Luke Dylan Ramsey's Reviews > Again, Dangerous Visions

Overall grade: B+/A-

Video review: https://youtu.be/-V8QSmgXbek

I actually enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed Dangerous Visions. I think Dangerous Visions is still in print, while this one is not. I also think dangerous visions is more widely read today than its sequel, which is a shame. There are more big names in DV than in ADV but the overall quality of the stories was better and there was a higher percentage of enjoyable and actually dangerous stories.

DV really leaned in on being religiously blasphemous, while this one did not really have near as many stories with that focus. I think there were more big names in DV but ADV had some of my favorite authors like Gene Wolfe and Ursuka K Le Guin and Vonnegut, whereas the only author I am obsessive about from DV is JG Ballard.

Ellison’s introductions were again kinda annoying and presumptuous and pretentious. Some of them were somewhat useful but most of them were basically just filler and platforms for Ellison to brag about either being friends with the author or having taught the author.

There were more women included in this one. This is a good thing. I’m unsure of how many people of color were included but there are at least two stories written by Jewish authors.

Anthologies are always going to be somewhat hit or miss and I can’t think of an anthology where I enjoyed every single story.

Overall there are few very few misses in this book and a lot of solid stories. Some of the stories are spectacular, though, and the highs of this book are higher than DV or any other anthology I have read.


Favorites

1 the word for world is forest - Ursula k Le guin
2 With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama", novella by Richard A. Lupoff
3 Time Travel for Pedestrians - Ray Nelson
4 [A spot], by Gahan Wilson
5 Bed Sheets Are White", by Evelyn Lief
6 The Big Space Fuck", by Kurt Vonnegut
7 For Value Received - Andy offutt
8 Stoned Counsel", by H. H. Hollis
9 When It Changed", by Joanna Russ
10 Still-Life", by Barry N. Malzberg (as K. M. O'Donnell)


Least favorites

1 "Christ, Old Student in a New School", poem by Ray Bradbury
2 Totenbüch", by Albert Parra, as A. Parra (y Figueredo)
3 In the Barn", by Piers Anthony
4 Chuck Berry, Won't You Please Come Home", by Ken McCullough
5 Harry the Hare", by James B. Hemesath


Individual stories

1 Keynote: The Counterpoint of View - John Heidenry - B/B+
Really just a Borges pastiche, which it wears on its sleeve. Too short to really have much of an impact. Kinda an odd keynote or intro given that there is only one other metafictional story in the book.


2 Ching-Witch by Ross Rocklynne - B/B+
Solid story. Seems like a commentary on youth culture in the late 60s and early 70s and how quickly fads pass. Kinda reads like old white guy wish fulfillment.

3 The Word for World is Forest - Ursula k Le guin - A/A+
I did a stand alone video for this novella. I had read it once before separate from ADV. at heart it’s a piece of protest literature that seems to condemn the Vietnam War. Basically a companion piece to Lathe of Heaven. Check out my other video for more about the book.

4 For Value Received - Andy offutt - A-/A
About a girl being born. she lives in the hospital until she is in her 20s because her parents found their hospital bill exorbitant. A send up of health insurance and non socialized health care and how ridiculous health care costs are in this country.

5 Mathoms From the Time Closet - Gene Wolfe - B+/A- - comprises "Robot's Story", "Against The Lafayette Escadrille", and "Loco Parentis"
3 flash fiction pieces all dealing with time travel in one way or another. That being said, the stories read like literary fiction rather than sci fi. Typical Wolfe: literary and inventive but not as spectacular as some of his other books and stories.

6 Time Travel for Pedestrians - Ray Nelson - A-/A
A fucking trip. Super trippy and very dangerous. I have to imagine that this one caused a stir. Seems to describe a drug trip caused by something like datura or morning glory seeds, which are both very strong deliriant. The narrator jumps around in time experiencing a variety of different scenarios, mainly focusing on various types of western mysticism. I’ve seen it described as past life regression but that’s not clear in the story. A mixture of druggy montage and spiritual exploration. I wish this one was a novel length story. Apparently Nelson wrote the story that They Live is based on.

7 "Christ, Old Student in a New School", poem by Ray Bradbury - F
Didnt even finish this one. Why was a poem even included? I didn’t understand this one or why it was included.

8 King of the Hill", by Chad Oliver - B/B+
Seems to predict climate change and some of its effects. Only somewhat prescient. The story concerns overpopulation and rampant extinction. The story does meander some. I found it inventive and well-executed.

9 "The 10:00 Report is Brought to You By...", by Edward Bryant - B/B+
The story is about a news station paying to be the first to report a story by paying criminals to commit crimes then documenting the crimes. There is a rape scene in this one, which is quite haunting. Seems like a precursor to stuff like Nightcrawler. One of the more dangerous visions in this book.

10 "The Funeral", by Kate Wilhelm - B+/A-
I found this story to be fairly mysterious and difficult to pin down. Seems like a reaction to the hippie youth movement and a parody of the 1950s in America. What I’ve read of Wilhelm seems like it was pretty influential in the sci fi genre.

