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Blood's a Rover
Harlan Ellison and his editor, Jason Davis, have painstakingly assembled the whole story of Vic and Blood and Spike from the author’s files, using revised-and-expanded versions of the novella and short stories, interstitial material developed for Richard Corben’s graphic adaptation, and—for the first time—never-before-published material from the aborted 1977 NBC television series Blood’s a Rover to tell the complete story of A Boy and His Dog, and a Girl who is tougher than the other two combined.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 2017
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173 people want to read
About the author
Harlan Ellison
1,088 books2,888 followersHarlan Jay Ellison (1934-2018) was a prolific American writer of short stories, novellas, teleplays, essays, and criticism.
His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writer to the science fiction TV series The New Twilight Zone and Babylon 5.
Several of his short fiction pieces have been made into movies, such as the classic "The Boy and His Dog".
His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writer to the science fiction TV series The New Twilight Zone and Babylon 5.
Several of his short fiction pieces have been made into movies, such as the classic "The Boy and His Dog".
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July 7, 2018This hardcover version of the book was actually published June 30, 2018.
October 9, 2024
A Boy And His Dog was one of the great classic shorts of late sixties science fiction and it’s shock value put Harlan Ellison on the map. Long before all the modern fantasies about a post-apocalyptic world, such a theme was extraordinarily popular in fifties and sixties science fiction with the idea being that there would be an atomic war and few survivors fending for themselves. A Boy and His Dog postulated a savage survival universe where the earth’s surface was populated by teenage rover gangs and their telepathic dogs. The dogs were necessary to sniff out radiation monsters and to find females who were quite scarce. There were also solos who traveled without gang protection, dependent on their dog partners. Vic and Blood were one such partnership with Blood having the brains and Vic being little more than a dumb teenager barely smart enough to survive without the smarts and instincts of his canine partner. The relationship between these two is at the heart of the story, particularly when a young woman comes between the two:
“She didn’t know what it was to trust somebody like Blood so much that he was a part of you. She didn’t know what friends meant, because down there in that phony Topeka nobody was really friends. It was all bullshit down there; fat, happy liars, turning their fat, happy faces away from the real trouble.”
The story is also a product of the Sixties, juxtaposing the freedom of the surface (albeit a world of savagery, casual rape, and starvation) with life beneath the surface where middle class squares lived, surviving without sunlight in artificial crops and phoniness.
Apparently over the years, Ellison has also penned additional chapters to the story, and this volume collects all four Vic and Blood stories together in one volume in chronological order. Two additional short stories, one (Eggsucker) taking place as a prologue perhaps to A Boy and His Dog and one as an epilogue (Run Sot Run) are narrated through Blood’s voice, not Vic’s and give a rather unique perspective. The final selection is a screenplay (Blood’s A Rover) which features a strong female rover, smart, feisty, tough, wholly unlike the controversial role of women in the original story.
None of the newer stories have quite the impact of the original shocking story, although they are interesting for someone who is familiar with the original story.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
“She didn’t know what it was to trust somebody like Blood so much that he was a part of you. She didn’t know what friends meant, because down there in that phony Topeka nobody was really friends. It was all bullshit down there; fat, happy liars, turning their fat, happy faces away from the real trouble.”
The story is also a product of the Sixties, juxtaposing the freedom of the surface (albeit a world of savagery, casual rape, and starvation) with life beneath the surface where middle class squares lived, surviving without sunlight in artificial crops and phoniness.
Apparently over the years, Ellison has also penned additional chapters to the story, and this volume collects all four Vic and Blood stories together in one volume in chronological order. Two additional short stories, one (Eggsucker) taking place as a prologue perhaps to A Boy and His Dog and one as an epilogue (Run Sot Run) are narrated through Blood’s voice, not Vic’s and give a rather unique perspective. The final selection is a screenplay (Blood’s A Rover) which features a strong female rover, smart, feisty, tough, wholly unlike the controversial role of women in the original story.
None of the newer stories have quite the impact of the original shocking story, although they are interesting for someone who is familiar with the original story.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
July 4, 2018
This book was first announced over forty years ago; many of us have been waiting for it for a very long time. As I recall, the final title novella, Blood's a Rover, was to appear in the special Ellison issue of The Magazine of F & SF in 1977, but he didn't finish it in time. Then Ace Books was supposed to print it in in 1980, and when that didn't happen it was still lurking in the forthcoming works list of his books. It appeared in my mailbox last week and the next day I read that Ellison had died that morning. I've read a lot of obituaries and posted memories and testimonials since then, many of them vilifying the man and many praising him. As he himself wrote many times, it's the work that endures, that must be judged and that must stand on its own. He never did write the final novella; what we have instead is a version of the screenplay he wrote as a television pilot that was not picked up. It appears in this book after the original novella, A Boy and His Dog, which appeared in New Worlds magazine in 1969 (and won a Nebula Award), and the two short stories, Eggsucker (from Ariel, a very nice anthology series which only lasted an issue or two), and Run, Spot, Run, from Amazing Stories magazine. A Boy and His Dog is a classic, one of my personal favorites, and the other two stories are good, too. Blood's a Rover would have made a good television movie, but I didn't feel that it fit perfectly in this context. I felt that it leaned too heavily on Vic's character; Vic was not the hero, he was a rapist and not too bright and served as Blood's foil. I didn't understand how he escaped from the peril he was left in in Run, Spot, Run to even appear in Blood's a Rover (the new section). Blood is the hero of the piece. Spike would have been a terrific character, but the screenplay format doesn't provide much in the way of subtly character development. This edition has some minor changes and additions in the text from the original texts (Husqvarna instead of Browning, the list of presidents, etc.), but nothing too major. I believe that the publisher will probably sell a thousand copies of the book at forty dollars a pop; had the book appeared as planned all those years ago they most likely would have started out with sales of forty-thousand at ten dollars a copy. The screen play was to be a pilot for a series, so Ellison must have had a lot more in mind for Blood and his associates; it's a pity that we'll never know what would have become of them. This isn't the book we wanted, but it's the one we got, so we have to be glad for this much.
