A good collection at 3.50, all about the hurty-hurty and staving it off.

Paingod and Other Delusions : Paingod - Harlan Ellison
Paingod and Other Delusions : Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman - Harlan Ellison
Paingod and Other Delusions : The Crackpots - Harlan Ellison
Paingod and Other Delusions : Sleeping Dogs - Harlan Ellison
Paingod and Other Delusions : Bright Eyes - Harlan Ellison
Paingod and Other Delusions : The Discarded - Harlan Ellison
Paingod and Other Delusions : Wanted in Surgery - Harlan Ellison
Paingod and Other Delusions : Deeper Than the Darkness - Harlan Ellison

Dodgy deity deal.

3.5 out of 5

Joker fan not keen on digital watches, but does quite like a jelly bean.

3.5 out of 5

Barbarian watch mad.

3 out of 5

"You deranged fool! You should be commanding an abattoir, not a ship of the line!"

4 out of 5

Rats, not rabbits.

3.5 out of 5

Ship of Uglies.

4 out of 5

Phymech, can't put it off forever.

3.5 out of 5

There's a Space War trip on for a song.

3 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/12... ( )

http://iamrazorwing.livejournal.com/3... ( )

Disturbing, poignant, thought-provoking - all terms to describe these intense stories about pain, struggle and courage. All except "Repent, Harlequin!" were new to me and I found some new Ellison favorites in The Discarded, Bright Eyes and Wanted in Surgery. ( )

A collection of eight stories by Ellison that deal with various aspects of the nature of pain, although this is stretching it for some of the stories. The best of the bunch is the marvelously titled "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktock Man". ( )

Like Philip K. Dick, Ellison is one of those sci-fi (okay, "speculative fiction." Christ, like anyone gives a shit, Harlan) writers that comes in and out of style as the years go by. Also like Dick, Ellison was one of the big shakers and movers that helped take science fiction out of the 1950s "Golden Age" (no one has ever been able to explain to me how a group of stodgy old fascists, such as Robert Heinlein, constituted a "golden age." And how exactly does L. Ron Hubbard, who never bothered to master basic verb agreement so much as learn to write a decent story, fit into the whole "golden age" concept? You know, if you add a colon before a closing parentheses it makes a smiley face. Smiley time.:)

So anyway, this is a pretty solid collection of Ellison's slowly-going-out-of-print stories. The title piece is an interesting concept that doesn't quite come off, but "The Discarded" is a perfect combination of science fiction and the fierce social commentary Ellison made his name by. Overall there are more hits than misses, making the collection a good introduction to Ellison's work for people not partial to tackling the "Essential Ellison" anthology right off the bat.

(This review originally appeared on zombieunderground.net) ( )