11 "Harry the Hare", by James B. Hemesath - C+/B-
A flash fiction piece. Seems like an ode to cartoons, also a commentary on copyright law. I was kinda unsure of what was going on in this story. There is some gore and violence but it’s not a particularly dangerous vision.

12 "When It Changed", by Joanna Russ (Nebula Award for Best Short Story) - B+/A-
About a colonized planet where men have gone extinct and there have only been women for hundreds of years. Men from Earth show up and fuck up the status quo. The story kinda subverts the expectations of someone who has just heard the summary, though.

13 "The Big Space Fuck", by Kurt Vonnegut - A-/A
The tone and plot of this story are very Vonnegut. It’s like it is almost logical, but not quite. About earth going to shit and humanity trying to artificially inseminate the universe. The story reminded me of Ariana Grande’s song “NASA”.

14 "Bounty", by T. L. Sherred - B/B+
About vigilantism being legalized and rewarded monetarily, so people bait others into crimes that they can be rewarded for violently stopping. People also kill themselves so their families will get paid. Short and disturbing and misanthropic.

15 "Still-Life", by Barry N. Malzberg (as K. M. O'Donnell) - B+/A-
About an astronaut slowly going crazy and eventually leaving 2 other astronauts on the moon and going home. The main character rapes his wife in the story’s opening. The main character is basically a villain: short tempered and self centered. Seems like a commentary on how bureaucracy drives you crazy, as he really doesn’t like how nasa tells him not to swear during his mission to the moon.

16 "Stoned Counsel", by H. H. Hollis - B+/A-
This story is trippy and vivid and super inventive. It reminded me of an adult version of adventure time. It’s about 2 lawyers doing drugs and then mind melding as they fight over a legal case. It’s almost a climate fiction story as well.

17 "Monitored Dreams and Strategic Cremations", by Bernard Wolfe—comprises "The Bisquit Position" and "The Girl With Rapid Eye Movements" - B/B+
Two stories connected by them both having the same main character. The first story is about a rich journalist helping a woman with a husky cheat on her husband, who is heavily tied up in the military industrial complex. The dog accidentally dies in a demonstration of the effects of napalm. It reminded me of Joan Didion’s play it as it lays. The second story is concerned with incomprehensible rock lyrics and how dreams affect reality. Seems to parody songs like “In A Gadda Da Vida”. The story is much more playful and absurd than the first one. Both seem to protest the vietnam war and capitalism. Some parts are really funny.

18 "With A Finger in My I", by David Gerrold - B/B+
Maybe a B-/B. It’s a lot like Borges’ tlon uqbar story. Mass hysteria and hallucinations, how the quirks of our perceptions color the world around us. Too peculiar to be incisive and rather unfocused.

19 "In the Barn", by Piers Anthony - C+/B-
This one is a dangerous vision. It is also pretty damn disgusting. It’s basically about vegetarianism and veganism and how we would never treat humans like we treat people. Kinda reminded me of Michel Faber’s Under the Skin.

20 "Soundless Evening", by Lee Hoffman - B/B+
Solid and rather innocuous. Basically about a society with limits on how many children you can have. You can still have as many babies as you want but they are killed at the age of 5 if you have more than two. It’s too short and low stakes to really affect you emotionally.

21 [A spot], by Gahan Wilson - A-/A
Really fucking good. Inventive and silly and absurd. A simple idea but it’s very well executed. Basically about a spot on a wall growing and eventually consuming everything. Almost an A/A+ but just a bit too short to have that kind of impact on me.

22 "The Test-Tube Creature, Afterward", by Joan Bernott - B/B+
A piece of flash fiction. About a genetically engineered pet that other causing or stopping its owners suicide. It reeks of depression and anhedonia. Definitely a dangerous vision.

23 "And the Sea Like Mirrors", by Gregory Benford -B/B+
Pretty close to a B+/A- but way too misogynistic. stated to be a response to Heinlein’s competent man. Reminded me of the show Yellowjackets and the book the Kar Chee reign. A literary thriller, sf-lite. It explores madness and toxic masculinity.

24 "Bed Sheets Are White", by Evelyn Lief - A-/A
Reminded me of the long walk by Richard Bachman slash Stephen king. It is hallucinatory and very of its time. Some of it is about white nationalism, some of it seems like a dream sequence. Short and sweet and no excess language. Seems like it’s a memory but it couldn’t be, as the world of the story is completely alien,


25 "Tissue", by James Sallis—comprises "At the Fitting Shop" and "53rd American Dream" - B-/B
Thot these were just fine. The first story is about a teenage boy getting lost in a department store shopping for a new penis. The second story is about the highs and lows of parenting. Lot of shock value and subversion in this one.

26 Elouise And The Doctors of the Planet Pergamon", by Josephine Saxton - B+/A-
A haunting and and disgusting visceral story. Kinda ballardian, as it’s the closest thing to the atrocity exhibition I’ve ever read, besides gravitys rainbow. About a perfectly healthy woman on a planet where everyone has grotesque disabilities and horrible illnesses. Kinda like a Beckett play.

