Book Review of Harlan Ellison’s “Dangerous Visions” (1967)

Dangerous Visions

© James Pyles

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I must have originally read Harlan Ellison’s landmark SF/F anthology Dangerous Visions (1967) sometime in the mid-1970s, but I remembered nothing about it when I picked up the book again. I only decided to re-read “Visions” because it was mentioned by a publisher as part of their open submissions call.

When a publisher throws their gates open and allows any and all (with certain caveats) authors (would be or established) to submit a story to them (usually in an anthology), they sometimes offer hints or ideas as to what kind of stories they are (and are not) looking for.

One such strategy is to suggest the author read some of the stories they’ve already published. Another is to ask the writer to read other novels and anthologies they favor.

Recently, I read an open submission call that suggested, among other books, Ellison’s original “Dangerous Visions.” I can’t say whether I submitted to that publisher or not. I step away from a certain percentage of them for a number of reasons. This can include them being just too darn picky (too many hoops to jump through), they are only open to a certain population (usually those they believe are marginalized), or they’ve rejected everything I’ve ever thrown at them in the past and I’m resigned to that publisher never liking my writing.

So I checked out a copy of “Dangerous Visions” from the public library to see what I could see.

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Book Review of Isaac Asimov’s “Gold” (1995)

gold

© James Pyles

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I discovered the existence is the Isaac Asimov collection Gold (named for one of the fictional stories therein) from an online source I have since forgotten. It is advertised as Asimov’s Final collection and I had never heard of it before (the usual Science Fiction fandom gatekeepers can take note and castigate me accordingly).

The book was published in 1995, three years after Asimov’s death. It is divided into three portions: Final SF Stories, Essays on Science Fiction topics, and on the matter of Writing Science Fiction.

I imagined that I’d be most interested in the stories themselves and was disappointed to find I was wrong. The stories weren’t particularly strong examples of his work, at least as I remember his work. I can’t recall the last time I read anything by Asimov, especially something I hadn’t first read in my adolescence of early adulthood, but it was certainly years if not decades ago.

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Read “Wraiths” Today at SciFanSat

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Promo art for SciFanSat issue 13

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My wee tale “Wraiths” is now available in issue 13 of SciFanSat in viewing (I have trouble getting this one to behave), ePub download. and PDF.

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Chasing Talent

chihuly

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

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Toliver hated what Seattle would become, but it’s where she went so he followed. They’d been arguing again over her premature use of “the talent.” She left training, dashing off to October 17, 2024.

“Admit it, Daddy.” Constance’s hand was on his shoulder as he examined a peculiar glass object. “It’s quite lovely, isn’t it?”

He turned and she was smiling.

“I suppose in its own way, but we need to get home.”

“You only enjoy living in the 1980s because of nostalgia,” she chided.

Tol countered, “We can see the first showing of ‘The Terminator’ again if we hurry.”

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Read My SciFi Flash Fiction “Wraiths” at SciFanSat This Saturday

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Promotional art for SciFiSat issue 13, “Betrayal.”

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My short story/flash fiction piece “Wraiths” has been accepted into the 13th issue of SciFanSat. With the theme “betrayal” and 1,000 words to play with, I started out thus:

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My Short Story “The Other Place” to be published in the anthology “The Super Generation”

super cover

Promotional art for the Raconteur Press anthology “The Super Generation.”

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Update: You can now buy The Super Generation on Amazon!

My short story “The Other Place” will be published in the Raconteur Press anthology “The Super Generation.”

Imagine there was a one-time cosmic event that gave certain people superpowers. The event was never repeated and the superpowered people couldn’t pass their abilities on to their children. Only these people in their generation would be the superheroes and villains.

That’s the challenge each author whose stories are within these pages faced. Here’s a small example of my tale:

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“Far Futures: Book Three” Available for Pre-Order Now!

far futures 3

Cover art for the upcoming Blue Planet Pres anthology “Far Futures 3”

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I mentioned a few weeks ago that my science fiction short story “Confluence” will be appearing in a Blue Planet Press anthology. “Far Futures Three – An Anthology of Deep Space” is now available for pre-order at Amazon!

You can read my original announcement for further details including a short sample of my tale.

The book will become available for sale on October 8, 2024 but you can reserve a copy now. Then in October, it will download onto your Kindle device.

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My Short Story “Confluence” to be published in the anthology “Far Futures Three – An Anthology of Deep Space”

far futures 3

Cover art for the upcoming Blue Planet Pres anthology “Far Futures 3”

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My science fiction short story “Confluence” has been accepted for publication in the Blue Planet Press anthology “Far Futures Three – An Anthology of Deep Space”

The story requirements are:

Space exploration. From the outer planets of our solar system to the edge of the Orion Spur and the even more distant Andromeda Galaxy. How will we get there? Generation ships? Faster than light engines? Dimensional warping? Wormholes?

Hopefully, my tale has a unique perspective on the subject. Here’s a small preview:

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Book Review of “Replay” (1986)

replay

© James Pyles

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I forget where I saw Ken Grimwood’s 1986 novel Replay promoted, but it sounded like an interesting story, so I picked up a copy at my local public library. It’s a highly unusual and compelling time travel story.

Jeff Winston is a radio news producer in this late 40s. His job is lackluster as is his childless marriage. He’s at work and gets a phone call from his wife. As she starts speaking, he has a sudden heart attack and dies.

Jeff wakes up in his dorm room, an eighteen-year-old college freshman in the early 1960s. He has all of the memories of his life up to the moment he died twenty-five years in the future. Except that none of that has happened yet. Does it have to happen at all?

The first quarter of the book follows Jeff as he reconstructs his life based on what he knows of the future. In this case, he makes himself fabulously wealthy. Of course he drops out of college. Still feeling like a middle-aged man, the prospect of going through another four-year drudge as an undergraduate looks so depressing. But he does know a lot about major sporting events and which companies are going to be successful in the 1960s and beyond.

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Movie Review of “Lifeforce” (1985)

Mathilda May as “Space Girl” in “Lifeforce” (1985)

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The 1985 movie Lifeforce was on my “to watch” list more out of curiosity than anything else. I knew it wouldn’t be a great movie, but I wasn’t prepared for how bad it was.

Whatever the producers spent their money on, it wasn’t special or visual effects. The spaceship “Churchill” was a 1980s NASA space shuttle with ridiculously long solar panels. That was made even more silly since the spacecraft was nuclear powered.

The crew is on a joint UK/USA mission to come into contact with Halley’s Comet which visits the inner solar system about once every seventy-five years.

There were tons of technical errors I won’t get into but in the first five minutes, I regretted spending three dollars and change to stream this turkey.

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