OK, so back a few months ago we had a discussion about how science fiction and fantasy have changed. I titled that post “From Dangerous Visions to Safe Spaces”. Part of the discussion revolved around Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions anthology series. One of the things mentioned was Last Dangerous Visions, which was announced in 1973.

Last Dangerous Visions also came up in the tribute post to Christopher Priest, because he wrote a history of it entitled The Book on the Edge of Forever. Before Harlan died, I would joke that we should take bets on which book would be published first, Last Dangerous Visions or George R. R. Martin’s next sequel to A Game of Thrones.

Well, now we know the answer, and it’s not the one I would have expected since Harlan Ellison, the editor of the anthology, was dead. But…

Last Dangerous Visions is going to be published.

Yes, you read that right.

Blackstone Publishing has announced it will be publishing Last Dangerous Visions on October first of this year. J. Michael Straczynski is the executor of Ellison’s estate, and he’s provided an introduction. Ellison’s story introductions are included.

I’ve not see a table of contents yet, but contributors include A. E. van Vogt, David Brin, Corey Doctorow, Dan Simmons, Edward Bryant, and Robert Sheckley.

The question in my mind is two-fold. Are the stories really still that dangerous? And since in many cases they are among the writers’ early work, are they that good compared to what they did later.?

We’ll find out on October first.