Alone against tomorrow

I somehow found out about Harlan Ellison while looking up Margaret Atwood, don't ask. Long story short, I became obsessed with the idea of reading this man whose work so many love and hunted down this story collection which seems to feature many of his most well known stories. I won't review the stories one by one, but will agree that “Repent Harlequin” and “I Have No Mouth” are amazing pieces of work that stick with you long after the reading. Ellison's stories are less stories and more like windows into a strange world (most that you would never want to visit). He drops you in, unprepared, and you must muddle through with the character in sorting out what is happening, why, and how it will end. Sometimes the stories don't end, they just finish telling you about the bit they wanted to examine. What happens next is up to the reader (Life Hutch). I had particular love for “The Silver Corridor” and “Are You Listening?”. Some were meh. I didn't feel the stories were dated, despite when they were written and the mostly futuristic settings. The ones that didn't work for me were the ones in modern settings. The longest story is only about 20-some pages, but they have a great many ideas in them, so I read about one a day. I couldn't imagine trying to plow through this in one sitting, there are too many ideas here. Overall, a great writer with great stories. Hideous cover ;)