May 13, 2022
This is a collection of stories centered around Ellison’s story “A Boy and his Dog.” It won the Nebula Award for best novella in 1969. The cover art is by Richard Corben who did the art for the comic book adaptation.
The stories are about Vic, an amoral boy and his telepathic dog Blood, trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world after nuclear war.
Besides the title story this collection includes the prequel “Eggsucker,” the sequel “Run, Spot, Run,” and the screenplay for the aborted television series “Blood’s a Rover.” The other stories are interesting but they don’t have the same impact as the original novella.
I think “A Boy and His Dog” is the strongest story in the collection. It’s dark, disturbing, satirical, and controversial. In other words, peak Harlan Ellison.
Eggsucker (3/5)
A Boy and His Dog (4/5)
Run, Spot, Run (3.5/5)
Blood’s a Rover (3/5)
The stories are about Vic, an amoral boy and his telepathic dog Blood, trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world after nuclear war.
Besides the title story this collection includes the prequel “Eggsucker,” the sequel “Run, Spot, Run,” and the screenplay for the aborted television series “Blood’s a Rover.” The other stories are interesting but they don’t have the same impact as the original novella.
I think “A Boy and His Dog” is the strongest story in the collection. It’s dark, disturbing, satirical, and controversial. In other words, peak Harlan Ellison.
Eggsucker (3/5)
A Boy and His Dog (4/5)
Run, Spot, Run (3.5/5)
Blood’s a Rover (3/5)
April 20, 2018
A few things to start with:
1. I love Harlan Ellison. His work has had more impact on me than anyone else in F/SF.
2. "A Boy and His Dog" is a stone-cold classic, was adapted into a well-received film, and has influenced the entire post-apocalyptic subgenre.
3. I have never liked "A Boy and His Dog". I'll explain later.
This book is a collection of all the Vic and Blood stories, along with Ellison's teleplay for the proposed V+B TV pilot. The stories are presented in order of occurrence, not publication; this is why the oldest story, "A Boy and His Dog" (1969), appears second here after "Eggsucker" (1977). Then comes "Run, Spot, Run" (1980), and the book closes with the "Blood's a Rover" teleplay.
My problems with the earliest story are many, and I'm not the only one. Many have called the story sexist, if not misogynistic, which Ellison has often blamed on the film adaptation. That isn't fair: The film leans into it a bit more, but the source material had some vile stuff going on. Some of it is included for satirical purposes, sure, but many of the assumptions that underpin this setting are distasteful. Again, a lot of this was intentional, but the author toned things down quite a bit in the later stories, which tells me he spotted a couple issues himself.
One of the things that makes the other stories here more palatable is a perspective shift: While the original story is from the perspective of a fifteen year-old boy, the other two stories are from the perspective of his hyper-intelligent psychic dog, Blood. The screen treatment is third-person, in script form.
Also, the original story, to my mind, was partly intended to push the boundaries of good taste (like much of the Splatterpunk inspired by Ellison), which it did. It also has been outpaced by the various works it has inspired. The Fallout series, for example, has a better fleshed-out, less offensive but still harsh reality behind it.
The remainder of this book, though, relieve a bit of the pressure by contextualizing "A Boy and His Dog". While they may not have quite as much verve as the original, they lend gravitas to it, making this whole greater than the sum of it's parts.
In the end, this is a great way to experience an important, though controversial, entry in the SF canon. I strongly recommend it, but mileage will vary.
Thank you to Subterranean Press, Harlan Ellison and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are both honest and my own.
1. I love Harlan Ellison. His work has had more impact on me than anyone else in F/SF.
2. "A Boy and His Dog" is a stone-cold classic, was adapted into a well-received film, and has influenced the entire post-apocalyptic subgenre.
3. I have never liked "A Boy and His Dog". I'll explain later.
This book is a collection of all the Vic and Blood stories, along with Ellison's teleplay for the proposed V+B TV pilot. The stories are presented in order of occurrence, not publication; this is why the oldest story, "A Boy and His Dog" (1969), appears second here after "Eggsucker" (1977). Then comes "Run, Spot, Run" (1980), and the book closes with the "Blood's a Rover" teleplay.
My problems with the earliest story are many, and I'm not the only one. Many have called the story sexist, if not misogynistic, which Ellison has often blamed on the film adaptation. That isn't fair: The film leans into it a bit more, but the source material had some vile stuff going on. Some of it is included for satirical purposes, sure, but many of the assumptions that underpin this setting are distasteful. Again, a lot of this was intentional, but the author toned things down quite a bit in the later stories, which tells me he spotted a couple issues himself.
One of the things that makes the other stories here more palatable is a perspective shift: While the original story is from the perspective of a fifteen year-old boy, the other two stories are from the perspective of his hyper-intelligent psychic dog, Blood. The screen treatment is third-person, in script form.
Also, the original story, to my mind, was partly intended to push the boundaries of good taste (like much of the Splatterpunk inspired by Ellison), which it did. It also has been outpaced by the various works it has inspired. The Fallout series, for example, has a better fleshed-out, less offensive but still harsh reality behind it.
The remainder of this book, though, relieve a bit of the pressure by contextualizing "A Boy and His Dog". While they may not have quite as much verve as the original, they lend gravitas to it, making this whole greater than the sum of it's parts.
In the end, this is a great way to experience an important, though controversial, entry in the SF canon. I strongly recommend it, but mileage will vary.
Thank you to Subterranean Press, Harlan Ellison and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are both honest and my own.
June 26, 2022
Eh this shit doesn't really hold up. I like the idea of a telepathic dog but all other characters are pieces of shit and I sorta just want to like a character or two. I didn't read the teleplay because I have no interest in reading a teleplay. That's why I marked this as did not finish but I got everything I was going to get out of this.
