My novelette, An Illicit Mercy, is part of a new promotion in October: Fantasy & SciFi October Freebies.Seventy science fiction and fantasy books, available at no cost.My latest novelette, “Nasty, Brutish, and Short,” now appears in Boundary Shock Quarterly 28: SF Horror.When the first expedition to the mysterious planet Janus takes a deadly turn, Lieutenant Carita Keahi must fight for survival against an alien ecosystem unlike anything humanity has ever encountered. As crew members fall victim to bizarre and lethal life forms, Keahi races against time to escape the dangers of this two-faced world. With mind-bending alien biology and gut-wrenching sacrifices, this tale of planetary exploration gone horribly wrong will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. Prepare for a journey into the unknown that will challenge everything you thought you knew about life in the cosmos!For many decades, multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author Harlan Ellison was the charismatic “bad boy” of science fiction. He could be antagonistic and uncompromising. He described himself as a “troublemaker, malcontent, desperado.” He readily resorted to legal action if he felt others had violated his rights. He is alleged to have assaulted fellow author Charles Pratt at a Nebula Awards banquet. He groped longtime friend Connie Willis onstage in front of the 2006 Hugo Awards audience.Thanks for reading The Cosmic Codex! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Ellison also played an undeniably influential role in science fiction’s New Wave, beginning in the 1960s. While his many short stories may stand as his greatest contribution to the genre, a case can also be made for his editing of the anthologies Dangerous Visions, and Again, Dangerous Visions.Published in 1967, Dangerous Visions included over thirty stories, many by past and future Hugo and Nebula winners, including Ellison himself. It “…helped define the New Wave science fiction movement, particularly in its depiction of sex…” Science fiction author and critic Algis Budrys wrote of Dangerous Visions, "You should buy this book immediately, because this is a book that knows perfectly well that you are seething inside.” As editor, “Ellison received a special citation at the 26th World SF Convention for editing ‘the most significant and controversial SF book published in 1967.’”A second volume followed Dangerous Visions in 1972. Again Dangerous Visions won Ellison another special award for editing at the World Science Fiction Convention.Thanks for reading The Cosmic Codex! This post is public so feel free to share it.A third volume, The Last Dangerous Visions, was “…announced for publication in 1973…” Ellison solicited stories from many authors, but never published the anthology in his lifetime. He died in 2018.Before Ellison’s death, J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5 creator and Ellison’s friend, agreed to serve as his literary executor. This responsibility included overseeing the long-delayed publication of The Last Dangerous Visions. After a further wait of over six years, more than a half-century since the release of Again, Dangerous Visions, the third volume finally shipped. My copy arrived in September.So far, the only short story I’ve read in The Last Dangerous Visions is A.E. van Vogt’s “The Time of the Skin,” because one does not simply ignore a previously unpublished van Vogt story.But the first thing I read was “Ellison Exegesis,” Straczynski’s interpretation of Ellison’s life in light of decades of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. He doesn’t excuse his friend for what he acknowledges as inappropriate and outrageous behavior—but like a grown-up Ender Wiggin, the title character of Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead, he wants to give the reader a portrait of the whole man. As someone who also suffered from decades of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness, I found Straczynski’s account illuminating and deeply moving. I recommend it to anyone interested in Harlan Ellison or the history of science fiction, even those who were there, and think they know all they need to know about Ellison.You may be surprised.Questions or comments? Please share your thoughts!Club Codex is reading and discussing The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith through the end of October.Follow along with my thoughts on this novel and contribute your own in the following thread:Click here for more details about Club Codex in 2024. Please join us! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thecosmiccodex.com
