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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/219376.Deathbird_Stories#
I first read this collection approximately 30 years ago, having bought the First Bluejay Special Edition in 1983 at the sadly now defunct 'Change of Hobbit' in Venice, CA. Over the years I have on occasion re-read a story or two, but I hadn't until now re-read the whole thing, cover to cover.
When I first read these stories, I think that the thing I liked most was the whole idea for the collection: tales of the new gods of the modern world, gods of neon and pollution and machines, that have replaced the old gods. This idea, and some of the stories, inspired a number of table top roleplaying campaigns I have run over the years. For example, I once ran a campaign called 'Fantasy 1989' where there existed gods such as 'The Entwining, God of Red Tape', 'Baboom, God of High Explosives', and 'Smaug, God of Traffic, Patron of Parking'.
In re-reading them, I find I liked them more. Harlen Ellison's stories are both funnier and more forlorn than I remember. A good curse to inflict on someone is 'may you find yourself the main character in a story by Harlan Ellison'. Very, very few of the main characters in any of these tales are given something other than a horrible fate. If you are lucky, your soul might be granted death and the chance to re-incarnate, or you might have a miniaturized version of yourself dwell pleasantly within your cryogenically frozen corpse, or you might live to fight another hour on the dog eat dog highways of the future, or you might help kill a mad god and grant yoru self and the earth a merciful death. That is if you are lucky. Those are the best fates granted to these characters. Everyone else fares worse.
In fact, the stories are more like horror stories than I had remembered. I thought about putting them on my goodreads 'cosmic horror' bookshelf, but they are not quite that. Harlan Ellison's universes in general are not uncaring, cold, and nihlistic, like the worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, or Thomas Ligotti. Which is too bad for the human inhabitants of these tales, because instead the universe is fucking pissed off. It is angry at peoples' failures to care enough about each other, to be strong, to maintain a sound ecosystem, in general, to do the right thing. So the new gods of the world take their vengeance.
I also like that this collection doesn't have the long winded introductions that I recall from the various paperback collections (Ellision Wonderland, Shatterday, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Approaching Oblivion) that I read in my youth. Instead each story is introduced with just a wry, short little blurb where Ellision often comes off sounding like a very cool, tuned in cat from the 60s.
When I first read these stories, I think that the thing I liked most was the whole idea for the collection: tales of the new gods of the modern world, gods of neon and pollution and machines, that have replaced the old gods. This idea, and some of the stories, inspired a number of table top roleplaying campaigns I have run over the years. For example, I once ran a campaign called 'Fantasy 1989' where there existed gods such as 'The Entwining, God of Red Tape', 'Baboom, God of High Explosives', and 'Smaug, God of Traffic, Patron of Parking'.
In re-reading them, I find I liked them more. Harlen Ellison's stories are both funnier and more forlorn than I remember. A good curse to inflict on someone is 'may you find yourself the main character in a story by Harlan Ellison'. Very, very few of the main characters in any of these tales are given something other than a horrible fate. If you are lucky, your soul might be granted death and the chance to re-incarnate, or you might have a miniaturized version of yourself dwell pleasantly within your cryogenically frozen corpse, or you might live to fight another hour on the dog eat dog highways of the future, or you might help kill a mad god and grant yoru self and the earth a merciful death. That is if you are lucky. Those are the best fates granted to these characters. Everyone else fares worse.
In fact, the stories are more like horror stories than I had remembered. I thought about putting them on my goodreads 'cosmic horror' bookshelf, but they are not quite that. Harlan Ellison's universes in general are not uncaring, cold, and nihlistic, like the worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, or Thomas Ligotti. Which is too bad for the human inhabitants of these tales, because instead the universe is fucking pissed off. It is angry at peoples' failures to care enough about each other, to be strong, to maintain a sound ecosystem, in general, to do the right thing. So the new gods of the world take their vengeance.
I also like that this collection doesn't have the long winded introductions that I recall from the various paperback collections (Ellision Wonderland, Shatterday, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Approaching Oblivion) that I read in my youth. Instead each story is introduced with just a wry, short little blurb where Ellision often comes off sounding like a very cool, tuned in cat from the 60s.
AV Club's "Gateways to Geekery" for Harlan Ellison recommend starting with "The Deathbird." I've recognized Ellison in the pantheon of speculative fiction authors and thought leaders since the heyday of my sci-fi reading in the early '80s, but aside from some contributions to The Twilight Zone Magazine (a dearly beloved text for me in those formative years), I recently realized that I couldn't cite a title from among his major works that I can recall actually reading. Time to rectify that! In addition to "The Deathbird," this collection features other tales from that classic collection dealing with the complicated relationship between humanity, divinity and mythology, a couple of mind-f*** stories (the opening "Ellison Wonderland" is a doozy), and some stories that land in the netherworld between Lovecraft and Dick ("Croatoan," for example). While not every story engaged my imagination equally, Ellison's narration is top-notch and enhances the material. Going to dig a little deeper into his oeuvre.