April 20, 2018
Publishing Date: 1969-1975
Publisher: Subterranean
ISBN: 9781596068681
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 4.7/5
Publisher’s Description: Harlan Ellison and his editor, Jason Davis, have painstakingly assembled the whole story of Vic and Blood and Spikefrom the author’s files, using revised-and-expanded versions of the novella and short stories, interstitial material developed for Richard Corben’s graphic adaptation, and—for the first time—never-before-published material from the aborted 1977 NBC television series Blood’s a Rover to tell the complete story of A Boy and His Dog, and a Girl who is tougher than the other two combined.
Review: If you remember the movie “A Boy and his Dog”, then this is where it all started. This final compilation integrates all the stories into a cogent whole. The perspectives shift between Blood and Vic and continues to entertain no matter the eyes you are looking through. A spectacular read from a true master of the craft.
You can check out all of my awesome reviews,HERE.
Publisher: Subterranean
ISBN: 9781596068681
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 4.7/5
Publisher’s Description: Harlan Ellison and his editor, Jason Davis, have painstakingly assembled the whole story of Vic and Blood and Spikefrom the author’s files, using revised-and-expanded versions of the novella and short stories, interstitial material developed for Richard Corben’s graphic adaptation, and—for the first time—never-before-published material from the aborted 1977 NBC television series Blood’s a Rover to tell the complete story of A Boy and His Dog, and a Girl who is tougher than the other two combined.
Review: If you remember the movie “A Boy and his Dog”, then this is where it all started. This final compilation integrates all the stories into a cogent whole. The perspectives shift between Blood and Vic and continues to entertain no matter the eyes you are looking through. A spectacular read from a true master of the craft.
You can check out all of my awesome reviews,HERE.
June 26, 2018
I received a free Kindle copy of Blood's A Rover by Harlan Ellison courtesy of Net Galley and Subterranean Press,, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.
I requested this book as iI have read several of the author's books and thought I would give this one a try.
I must admit that I am a fan of Harlan Ellison's early work, but his writing of the past several years has left me somewhat disappointed. This book holds true to that observation.
The book is based on a good premise, but the story literally drags at times and is completely engaging at others. Other reviewers have raved about the book so you may find it more your cup of tea than I did.
In the future, I will stick with rereading Ellison's earlier works as they are much more engaging than this one.
I requested this book as iI have read several of the author's books and thought I would give this one a try.
I must admit that I am a fan of Harlan Ellison's early work, but his writing of the past several years has left me somewhat disappointed. This book holds true to that observation.
The book is based on a good premise, but the story literally drags at times and is completely engaging at others. Other reviewers have raved about the book so you may find it more your cup of tea than I did.
In the future, I will stick with rereading Ellison's earlier works as they are much more engaging than this one.
November 25, 2024
For all the works that Ellison has inspired I feel they all lack the scathing bite of the original satire. It's like they are parroting ideas about humanity and war and technology without really understanding the meaning behind the words. Or at the very least they are only feeling the way people told them to feel, rather than it coming from their own personal experiences and observations of the world.
I consider this essential reading for anyone who is a fan of the nuclear apocalypse genre, or the post-apocalyptic genre in general. Ellison's work is so foundational and I think we still have a lot to learn from him.
I consider this essential reading for anyone who is a fan of the nuclear apocalypse genre, or the post-apocalyptic genre in general. Ellison's work is so foundational and I think we still have a lot to learn from him.
July 29, 2018
Ellison’s story finally told, BLOOD’S A ROVER is a look into the mind of a ferocious storyteller. I thoroughly enjoyed it though wish that Ellison had pulled it together as a true novel. That said, there a moments of his usual brilliance not only in the most popular section, “A Boy and His Dog,” but also in the stories and screenplay that puts the tale of Blood and his friends fully into the readers hands. Jason Davis’s editing is, as usual, great, and Subterranean Press did another stellar job with the book.
April 24, 2018
Finally!!! The best award winning post apocalyptic story is told in it's full glorious context. The story of Blood, the telepathic dog and "his" boy Vic and eventually his girl Spike and their struggles to survive in a post World War Four wasteland.
This marvelous adventure first came to my attention in 1969 while reading a UK digest magazine: New Worlds ... and then reread later in a 1969 US hardcover collection of Ellison stories. I was hooked and hoped for more from these intriguing characters. I had to wait until 1977 when Ellison wrote the prequel story, "Eggsucker" ... an origin type of story that I gobbled up in the SF/Fantasy magazine: Ariel, Vol #2. The continuation of the story of Vic & Blood then popped up in an obscure media magazine: Mediascene Prevue in 1980 as "Run,Spot, Run" .... then we were left dangling for almost 40 years for the conclusion. Thanks to editor: Jason Davis and Ellison we are now treated to publication of Ellison's unpublished and unproduced NBC TV teleplay of: "Blood's A Rover". The final script was finished in August 1977 but never saw the light of day. The final novel is now assembled in prose format for the first time.
For a complete experience search out the cult movie "Boy And His Dog" from 1975 ... this visualizing the portion of this story where Vic stumbles upon the "banal" underground community, only to be seduced by the leader's daughter: Quilla June Holmes to abandoning Blood - with the object of him supplying "stud service" to the community.
For further visualization don't miss Richard Corben's adaptation of part of the story in his two issue comic adaptation: "Vic & Blood" by Mad Dog Comics in 1988.
It's worth the price of admission to experience the telepathic interplay between Blood and Vic, and later Spike. Blood is truly the more advanced and mature being, and not Vic or the marauding gang of "rovers" that have survived the nuclear holocaust. It's rather comical how Blood has to correct the grammar of Vic ... he is truly his teacher, historian and finder of chicks. Together they form an ideal partnership - until unforeseen events unfold.
Blood is an ancestor of the "skirmisher dogs" of the Third War . Scientists retrieved Dolphin spinal fluid and experimentally injected it into dogs. The first near success occurred in a dog named, Ahbhu (which also happens to be the name of Ellison's beloved dog) ... followed by further crossbreeding and experimentation leading to the development of the Skirmisher dog ..... when linked telepathically with his human controller was able to detect poison gas and radiation.
The ultimate dream and goal is to rebuild civilization ... to be able to grow their own food from the soil ... and to live like rational civilized beings.
