editor on the 1980s TWILIGHT ZONE revival tv series…followed in that role by J. Michael Straczynski…
There’s also a good chance you might’ve come across “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” in CF anthologies over the years.
Arthur Clarke and Harlan Ellison bookended my decade of science fiction reading which stretched from junior high through college. I was pretty big on Ellison for awhile, staying up late on school nights to tape record his appearances on Tom Snyder’s TOMORROW show and obsessively following the rise and spectacular crash of his THE STARLOST television series. I even went to a couple of his lectures in my later teens. I burned through everything of his I could get my hands on and while “I Have No Mouth and Must Scream” really shook me up when I read it in eighth grade I could see the sixties-soaked datedness of much of his writing even then and often found his introductions to his work more interesting than the work itself.
I always thought much of his television witing was somewhat better although it’s difficult to judge considering how many other hands touched it before it finally made it to the screen. Gene Coon’s rewrite of his STAR TREK script was probably better than Ellison’s messy original draft although I wish they’d left in the legless WW I veteran and the evil alternate universe starship he depicted did seem to inspire the whole mirror universe premise the franchise is still milking as recently as last week’s DISCOVERY. His CIMARRON STRIP episode is kind of cool but owes a lot of inspiration to Robert Bloch and his OUTER LIMITS work was probably the best of the lot and pretty good TV for the time. I have THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. box set but haven’t made it to his episodes yet.
For all his faults I’m glad to see some of his work back in print. The speculative fiction scene is pretty dire these days and could use some shaking up. I’d love to hear him take on the Romantasy bullshitters.
Byron, I saw Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov challenge each other at the 31st World Science Fiction Convention in Toronto in 1973. Both guys were funny and critical.
I liked his book of television criticism, THE GLASS BLUE TEAT. I wasn’t a huge SF reader, so BLUE TEAT may have been my introduction to Ellison’s work. Ellison also wrote the screenplay for the adaptation of Richard Sale’s THE OSCAR, so he’ll always have a place in my pop-culture-lovin’ heart!
THE GLASS TEAT, and then the second volume, THE OTHER GLASS TEAT.
The producers of THE OSCAR took co-writer credit on the film, but Ellison never used that as a hiding place. I suspect he found the script enjoyable embarrassing.
Deb, Harlan Ellison wrote for TV so he knew the ins-and-outs of the industry. That insider knowledge showed up in Ellison’s TV criticism.
PARTNERS IN WONDER was probably my favorite fiction/memoir collection from the ’70s (Avram Davidson’s contributions not least)…lasting favorites among the stories include “The Deathbird” and “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” and “All the Lies” is a fine example of his most autobiographical work.
Todd, PARTNERS IN WONDER is a very underrated book!