Harlan Jay Ellison - Again, Dangerous Visions - 6

[clong]

Again, Dangerous Visions

The original Dangerous Visions anthology contained quite a few very strong stories, but is probably best known more as a sort of manifesto for speculative fiction that would push its readers and ignore boundaries than for its specific contents.

This follow-up anthology is a long, long book featuring stories from an entirely different set of authors. There are a few good stories, but the general level is not up to that of the first book, and there are a few stories the inclusion of which left me completely baffled. Ellison's preface and introductions, which I had enjoyed in the original anthology, grew increasingly irritating here, and I gave up on reading them about halfway through.

My favorite stories were all by women authors: Joanna Russ' superb "When It Changed" is perhaps the most effective feminist scifi I have ever read; the entries from Kate Wilhelm, James Tiptree, Jr, and Ursula Le Guin were also very strong. I can admire the ambition behind entries from Piers Anthony and Richard Lupoff, even if neither was completely successful.

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