Thanks to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for providing me with an advanced proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review. # @SubPress
This marvelous adventure first came to my attention in 1969 while reading a UK digest magazine: New Worlds ... and then reread later in a 1969 US hardcover collection of Ellison stories. I was hooked and hoped for more from these intriguing characters. I had to wait until 1977 when Ellison wrote the prequel story, "Eggsucker" ... an origin type of story that I gobbled up in the SF/Fantasy magazine: Ariel, Vol #2. The continuation of the story of Vic & Blood then popped up in an obscure media magazine: Mediascene Prevue in 1980 as "Run,Spot, Run" .... then we were left dangling for almost 40 years for the conclusion. Thanks to editor: Jason Davis and Ellison we are now treated to publication of Ellison's unpublished and unproduced NBC TV teleplay of: "Blood's A Rover". The final script was finished in August 1977 but never saw the light of day. The final novel is now assembled in prose format for the first time.
For a complete experience search out the cult movie "Boy And His Dog" from 1975 ... this visualizing the portion of this story where Vic stumbles upon the "banal" underground community, only to be seduced by the leader's daughter: Quilla June Holmes to abandoning Blood - with the object of him supplying "stud service" to the community.
For further visualization don't miss Richard Corben's adaptation of part of the story in his two issue comic adaptation: "Vic & Blood" by Mad Dog Comics in 1988.
It's worth the price of admission to experience the telepathic interplay between Blood and Vic, and later Spike. Blood is truly the more advanced and mature being, and not Vic or the marauding gang of "rovers" that have survived the nuclear holocaust. It's rather comical how Blood has to correct the grammar of Vic ... he is truly his teacher, historian and finder of chicks. Together they form an ideal partnership - until unforeseen events unfold.
Blood is an ancestor of the "skirmisher dogs" of the Third War . Scientists retrieved Dolphin spinal fluid and experimentally injected it into dogs. The first near success occurred in a dog named, Ahbhu (which also happens to be the name of Ellison's beloved dog) ... followed by further crossbreeding and experimentation leading to the development of the Skirmisher dog ..... when linked telepathically with his human controller was able to detect poison gas and radiation.
The ultimate dream and goal is to rebuild civilization ... to be able to grow their own food from the soil ... and to live like rational civilized beings.
Thanks to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for providing me with an advanced proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review. # @SubPress
September 21, 2024
The sequel to the book (and movie) A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison.
Half the book is prose, the other 1/2 is a movie script.
Seriously wandered into young adult territory. The fight scenes were ludicrous. There was no character development whatsoever.
And to top it off, the ending relied on the old "Brer Rabbit" ploy. The protagonist is captured and beaten and about to be executed by his antagonists, when he starts screaming, "You can knife me, you can shoot me, but whatever you do, don't throw me into that abandoned warehouse!"
So -- of course -- what do his enemies decide to do?
A childish denouement to an unbelievable, hackneyed story.
This book was a total waste of time.
One star.
Half the book is prose, the other 1/2 is a movie script.
Seriously wandered into young adult territory. The fight scenes were ludicrous. There was no character development whatsoever.
And to top it off, the ending relied on the old "Brer Rabbit" ploy. The protagonist is captured and beaten and about to be executed by his antagonists, when he starts screaming, "You can knife me, you can shoot me, but whatever you do, don't throw me into that abandoned warehouse!"
So -- of course -- what do his enemies decide to do?
A childish denouement to an unbelievable, hackneyed story.
This book was a total waste of time.
One star.
May 12, 2024
I picked up Blood’s a Rover because I heard that one of the stories in the book’s collection,, A Boy and His Dog, served as inspiration for the Fallout game series. Since I'm so engrossed with the world of Fallout, particularly Fallout: New Vegas, I thought I'd give this book a try. I hoped to figure out how it informed the world of Fallout and maybe, just maybe, I'd fall in love with this world, too.
Well, if we're talking batting averages, 1 out of 2 is excellent. For books, not so much? Fittingly for a book that stars a dog, Blood’s a Rover is rough.
I definitely can see the inspiration in the bleak, tough, and somewhat weird post-apocalyptic wasteland that our characters find themselves in (the game series’ black comedy more likely comes from the story’s film adaption, however). Like Fallout, the world of Red's a Rover is mostly wasteland, with pockets of what can pass for society if you squint hard enough. Both stories also feature copious amounts of gangs, known as "roverpacks" here. All in all, while there's an outline for an interesting world here, Blood’s a Rover doesn't spend all that much time delving into the setting’s intricacies. To be clear, I like what we have here, particularly the telepathic dogs, but the story never really focuses on its setting all too much.
Instead, it focuses on its characters which are a bit bland at best, and horrifying at worst. It's clear that Vic and Blood are the lifeblood of The Boy and His Dog literary cycle, so your enjoyment of Blood's a Rover will live and die by your opinion on these two.
Unfortunately, mine largely died.
The problem mostly comes in the form of Vic, a 15-year old boy whose primary goal, beyond survival, is to find women to bed. This alone was enough to squick me out. I'm aware that teenagers have libidos; I simply do not want to read about them. But perhaps I'm just overly squeamish and he could give a good reason for me to be compelled to read this.
Or he could do the opposite and make Vic a full-on rapist.
This should be enough justification for me to dislike the book. It is enough justification for me to dislike the book if I were just reading it like a normal person but since I had the bright idea to get into amateur reviewing, I have to go through the exhausting song and dance of giving every author the benefit of doubt and analyzing their decisions no matter how much I want to write them off.
Vic being a monster could be a way to show humans devolving into their basest and worst tendencies when they're not held accountable to society. This doesn't make me enjoy following a rapist protagonist, but it would at least serve a function. Two problems with this though. One, it's hard for me to come away believing Vic is being condemned when his victim, Quilia June pulls the "UwU I actuawwy wike being waped" shit. Two, even if it really is a genuine analysis of how bad humanity can become it's still not compelling, thanks to our other leading man, er, dog.
