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A review by cheshiresnickersnack
Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
5.0
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.