Apparently, Harlan Ellison gave instructions for any of his uncompleted work to be destroyed. No collections of half-finished work, no completion by some other author, nothing to be leaked out.

I hate this. I know that, in the materials that will be destroyed, most likely, there exists some more examples of the incredible writing that was Harlan Ellison. And I cannot help but think about the benefits we have received when artists who requested their works be destroyed at their death were ignored. There are a number of examples, but the first to spring to my mind is Kafka. We would have all been poorer had those works been destroyed.

On the other hand, the world is full of examples where works, though maybe not destroyed, would have been better left in the files and libraries of those deceased authors. I will not mention names, but I have bought more than one collection that turned out to be massive disappointments. None of the sparkle and panache contained in the authors’ original works. Just near-lifeless words that had been published only because of a name.

That does not mean will see nothing new from Ellison. There are collections in the works where he was actively working with the editors. They are not completions of works-in-progress, but, rather, stuff that was already out there.

Blood’s a Rover is one of those. And, unfortunately, I think it is evidence that Ellison’s request that his incomplete works not see the light of day is worth respecting.

The centerpiece of this book is Ellison’s award-winning (and incredible) story “A Boy and His Dog”. Which brings up the first question – why did we need to know any more? It is a fantastic piece of stand-alone literature. But, as time passed, Ellison began to see a broader picture before and after the events. He envisioned a novel. He approached the project by writing bits and pieces. Some of those appeared as additional short stories, some as graphic novels, and some as part of a two-hour television pilot.

Eventually, work was begun to put this all together in the novel Ellison envisioned. Among other things, he began transforming that pilot into a short story. But life often has its own plans, and a stroke greatly restricted what Ellison was able to accomplish. And so, this work became more “collection” than “novel” – a slightly cobbled together story of Vic, Blood, and the “new” entrant to the story, Spike. (And, if you don’t know who any of these people are, do yourself a favor and read “A Boy and His Dog”. You won’t be disappointed.)

Now, all this was approved by Ellison. This is not a situation where his wishes were ignored. He approved (as far as I can tell) the final contents of this book. But, that cobbling together greatly hinders the impact.

As I noted, I’m not convinced a broader story needed to be told. Take “Eggsucker” – the first part of the book – as an example, it reminds us that prequels do not always work/ultimately, may not be necessary. It is not that the story is bad, but it just doesn’t work as well as the original story – the one that got this all started.

In addition, the script that completes the collection (and the story) does not work in bringing everything together. A special skill is needed to read a script and get the full impact, and I don’t have it. I can read one and know what is going on, as well as get some feel for the emotions involved. But it is only half a picture. And I know I am not alone in this one. This section, in particular, suffers from Ellison’s inability to bring it to life. And I will go out on a limb and say that the overall impact of this book – the success of this book – would have had a much better chance if that script had been converted into a novelization.

I never turn down a chance to read “A Boy and His Dog”. And Blood’s a Rover does an interesting job of helping us see the full story that Ellison envisioned. But it does not come together well. And it does not live up to the high expectations many of us have for Ellison’s works. ( )