I want to like Blood, I really do. It's hard to hate a wry, telepathic dog, but he just doesn't bounce off Vic in a very interesting matter, at the end of the day. Blood is described as "helping" Vic procure women to rape. Blood, as the superego to Vic's id has the capacity to balk against Vic's more primal urges. The story could have gained a lot in having the two butt heads more, not always on morality, but just in terms of practical matters. We see spades of this, but Blood calling out Vic largely amounts to him being an arse about Vic's grammar. It could also be interesting for Blood to go the opposite direction and serve as the devil on Vic's shoulder, but this doesn't happen either. Instead, we have a character that's a bit morally passive. I'm sure this could be the point — humanity can be horrifying in its urges while society can be stoic in its pragmatism — but again, seeing what Ellison is going for doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.
Vic and Blood have a bond on paper, but there isn't much chemistry on display for me to believe it. They've gone through a lot together, but this is largely told instead of shown.
For all my complaints, we get pretty damn haunting character work in Run, Spot, Run that makes it clear that Ellison can write compelling turmoil; he just seems to drop the ball in terms of character relations.
Beyond the relationship between Vic and Blood, you see this when a new character is thrown in the mix, Spike. I was excited to see how Spike bounced off the two existing leads. While I certainly like her more than Vic, that's largely only because she's not a rapist (real high bar to clear, I'm aware). Beyond that, she's basically just another Vic. The prospect of these three together seemed interesting at first, but by the end, I was already a bit bored of them.
The cycle of A Boy and His Dog is in a bit of a weird spot for me, in terms of what could “fix” it. I think more stories could improve the world and the characters for me, as it would flesh out things enough for me to actually care. That said, Vic is so odious I'm not sure I'd have the stomach for it.
But it's a moot point. Blood's a Rover was published posthumously, so we probably won't be seeing Vic, Blood, or Spike again. What I'm left with is a series of stories that are fine at best, pretty damn gross at worst.
Well, if we're talking batting averages, 1 out of 2 is excellent. For books, not so much? Fittingly for a book that stars a dog, Blood’s a Rover is rough.
I definitely can see the inspiration in the bleak, tough, and somewhat weird post-apocalyptic wasteland that our characters find themselves in (the game series’ black comedy more likely comes from the story’s film adaption, however). Like Fallout, the world of Red's a Rover is mostly wasteland, with pockets of what can pass for society if you squint hard enough. Both stories also feature copious amounts of gangs, known as "roverpacks" here. All in all, while there's an outline for an interesting world here, Blood’s a Rover doesn't spend all that much time delving into the setting’s intricacies. To be clear, I like what we have here, particularly the telepathic dogs, but the story never really focuses on its setting all too much.
Instead, it focuses on its characters which are a bit bland at best, and horrifying at worst. It's clear that Vic and Blood are the lifeblood of The Boy and His Dog literary cycle, so your enjoyment of Blood's a Rover will live and die by your opinion on these two.
Unfortunately, mine largely died.
The problem mostly comes in the form of Vic, a 15-year old boy whose primary goal, beyond survival, is to find women to bed. This alone was enough to squick me out. I'm aware that teenagers have libidos; I simply do not want to read about them. But perhaps I'm just overly squeamish and he could give a good reason for me to be compelled to read this.
Or he could do the opposite and make Vic a full-on rapist.
This should be enough justification for me to dislike the book. It is enough justification for me to dislike the book if I were just reading it like a normal person but since I had the bright idea to get into amateur reviewing, I have to go through the exhausting song and dance of giving every author the benefit of doubt and analyzing their decisions no matter how much I want to write them off.
Vic being a monster could be a way to show humans devolving into their basest and worst tendencies when they're not held accountable to society. This doesn't make me enjoy following a rapist protagonist, but it would at least serve a function. Two problems with this though. One, it's hard for me to come away believing Vic is being condemned when his victim, Quilia June pulls the "UwU I actuawwy wike being waped" shit. Two, even if it really is a genuine analysis of how bad humanity can become it's still not compelling, thanks to our other leading man, er, dog.
I want to like Blood, I really do. It's hard to hate a wry, telepathic dog, but he just doesn't bounce off Vic in a very interesting matter, at the end of the day. Blood is described as "helping" Vic procure women to rape. Blood, as the superego to Vic's id has the capacity to balk against Vic's more primal urges. The story could have gained a lot in having the two butt heads more, not always on morality, but just in terms of practical matters. We see spades of this, but Blood calling out Vic largely amounts to him being an arse about Vic's grammar. It could also be interesting for Blood to go the opposite direction and serve as the devil on Vic's shoulder, but this doesn't happen either. Instead, we have a character that's a bit morally passive. I'm sure this could be the point — humanity can be horrifying in its urges while society can be stoic in its pragmatism — but again, seeing what Ellison is going for doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.
Vic and Blood have a bond on paper, but there isn't much chemistry on display for me to believe it. They've gone through a lot together, but this is largely told instead of shown.
For all my complaints, we get pretty damn haunting character work in Run, Spot, Run that makes it clear that Ellison can write compelling turmoil; he just seems to drop the ball in terms of character relations.
Beyond the relationship between Vic and Blood, you see this when a new character is thrown in the mix, Spike. I was excited to see how Spike bounced off the two existing leads. While I certainly like her more than Vic, that's largely only because she's not a rapist (real high bar to clear, I'm aware). Beyond that, she's basically just another Vic. The prospect of these three together seemed interesting at first, but by the end, I was already a bit bored of them.
The cycle of A Boy and His Dog is in a bit of a weird spot for me, in terms of what could “fix” it. I think more stories could improve the world and the characters for me, as it would flesh out things enough for me to actually care. That said, Vic is so odious I'm not sure I'd have the stomach for it.
But it's a moot point. Blood's a Rover was published posthumously, so we probably won't be seeing Vic, Blood, or Spike again. What I'm left with is a series of stories that are fine at best, pretty damn gross at worst.
