ORBIT – Otherworldly Reads, Bold Ideas, and Tales. SF & F Short Stories and Novelettes discussion

Dangerous Visions is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was published in 1967 and contained 33 stories, none of which had been previously published.

A path-breaking collection, Dangerous Visions helped define the New Wave science fiction movement, particularly in its depiction of sex in science fiction. Writer/editor Al Sarrantonio wrote that Dangerous Visions "almost single-handedly changed the way readers thought about science fiction."

Contributors to the volume included 20 authors who had won, or would win, a Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, or BSFA award, and 16 with multiple such awards. Ellison introduced the anthology both collectively and individually while authors provided afterwords to their own stories. The stories and the anthology itself were nominated for and received many awards.

The collection was followed in 1972 by a larger sequel, Again, Dangerous Visions. The projected third collection, The Last Dangerous Visions, was started, but controversially remained unpublished for decades. The final book has become something of a legend as science fiction's most famous unpublished book. It was finally published in 2024.

1 - Foreword 1 - The Second Revolution by Isaac Asimov
2 - Foreword 2 - Harlan and I by Isaac Asimov
3 - Thirty-Two Soothsayers (introduction) by Harlan Ellison
4 - Evensong by Lester del Rey. This is described by its author as an allegory. It details the capture of a being, identified at the end of the story as God, by Man, which has usurped God's power.
5 - Flies by Robert Silverberg. It was inspired by a quote from King Lear: "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport."
6 - The Day After the Day the Martians Came by Frederik Pohl
7 - Riders of the Purple Wage by Philip José Farmer (Hugo Award for best novella)
8 - The Malley System by Miriam Allen deFord
9 - A Toy for Juliette by Robert Bloch
10 - The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World by Harlan Ellison
11 - The Night That All Time Broke Out by Brian W. Aldiss
12 - The Man Who Went to the Moon — Twice by Howard Rodman
13 - Faith of Our Fathers by Philip K. Dick
14 - The Jigsaw Man by Larry Niven
15 - Gonna Roll the Bones by Fritz Leiber (Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette)
16 - Lord Randy, My Son by Joe L. Hensley
17 - Eutopia by Poul Anderson
18 - <>Incident in Moderan and The Escaping by David R. Bunch
19 - The Doll-House by James Cross (pseudonym of Hugh Jones Parry)
20 - Sex and/or Mr. Morrison by Carol Emshwiller
21 - Shall the Dust Praise Thee? by Damon Knight
22 - If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister? by Theodore Sturgeon
23 - What Happened to Auguste Clarot? by Larry Eisenberg
24 - Ersatz by Henry Slesar
25 - Go, Go, Go, Said the Bird by Sonya Dorman
26 - The Happy Breed by John Sladek
27 - Encounter with a Hick by Jonathan Brand
28 - From the Government Printing Office by Kris Neville
29 - Land of the Great Horses by R. A. Lafferty
30 - The Recognition by J. G. Ballard
31 - Judas by John Brunner
32 - Test to Destruction by Keith Laumer
33 - Carcinoma Angels by Norman Spinrad
34 - Auto-da-Fé by Roger Zelazny
35 - Aye, and Gomorrah by Samuel R. Delany (Nebula Award for best short story, 1967)

I needed an audio book - got this from Audible awhile back & it was a goal of mine to read it, as famous as it is. I read 1-7 yesterday and 8-10 so far today. The standouts to me were Flies, where we humans are the toys to be played with and all three I read today - The Malley System by Miriam Allen deFord; A Toy for Juliette by Robert Bloch (a very Bloch-esque story, complete with twisted ending); and The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World by Harlan Ellison (a sequel to Bloch's story). The latter three I would classify more as horror, but they definitely break the mold for 1967. The most New Wave story was Farmer's famed Riders of the Purple Wage. It was pretty far out and trippy.

