Harlan Ellison Books In Order

Publication Order of Vic and Blood Books

Publication Order of Outer Limits Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Harlan Ellison was a prolific American writer of speculative fiction, science fiction, mystery, thriller, fantasy, and horror novels. He was known for his influential work and his combative, outspoken personality. Harlan was particularly famous for his successful collaborations with authors like Richard Corben, John M Ford, Diane Duane, Edward Bryant, Jack Dann, Jack Haldermann II, Alan Dean Foster, Richard Roberts, Keri Knutson, Bernard Schaffer, Miles Cressman, etc. The published works of author Harlan include over 1,700 short stories, comic book scripts, essays, novellas, teleplays, screenplays, and a wide variety of criticism work that covered literature, print media, film, and television. Some of the best-known works of Harlan include a Star Trek episode called The City on Edge of Forever, A Boy & his Dog cycle, and several widely popular short stories.

Harlan has also been the anthologist and editor for Dangerous Visions and its sequel called Again, Dangerous Visions, which were released in 1967 and 1972 respectively. The list of awards won by him includes some of the prestigious awards such as Nebula, Edgar, and Hugo. He won each of them multiple times. Author Harlan was born on May 27, 1934, in Cleveland, Ohio as Harlan Jay Ellison. He belonged to a Jewish family and had an elder sister named Beverly. The two were not on talking terms since the death of their mother in 1976. When Harlan was younger, his family had relocated to Painesville, Ohio, but came back to Cleveland in 1949 when his father died. Harlan had run away from his home multiple times. He had also taken up odd jobs during his teenage years, including working as a fisherman near the Galveston coast at the age of 18.

The other jobs that he was involved in at that time include being a crop picker, hired gun, truck driver, cook, lithographer, floorwalker, cab driver, book salesman, door-to-door salesman, etc. His first published writing was a fan letter that he wrote to the Real Fact Comics in 1947. Harlan studied at Ohio State University between 1951 and 1953 before he was expelled on the grounds of indiscipline and bad behavior. Harlan had hit a professor for denigrating his ability to write and was subsequently expelled. Over the course of the next twenty years, Harlan sent a copy of each short story he published to the professor to prove to him that he had good writing skills. In 1949, he wrote a couple of serialized stories and published them in the Cleveland News. In the early 1950s, Harlan sold a story to the EC Comics. He had become an active member of the science fiction fandom at this time. Harlan used to publish his own fanzines based on the science fiction genre.

In 1955, he relocated to New York City to pursue a career in the field of writing science fiction. Within a period of just 2 years after his relocation, Harlan published over a hundred articles short stories. Between 1957 and 1959, Harlan served in the United States Army. In 1958, he published his first full-length book called Web of the City while he was still serving in the army. A major part of the story was written when Harlan was undergoing training in Georgia. After he left the army, Harlan moved to Chicago and joined the Rogue as an editor. His relocation to California in 1962 opened the doors for writing screenplays for Hollywood films. Harlan started selling his scripts to noteworthy directors of that time. He even co-wrote the screenplay of the 1966 movie called The Oscar. His scripts were also sold to TV shows, including The Flying Nun, The Outer Limits, Loretta Young Show, Route 66, Star Trek, Cimarron Strip, Burke’s Law, etc. Throughout the course of his writing career, Harlan used many pen names. Some of the prominent ones among them include Cordwainer Bird, Sley Harson, Paul Merchant, Jay Charby, Pat Roeder, Ellis Hart, Harlan Ellis, John Magnus, Ivar Jorgenson, Jay Solo, Derry Tiger, etc.

Harlan had married for a total of five times and each of his relationships did not last for more than a few years. His last wife was Susan Toth, whom he married in 1986. They remained together until Harlan’s death in 2018. Harlan died on June 28, 2018, at his Los Angeles home due to complications arising out of a stroke that he had suffered in 2014. He was suffering from speech & cognition impairment and paralysis and was undergoing physical therapy several times a week. Harlan’s excellent writing skills and his mind-blowing works have kept him alive in the hearts of his fans and will remain so for many more years to come.

A popular book written by author Harlan Ellison is entitled ‘Web of the City’. It was originally titled Rumble and was published in 1958 by Pyramid Books. This novel follows the story of a teenage boy named Rusty Santoro, who becomes a member of a street gang of Cougars in Brooklyn, New York. Harlan has set the story in the 1950s. In researching this novel, Harlan actually spent some time in one of the street gangs of Brooklyn. He has given an account of his experience in staying in the Barons in his 1961 book called Memos from Purgatory. Rusty Santoro’s story begins by depicting that he is faced with the dilemma of choosing between the obligations of his street gang and the meager prospects of his neighborhood. As the story moves ahead, Rusty Santoro is seen struggling with the idea of leaving his gang life and his neighborhood behind. Harlan has mentioned various aspects of street gang life in this novel, including murders, street fights, and various other aspects.

Another exciting book penned by Harlan is called ‘Spider Kiss’. It was released in 1961 by Gold Medal Books. This book is based on the life of a humble and shy country boy called Luther Sellers. He finds that he possesses a mesmerizing stage presence and a magnificent voice. Luther gets the stage name as Stag Preston and goes on to become a big rockabilly star. He is helped by a helpful manager, who is patterned after the manager of Elvis Presley, Tom Parker. As time passes, Luther Sellers’ success goes into his mind. In trying to live up to his name and fame, Luther plays gimmick to keep his followers interested, but despises them secretly. Later, Luther gets entangled in a controversy and could not help but see his downfall before his eyes.

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