September 16, 2018
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.75 of 5
I was reading both this book, and one other book by Harlan Ellison, when Harlan passed away. While I am always reading more than one book at a time, it's rare that I am reading more than one by the same author (that other book is Ellison's original teleplay of "City on the Edge of Forever" ... review to come), so there was some strange sort of kismet happening here for me.
Blood's a Rover is a collection of stories featuring Vic and Blood, together chronologically so that they tell a novel-length story. Perhaps Ellison's most famous short story is "A Boy and His Dog" about the intelligent, telepathic dog Blood and his human cohort, Vic, scrounging and surviving a post-apocalyptic world. (Yes, there was a movie featuring Don Johnson [of Miami Vice fame] but you probably saw it only if you've spent much time at sci-fi conventions or browsing YouTube for B movies.)
Though I've read a lot of Ellison's work over the course of many decades, I don't think I've read all of these stories, so it was nice to get the full story, from start-to-end in one volume this way.
However...!
Though billed as a novel, this is NOT a novel. This is most clearly and obviously a collection of material put together sequentially. It may tell one long story ("may"), but it is definitely not a novel, which is what I was hoping for since that was how it was advertised. I'd hoped that Ellison (or someone of his approving) had filled out the spaces between stories to really make this one long story. But not only is this not a novel, but the final story is included as a film script - the way Ellison wrote it, hoping for it to be filmed.
Fortunately I don't mind reading scripts - I read them all the time for work - but not everyone who reads stories and novels is accustomed to the format of film or television scripts. And the inclusion of a script as part of our story really serves to remind us that this is not a novel of Vic and Blood, it is a collection of their adventures. As such (a collection of adventures), it is well worth reading. Some of the work definitely feels dated, especially given the volume of post-apocalyptic novels and stories available today, and at times Ellison goes a little over the top trying to remind us how smart he is (Blood) and how stupid the rest of us are (Vics), but I'd still rather read some works of Ellison than just about any other author today.
In the introduction, editor Jason Davis writes about the reissue of Richard Corben's visual adaptation of Vic and Blood:
In his introduction, the creator of the dystopian duo noted that "The final, longest section is in screenplay form...and one of these days before I go through that final door, I'll translate it into elegant prose, and the full novel will appear."
If only we could hold Ellison to those words.
How sad that when I began this book, I had some hope that there might be some new Vic and Blood stories on the horizon but as I finished the stories Ellison's death closed the book on any future stories by the master.
Looking for a good book? Blood's a Rover by Harlan Ellison gathers together his collection of stories and screenplays about the adventures of Vic and Blood (from "A Boy and His Dog") and provides the opportunity to read the stories sequentially, which is well worth doing.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I was reading both this book, and one other book by Harlan Ellison, when Harlan passed away. While I am always reading more than one book at a time, it's rare that I am reading more than one by the same author (that other book is Ellison's original teleplay of "City on the Edge of Forever" ... review to come), so there was some strange sort of kismet happening here for me.
Blood's a Rover is a collection of stories featuring Vic and Blood, together chronologically so that they tell a novel-length story. Perhaps Ellison's most famous short story is "A Boy and His Dog" about the intelligent, telepathic dog Blood and his human cohort, Vic, scrounging and surviving a post-apocalyptic world. (Yes, there was a movie featuring Don Johnson [of Miami Vice fame] but you probably saw it only if you've spent much time at sci-fi conventions or browsing YouTube for B movies.)
Though I've read a lot of Ellison's work over the course of many decades, I don't think I've read all of these stories, so it was nice to get the full story, from start-to-end in one volume this way.
However...!
Though billed as a novel, this is NOT a novel. This is most clearly and obviously a collection of material put together sequentially. It may tell one long story ("may"), but it is definitely not a novel, which is what I was hoping for since that was how it was advertised. I'd hoped that Ellison (or someone of his approving) had filled out the spaces between stories to really make this one long story. But not only is this not a novel, but the final story is included as a film script - the way Ellison wrote it, hoping for it to be filmed.
Fortunately I don't mind reading scripts - I read them all the time for work - but not everyone who reads stories and novels is accustomed to the format of film or television scripts. And the inclusion of a script as part of our story really serves to remind us that this is not a novel of Vic and Blood, it is a collection of their adventures. As such (a collection of adventures), it is well worth reading. Some of the work definitely feels dated, especially given the volume of post-apocalyptic novels and stories available today, and at times Ellison goes a little over the top trying to remind us how smart he is (Blood) and how stupid the rest of us are (Vics), but I'd still rather read some works of Ellison than just about any other author today.
In the introduction, editor Jason Davis writes about the reissue of Richard Corben's visual adaptation of Vic and Blood:
In his introduction, the creator of the dystopian duo noted that "The final, longest section is in screenplay form...and one of these days before I go through that final door, I'll translate it into elegant prose, and the full novel will appear."
If only we could hold Ellison to those words.
How sad that when I began this book, I had some hope that there might be some new Vic and Blood stories on the horizon but as I finished the stories Ellison's death closed the book on any future stories by the master.
Looking for a good book? Blood's a Rover by Harlan Ellison gathers together his collection of stories and screenplays about the adventures of Vic and Blood (from "A Boy and His Dog") and provides the opportunity to read the stories sequentially, which is well worth doing.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
June 16, 2018
"Blood's a Rover" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Harlan Ellison (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_...). Mr. Ellison has published only nine novels or novellas, but has published over 1,700 short stories since 1958. He has received numerous awards for his writing over the years.
I received an ARC of this novella through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence, Mature Language and Mature Situations. The story is set in a post apocalypse world. The primary characters are the young man Vic and his enhanced dog Blood.
Vic and Blood struggle to survive in the desolate wasteland of the future. Blood, his dog, has been enhanced allowing them to communicate telepathically, and Blood is clearly the more strategic thinker of the two.
After being separated, they find themselves together again. Soon, Vic is confronted with adding a third member to their team, Spike. Spike is a survivor like Vic. Reluctantly Vic lets the young woman join them and the duo becomes a trio.