I don’t remember most of those first ten stories well enough to comment at all. I did read Pohl’s “The Day After the Day the Martians Came” relatively recently and I remembered liking it. I just read it again and I think it is good. Intelligent and with a very 60s subject.

The big ones in the anthology for me are Dick’s “Faith of Our Fathers”, Leiber’s “Gonna Roll the Bones”, and Delany’s “Aye, and Gomorrah”, all famous stories that I’ve reread fairly recently. I think the Delany would go in my list of the top ten science fiction stories I know. “Land of the Giant Horses” is a strong one from Lafferty.

I've read it in 2024 and with all the hype about the book, it turned out ok, but not that great... Maybe I'll re-read, sometimes my moods are not for such reading

I was also not super impressed, and gave it an overall 3-star rating back when the book was new. But there is some good to great stuff here. Likely the best was "Riders of the Purple Wage" by Philip José Farmer (Hugo Award for best novella, 1967?).
And "Aye, and Gomorrah" by Samuel R. Delany (Nebula Award for best short story, 1967)

11-16 yesterday. I pretty much agree with the 3-star assessment at this point, though I can see how the anthology was groundbreaking in its day. Today we're much more inured to strangeness & violence than the sanitized anti-commie & monster stuff they were reading in the late 50's and early 60's.

In this group, I particularly liked the main idea of The Jigsaw Man, but Niven executed it clumsily. Also, Leiber's Hugo & Nebula-winning novelette Gonna Roll the Bones, a bizarre but effective story, and Dick's Faith of Our Fathers.

I just read The Jigsaw Man. I agree the main idea is good and some of its implications are interestingly drawn out. The “desperate man escaping jail” situation suits the idea. I thought the action/suspense was well done. Not a bad story, in my opinion, though something about the ending didn’t quite work for me.

How could I miss "Gonna Roll the Bones"?
Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette!
One of my all-time faves.
My 5-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Stephen wrote: "Not a bad story, in my opinion, though something about the ending didn’t quite work for me..."

He was clearly trying for a great twist, but it fell flat for me.

Peter wrote: "How could I miss "Gonna Roll the Bones"?
Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette!
One of my all-time faves.
My 5-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

I agree, also one of my favourites. A beautifully written story.

Peter wrote: "How could I miss "Gonna Roll the Bones"?
Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette!
One of my all-time faves.
My 5-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Indeed, one of the most effective stories in the anthology in terms of imagery & language.

17-21 read yesterday, some very short stories. I liked The Doll-House>, but it's another Twilight Zone-style of story, more horror than SF. A bunch of those in this anthology. I also liked Shall the Dust Praise Thee?; I could just see a bearded Damon Knight towering over me, reading this aloud imperiously.

I didn’t really know what to make of Shall the Dust Praise Thee? A short bit of anti-religion snark? God wasn’t around when his presence would have been helpful? Ok.

Good thread, guys. I might see if the library still has a copy of this. Then I could see if Ellison is still as irritating, ex post mortem....

Stories 22-28...the most remarkable one here is Sturgeon's If All Men Are Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?", which deals with the universal taboo of incest. At that time, Ellison was really stretching the boundaries pulling this one in. I don't think you'd have seen it published elsewhere. It's an ok story, but it's really just a framework for discussing the topic.

Allan wrote: "Stories 22-28...the most remarkable one here is Sturgeon's If All Men Are Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?", which deals with the universal taboo of incest. At that time, Ellison was ..."

You sort of have to admire Sturgeon for going after the incest taboo in his contribution to the big taboo-breaking anthology. However, I have never felt any desire to reread the story myself, after reading it many years ago.

Finished on the 30th of June. The most notable story of the last several was Aye, and Gomorrah by Delany. Overall, I agree that reading it today, the book was not the sensation it was in the 60's. It certainly broke taboos but I feel like it tried too hard to do so. Glad I finally read it though.

I read this when it was new. I remember I liked it. Sorry I am not around more. I just have too much else to read and do.