Vic and Blood (1989)

If you have read “A Boy and His Dog”, then you have read most of this book. What has been promised is a full novel – Blood’s a Rover – of which “A Boy and His Dog” is just the center piece.

My guess is we will wait as long for the full novel as we do for many other promises in life. (I refuse to get snarky with an author who promises but does not deliver – as long as the reason for non-delivery is that he is so busy delivering so much else.) So within these pages is a less fully fleshed version of a novel – more parts of the story. Using work done for the graphic novel, Ellison has provided the book ends. (Well, the short story ends.)

Regarding “A Boy and His Dog”, you can read volumes anywhere about this story (about what it is, about what it isn’t, about what people claim it says about Harlan Ellison, and about why it is so justifiably famous.) Regarding the surrounding materials I will say that they are definitely not complete. This is the quick knock-off of stories (Ellison even calls them “excerpts”) that provide the basic premises and concepts. But you know there is much more that needs to come.

And, with that, I was ready to write this book off. And then I got to the end of the third piece “Run, Spot, Run.” And, as Harlan so often does, my socks were blown off.

I want the full novel – and I want it now. ( )