I thought the 2.5 hours spent reading this 232 page novella was interesting. I had not read any of the prior works in the series, but this novella read pretty well on its own. That is not too unexpected since the last work in the series was published in 1980. I think the cover art is good as it both depicts the flavor of the story as well as having a vintage look. It is adapted from a screenplay, so the format is a little hard to read. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.
Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.
I received an ARC of this novella through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence, Mature Language and Mature Situations. The story is set in a post apocalypse world. The primary characters are the young man Vic and his enhanced dog Blood.
Vic and Blood struggle to survive in the desolate wasteland of the future. Blood, his dog, has been enhanced allowing them to communicate telepathically, and Blood is clearly the more strategic thinker of the two.
After being separated, they find themselves together again. Soon, Vic is confronted with adding a third member to their team, Spike. Spike is a survivor like Vic. Reluctantly Vic lets the young woman join them and the duo becomes a trio.
I thought the 2.5 hours spent reading this 232 page novella was interesting. I had not read any of the prior works in the series, but this novella read pretty well on its own. That is not too unexpected since the last work in the series was published in 1980. I think the cover art is good as it both depicts the flavor of the story as well as having a vintage look. It is adapted from a screenplay, so the format is a little hard to read. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.
Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.
August 3, 2024
I've read the stories before in Vic and Blood: Stories, though I don't remember the screenplay so that was new to me. A Boy and His Dog is just an undisputed masterpiece of provocative fiction that is as tough and gritty as its setting. Almost like the difference between the Fallout TV show and the games it's based on, especially number four, though a bit more edgy. Fallout is of course, heavily influenced by these stories and others.
The screenplay I can't really comment too much on, since it's a different experience completely from the stories. I'm undecided if it felt lightweight or if it was deliberately constrained to be in some format like TV or movie. It felt genuine to the story, though it seemed to be a short one-off adventure.
The stories other than A Boy and His Dog felt very short and somewhat aimless, though the character interactions that drive them are great. I have a sneaking suspicion the author didn't really have much of a plan for these characters past the crafting of his original story and that he somewhat in poor faith teased he had been working on a novel of them for something like 40 years.
The screenplay I can't really comment too much on, since it's a different experience completely from the stories. I'm undecided if it felt lightweight or if it was deliberately constrained to be in some format like TV or movie. It felt genuine to the story, though it seemed to be a short one-off adventure.
The stories other than A Boy and His Dog felt very short and somewhat aimless, though the character interactions that drive them are great. I have a sneaking suspicion the author didn't really have much of a plan for these characters past the crafting of his original story and that he somewhat in poor faith teased he had been working on a novel of them for something like 40 years.
December 31, 2021
I was so ready to give this collection a five-star grade but then I got to the script section and had to knock it down a peg.
Ellison's prose adventures of Vic and Blood are a blast to rip through, and those thankfully make up the first two thirds of Blood's a Rover. They are full of the banter and pitch-black humor and grim situations that make them so beloved. The language is raw, Vic is essentially a villain who deserves none of your support and only becomes slightly sympathetic when viewed against the other nasty figures who dot this world.
And then you get to the final section of the collection, a previously unpublished script for a potential pilot of an NBC TV series following the duo. Obviously, Ellison was a gifted TV writer but this thing is such a neutered version of what we've gotten used to in the other stories that it's painful to read. There's no cursing, no explicit violence, no sex (or even a real mention of it) and nothing depraved or truly frightening at all. It's a network TV version of Vic and Blood, which ends this book with a whimper.
Still, this is worth picking up for the rest of it, which is some of the most exciting and darkly funny sci-fi you'll ever read. The characters are simply unforgettable.
Ellison's prose adventures of Vic and Blood are a blast to rip through, and those thankfully make up the first two thirds of Blood's a Rover. They are full of the banter and pitch-black humor and grim situations that make them so beloved. The language is raw, Vic is essentially a villain who deserves none of your support and only becomes slightly sympathetic when viewed against the other nasty figures who dot this world.
And then you get to the final section of the collection, a previously unpublished script for a potential pilot of an NBC TV series following the duo. Obviously, Ellison was a gifted TV writer but this thing is such a neutered version of what we've gotten used to in the other stories that it's painful to read. There's no cursing, no explicit violence, no sex (or even a real mention of it) and nothing depraved or truly frightening at all. It's a network TV version of Vic and Blood, which ends this book with a whimper.
Still, this is worth picking up for the rest of it, which is some of the most exciting and darkly funny sci-fi you'll ever read. The characters are simply unforgettable.
September 8, 2018
This book made me realize that perhaps my favorite part of a Harlan Ellison novel is the Harlan Ellison written introduction. I miss him already, and I haven't even read everything he's published yet.
Really, I'd recommend Ellison's introduction in 'Vic and Blood' - it is beautiful and so truculently Ellison, and is a perfect introduction to the vic and blood universe.
But Blood's a rover feels very posthumous. I mean, it doesn't really misrepresent the man, say, like "the will to power" but if you are a fan, the only part of this book you haven't read is a screen play (teleplay?) "Blood's A Rover" - which is, well, if you are a fan, it's certainly worth reading, but it is a screenplay, and that format has... limitations. I mean, someone should make the movie, sure, but as far as pleasure from reading goes, it's somewhat lacking.
Really, though, I gave this four stars and I mean it; it's the only non-five star rating I've given to something with Ellison's name on it. Which is to say, it's not bad, not bad at all, really. But it's not quite up to the usual standards of his work.
Really, I'd recommend Ellison's introduction in 'Vic and Blood' - it is beautiful and so truculently Ellison, and is a perfect introduction to the vic and blood universe.
But Blood's a rover feels very posthumous. I mean, it doesn't really misrepresent the man, say, like "the will to power" but if you are a fan, the only part of this book you haven't read is a screen play (teleplay?) "Blood's A Rover" - which is, well, if you are a fan, it's certainly worth reading, but it is a screenplay, and that format has... limitations. I mean, someone should make the movie, sure, but as far as pleasure from reading goes, it's somewhat lacking.
Really, though, I gave this four stars and I mean it; it's the only non-five star rating I've given to something with Ellison's name on it. Which is to say, it's not bad, not bad at all, really. But it's not quite up to the usual standards of his work.