27 "Chuck Berry, Won't You Please Come Home", by Ken McCullough - C+/B-
Too low stakes for me. Not really dangerous and not really sci fi. It’s about a guy growing a tick to a humongous size. Very stylized and repetitive.

28 "Epiphany For Aliens", by David Kerr - B/B+
About a team of scientists that discover a group of Neanderthals that are still alive in Europe. It has its own logic. The woman who sacrifices herself for science seems like a stand in for bleeding heart liberal types. Perhaps somewhat racist.

29 "Eye of the Beholder", by Burt K. Filer - B/B+
About an artist who creates sculptures that are mathematically impossible, as they defy the rules of gravity. The cia and a female scientist are quite interested in creating an insterstellar engine from the sculptures. It reminded me of Ballard’s early stories and explores the differences between art and science,

30 Moth Race", by Richard Hill- B+/A-
This story is seemingly about a utopia where everyone is given everything they need by the government. A man goes to watch a race where the drivers have to survive racing around a track with randomly generated obstacles. The only one to ever conquer the track is called the champion and he lives like a modern celebrity. The main character is part of the race’s audience and drunkenly tries to participate in the race.

31 "In Re Glover", by Leonard Tushnet - B/B+
Solid and vaguely funny story, comedic but not hilarious. Somewhat kafkaesque, in that it portrays endless and convoluted bureaucracies. It is more or less about the legal ramifications of cryogenesis tech. Could’ve been more in depth.

32 "Zero Gee", by Ben Bova - B-/B
About a male astronaut trying to be the first human being to have sex in outer space. The woman he is supposed to fuck is a time life photographer, a civilian in a nasa space station. Too long and technical and meandering. Not very exciting as a story.

33 A Mouse in the Walls of the Global Village", by Dean R. Koontz - B/B+
This is the only thing I’ve ever read by Koontz. I didn’t realize he wrote sci fi. The story is about a world where almost everyone can communicate telepathically and centers on one of the few who has to communicate normally. His life is quite hellish, as he is beat up and abused for making sounds. The narrator sometimes can’t stop himself from screaming and crying. A visceral story.

34 Getting Along", by James Blish and Judith Ann Lawrence - B/B+
A series of 9 letters detailing a woman’s super odd family and her search for a home. It apparently parodies 9 or 10 different genre fiction authors, which I wouldn’t have realized if not for Ellison’s intro to the story. The concept and idea of the story are better than the actual execution. Seems somewhat random and weird for the sake of being weird.

35 Totenbüch", by Albert Parra, as A. Parra (y Figueredo) - D+/C-
I didn’t understand this story at all. I found it confusing and faux deep and random and unfocused. I had no idea what was going on or what I was supposed to take away.

36 Things Lost", by Thomas M. Disch - B+/A-
I didn’t understand what the point of the story was but I enjoyed it a lot. It’s about a generation ship populated by old immortal people. It’s ostensibly the journal of a scientist whose claim to fame is mapping the genome of mice. He is an amateur author who wants to start writing a novel. There’s a lot of references to Proust. Breezy and low stakes.

37 With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama", novella by Richard A. Lupoff - A-/A
I really hated this story at first but I grew to love it. I didnt understand ellison comparing it to riders of the purple wage until a while into the story but that is actually a pretty good comparison. Parts of it are written in a mixture of good ol boy talk and phonetic spelling like in finnegans wake. It’s basically about a war between the planets New Alabama and New Haiti, although there’s a lot of more details than that, as there are zombies and some avatar type stuff. A supremely odd story but it is super inventive and consistently surprising.

38 "Lamia Mutable", by M John Harrison - B-/B
I’m not sure I understood this story. It seems somewhat random, also apocalyptic. Just okay, maybe too referential and reliant on allusions. Kinda disappointing as I have heard really good things about the author.

39 Last Train to Kankakee", by Robin Scott - B/B+
About a con artist who dies and gets frozen and then reincarnated. He can’t find a purpose and kills himself multiple times, and eventually succeeds. His cells are then spread into the universe. Solid and low stakes. Does mention rape and murder.

40 "Empire of the Sun", by Andrew Weiner - B+/A-
A hallucinatory montage that plays by its own rules. About a man drafted into a war on mars where he is really just fighting other conscripts from earth. The war might be meant to lower earths population. Parts of it are a dream sequence I think. Solid story.

41 "Ozymandias", by Terry Carr - B/B+
Post apocalyptic tomb robbers journey to an area like the valley of the kings in Egypt. Once there they loot a vault. I didn’t necessarily understand why this one was so long and why some stuff was included. There were some cool details tho. Pretty solid story.

42 "The Milk of Paradise", by James Tiptree, Jr B/B+
I feel similarly about this one as to how I felt about the story by the author included in nova 2 (and I have come upon this place by most ways). I felt it was solid and pretty good, not amazing, and I’m not sure I fully understood it. Think it’s about a human slave revealing the name and location of its home world. The people who got that info go to the home world and are disappointed, so they kill the slave. I felt like there should’ve been more description and more worldbuilding.


Overall grade: B+/A-

Same grade as DV but I liked this one more. More on the A- side while DV was more on the B+ side.