This is a collection of some of Ellison’s prize-winning short fiction (short stories, novelettes, novellas), and it was my first sustained readthrough of Ellison material. Some of these I’d read before, individually, in anthologies, but most were new to me.

Ellison had a distinctive, unforgiving style. These stories share a harsh view on reality, an almost blasé treatment of the nastiness out there in the universe -- both real-world and in-universe. Sometimes even to the point of showing off, but mostly I liked the interplay between gritty narrator and unpleasant environment. I also found them very visually appealing, in that many would lend themselves very well to a Hollywood treatment.

A good collection. Many more hits than misses. ( )

The Best of the Best

It has been decades since I last read or reread Harlan Ellison and that is far too long. To call what he writes science fiction is to name a world by its islands. Ellison's fiction is experimental and old school, horrific and tender, forgiving and merciless, profoundly serious and wickedly snarky. This collection of prize-winning "stories" contains some of the best work of a truly great writer. But be careful. There will be no return to where you once were. ( )