November 21, 2024
The complete adventures of Harlan Ellison's post-apocalyptic outlaw Vic, and his telepathic dog friend, Blood. This consists of the novella "A Boy and His Dog," the short stories "Eggsucker" and "Run, Spot, Run," and the unproduced screenplay "Blood's a Rover."
Overall, I was rather disappointed. I thought on the whole it was fairly standard fare, post-apocalyptic fiction. Maybe that's because of developments in the genre since Ellison wrote these stories, but the same is true of many of his other stories, and yet they still hold up well. I felt neither of the
short stories contributed that much to the overall narrative, but yet I preferred the dog's POV, so I was disappointed that the novella used Vic's. The twist ending was a shock, however. I did enjoy the screenplay most of the collected stories due to the enjoyable dynamic between Vic, Blood, and the female solo Spike. Overall, I think these are decent stories, but I know Ellison can and has done better.
Overall, I was rather disappointed. I thought on the whole it was fairly standard fare, post-apocalyptic fiction. Maybe that's because of developments in the genre since Ellison wrote these stories, but the same is true of many of his other stories, and yet they still hold up well. I felt neither of the
short stories contributed that much to the overall narrative, but yet I preferred the dog's POV, so I was disappointed that the novella used Vic's. The twist ending was a shock, however. I did enjoy the screenplay most of the collected stories due to the enjoyable dynamic between Vic, Blood, and the female solo Spike. Overall, I think these are decent stories, but I know Ellison can and has done better.
April 5, 2018
I have been a fan of Harlan since discovering his work in the early 60's and coming across works such as "Ellison Wonderland", "I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream" were nothing more than brilliant lights in a atmosphere of dullness.
I read this in one sitting, enthralled to return to the world of Vic & Blood
I read the original "A Boy & His Dog" in the anthology "The Beast That Shouted Love At The Heart Of The World" that I received as a birthday gift way back in July of 1969. It remains as powerful today as it did then. The added joy of the expanded tales is more than I could have hoped for. Blood is, in all senses, the hero of these stories. Without him, neither Vic nor Spike would be much more than thugs. More likely dead than not. How unfortunate that we may never find out what is "Over the Hill".
I read this in one sitting, enthralled to return to the world of Vic & Blood
I read the original "A Boy & His Dog" in the anthology "The Beast That Shouted Love At The Heart Of The World" that I received as a birthday gift way back in July of 1969. It remains as powerful today as it did then. The added joy of the expanded tales is more than I could have hoped for. Blood is, in all senses, the hero of these stories. Without him, neither Vic nor Spike would be much more than thugs. More likely dead than not. How unfortunate that we may never find out what is "Over the Hill".
July 11, 2018
Farewell, Harlan Ellison.
I read this because I was weirdly captivated as a kid by the post-apocalyptic film, A Boy and His Dog, based on the novella of the same name in this book. That mid-1970s film included a very young Don Johnson, before he reached the promethean heights of Miami Vice.
(Because of that film, incidentally, Topeka has always been tinged with the apocalypse for me—or at least lightly science fictional.)
This book is for completists, not for newcomers to Ellison’s writing.
I read this because I was weirdly captivated as a kid by the post-apocalyptic film, A Boy and His Dog, based on the novella of the same name in this book. That mid-1970s film included a very young Don Johnson, before he reached the promethean heights of Miami Vice.
(Because of that film, incidentally, Topeka has always been tinged with the apocalypse for me—or at least lightly science fictional.)
This book is for completists, not for newcomers to Ellison’s writing.
August 23, 2018
Being a firm believer that any Ellison is worth reading, I grabbed Blood's Rover as soon as a copy became available from my library and it is a fine bookend to a long career. Pulled together from disparate parts and a teleplay that was never produced, it read like a seamless whole despite years between the writing of various parts and different forms. Not the most mind blowing of Ellison's work but it shows that despite the fireworks of many of his stories there was a highly disciplined mind at work.
October 15, 2018
While never one of my favourite Ellison stories, I never understood the idea of expanding it, other than to have "novel" sitting on the shelves of bookstores. In the years that followed Ellison seems to have lost the 'voice' of Blood and just replaced, as with much of his later writing, the 'voice of HE himself...
December 16, 2018
When I first read the original novella nearly 50 years ago, it was shocking, now its decent but nothing surprising. I'm also a bit shocked at how few novels he wrote, four counting this one, which means really three. He primarily was a writer of shorts and screen plays, many of which broke new ground. A historic short story mixed in with some other related writings.
December 28, 2020
I had already read A Boy and his Dog but the other three stories round out this adventure very well. I would definitely recommend the series to anybody with an interest in post apocalyptic settings and science fiction.
The addition of Spike is a welcome one though I wish her character was more fleshed out. I would have liked to have seen a stark contrast between her and Vic.
The addition of Spike is a welcome one though I wish her character was more fleshed out. I would have liked to have seen a stark contrast between her and Vic.
November 11, 2023
In the book/movie comparison category. The movie starring Don Johnson is based on the first story of this novel. I was glad there was more to read. Ellison has a wit that probably has to grow on some but I found it to be a decent use of reading time. Another look at zombies, too. These were green and caused by radiation.
October 26, 2018
Just decent
While the original story is still a classic, the rest seem like filler, just stuff Harlan couldn't be bothered really paying attention to. The final bit, written as a screenplay leaves a glaring plot hole that I won't give away.
While the original story is still a classic, the rest seem like filler, just stuff Harlan couldn't be bothered really paying attention to. The final bit, written as a screenplay leaves a glaring plot hole that I won't give away.
Want to Read
November 9, 2021Egg sucker
A boy and his dog
Run, Spot, Run
Blood´s a Rover
A boy and his dog
Run, Spot, Run
Blood´s a Rover
November 22, 2021
A solid 4 stars for “A boy and his dog” and it helps give a bit of context to the film…but the rest of the book fails to deliver.
May 6, 2022
Loved it, except for the teleplay that is the last 1/3 of the book.
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