This collection is apparently Ellison at the height of his powers, an extended New Wave Scifi riff on the themes of gods and sacrifice. New gods of cities, of highways, of neon lights and computers. Old gods, bloody monsters buried in the earth or the psyche appearing and exacting a heavy toll from modern people.
If there's a word to describe these stories, it's excessive. The language is trippy and overwrought. When Ellison tempers the excess with humor, as he does in "Along the Scenic Route", a story of roadrage dueling in up-gunned sedans with hoverjets and laser cannons, its quite good. When he just vents his spleen, it's fairly miserable, as in "Bleeding Stones", where gargoyles come to life and murder everyone in New York city, starting with an assembly of Christians.
Ellison leans too heavily on the gambit of the psycho-symbolic journey, where the protagonist leaves mundane reality and enters a liminal zone of fantasy, where he encounters a series of set-pieces and images that usually depict the his pathetic nature before an actively hostile cosmos. It's the very antithesis of showing, not telling.
I'm really divided on this collection. There are a few stand out stories, but overall effect is a kind of pretentious misanthropy. This is of course, Ellison's stock in trade, so what do you expect. It's well done, but is it worth doing?
If there's a word to describe these stories, it's excessive. The language is trippy and overwrought. When Ellison tempers the excess with humor, as he does in "Along the Scenic Route", a story of roadrage dueling in up-gunned sedans with hoverjets and laser cannons, its quite good. When he just vents his spleen, it's fairly miserable, as in "Bleeding Stones", where gargoyles come to life and murder everyone in New York city, starting with an assembly of Christians.
Ellison leans too heavily on the gambit of the psycho-symbolic journey, where the protagonist leaves mundane reality and enters a liminal zone of fantasy, where he encounters a series of set-pieces and images that usually depict the his pathetic nature before an actively hostile cosmos. It's the very antithesis of showing, not telling.
I'm really divided on this collection. There are a few stand out stories, but overall effect is a kind of pretentious misanthropy. This is of course, Ellison's stock in trade, so what do you expect. It's well done, but is it worth doing?
A good collection. Mostly good, some meh, but The Deathbird might be one of the best short stories I’ve ever read.
Well written and interesting but I didn’t understand at least 60% of what was happening in any given story. Enjoyed the Paingod story the most.
Just finished this book I’ve been reading for a book club. It’s not something I think I ever would have picked up on my own, but def looked forward to it!
A series of short stories of dieties, modern vs traditional mixed with sci-fi. It had that classically old NYC gritty feel to many of the stories coupled a hint of misogyny, some nice travels through the realms, most of which were “m o i s t “. I don’t know if that’s true but the author used to word “moist” so many times. I’m not sensitive to that word but I’ve i realized how often it was used I hyper focused even more.
Some really good, thought provoking bits and other stories left me
A series of short stories of dieties, modern vs traditional mixed with sci-fi. It had that classically old NYC gritty feel to many of the stories coupled a hint of misogyny, some nice travels through the realms, most of which were “m o i s t “. I don’t know if that’s true but the author used to word “moist” so many times. I’m not sensitive to that word but I’ve i realized how often it was used I hyper focused even more.
Some really good, thought provoking bits and other stories left me
It is always challenging to write a review for a collection of short stories. It is especially difficult when this short story collection represents your first encounter with an author. It may be especially, especially difficult if that author is Harlan Ellison. Deathbird Stories contains nineteen short stories centering around the theme of a God or Gods. Of the nineteen, there were a few standouts: "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes", "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" and "The Deathbird". None of the stories in this collection were "bad" per se, but to be honest, more than a few times I found myself finishing a story and thinking... "huh?". I may need to come back to this collection after I familiarize myself a bit more with the author.
A speculative fiction collection featuring tales written by HE between 1960 & 1974. Deathbird includes 3 tales from The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World. The rest were new to me. The short tales worked better than the long ones. Just okay.
Take heed of Harlan Ellison's warning. These stories are intense. When I read them, it was usually one story a day, maybe another later on in the day, and that was really all I could do. How do you go on when you've just read a story about gargoyles coming alive and killing everyone in New York City? Very descriptively, I might add. But it's not just the violence, although there's plenty of that in most of the stories. It is the gods. You'll just never see things the same way again. And you might just see eyes in a slot machine next time you're at the casino. Favorite stories were: The Whimper of Whipped Dogs, On the Downhill Side, The Face of Helene Bournouw, Ernest and the Machine God and The Deathbird. Some stories are better than others - but they are all pretty excellent, and they are stories I will never forget.