Scott's Reviews > Again, Dangerous Visions

As with the first volume, there are some very good stories, some average ones, and a whole lot that made me wonder what Ellison had in his pipe when he was assembling this anthology.

I'll just talk about some of the ones I liked.

A pair of stories by Bernard Wolfe, under the collective title "Monitored Dreams and Strategic Cremations." The first of these, "The Bisquit Position," is probably the most dangerous story in the volume, even today. Just try criticizing the military and see what happens. This story should disabuse the reader of any lingering notion that it has anything to do with honor.

"With a Finger in My I" by David Gerrold: An unsettling, surreal and funny story that takes place in a world where ideas can literally change the world. I've read this story several times and never get tired of it's wordplay and weirdness.

"█" by cartoonist Gahan Wilson: Another funny and slightly creepy story that plays with the prose format by introducing a graphical element (the title actually resembles an ink blot; the above is as close as I could come in text format.)

"The Word for World is Forest" by Ursula K. Le Guin: A story of planetary rape that I'm pretty sure James Cameron swiped for Avatar.

"The 10:00 Report is Brought to You by..." by Edward Bryant: A satire of news media as entertainment. Not far off these days, sadly.

"In the Barn" by Piers Anthony: An inter-dimensional traveler arrives on an alternate Earth where humans are bred as farm animals. Would have been better had it not been in Anthony's typical, leering tone. (Is it me or does he always sound like he's typing with one hand down his pants?)

"In Re Glover" by Leonard Tushnet: A humorous story examining the legalities of cryogenics.

Well, those are the ones I remember best.

Looking back over these, it seems like the better stories are mostly in the first half, but it might be that I had gotten so weary of the avant garde nature of many of the entries that my patience was wearing thinner the further I got. Still, it undoubtedly would have been a much stronger collection at half its length.