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Mefisto in Onyx
Book by Harlan Ellison
91 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Harlan Ellison
1,024 books2,469 followersHarlan Jay Ellison 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".
[email protected]
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".
[email protected]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
February 12, 2021
Chilling and shocking, this reads like a sci-fi thriller, but Ellison's overwrought attempts at being witty and his overly colloquial and verbose prose were turn offs for me.
December 31, 2011
This is the first Harlan Ellison novel I've ever read. I was pretty impressed with the plot, which involves the world's only empath being asked by a friend (and D.A.) to dive into the mind of a convicted serial killer she has fallen in love with to prove his innocence. Excellent plot twists, however, I didn't find the main character's voice entirely consistent. He was supposed to be a well educated black man from humble beginnings, and the African American colloquialisms Ellison sometimes employed felt a little forced and out of place. This could be because I just watched a documentary on Ellison and could only imagine his voice speaking all the lines. I also thought the ending was a tad neat and tidy for the bleakness of the first half, but the story really did grab me.
November 12, 2014
I don't think I've ever read a book before and wished it was a graphic novel, but with this one I did. Maybe it was a combo of the cover and the intro by Frank Miller that put the thought in my head, but whilst I was reading it I kept thinking: this is really shitty narration (all telling, no showing, repetitive) and would be a MUCH cooler (albeit graphic) graphic novel. So.. in that way it was a let-down. Plus, apparently he's won a lot of awards and people tend to like his prose style.. but I wasn't much of a fan. It was too thriller-esque. And the plot was pretty interesting and original, I guess, except it was simultaneously predictable. I predicated the ending.. but not the VERY ending which has a little twist. So.. eh. If this whole book is an allegory/vieled social commentary about black people and the prison system (which it totally COULD be but I doubt it) then it's cool. If it's just a literal story about mind-reading maniacs- eh.
July 4, 2017
This is an excellent novella by Ellison that takes a very different look at the use of a common sf trope, psi-powers. The books' politically correct stance seems a little creaky now in being a bit self-conscious and postured, and I didn't think he quite captured the main characters voice perfectly...probably because the authorial voice is so strong that it over-powers everything else. Still, it's a wonderfully written piece and a fine and thought-provoking story.
October 4, 2009
The cover and introduction by Frank Miller, where he writes about "dead eyes and dead voices" is very cool.
I read this book when it first came out. Still have it in my library. It's a story about telepathy and a serial killer.
Rudy Pairis is a well educated black man with telepathic abilities and one true friend in the world, a deputy district attorney named Allison Roche. Allison, who once had a brief sexual liaison with Rudy, presumes on that relationship to ask him to do the unthinkable. She wants him to slip into the mind of the most heinous serial killer she has ever tried to send to the chair, and he's not in the least bit excited about this.
It's a good fun tale and I really enjoyed it.
I read this book when it first came out. Still have it in my library. It's a story about telepathy and a serial killer.
Rudy Pairis is a well educated black man with telepathic abilities and one true friend in the world, a deputy district attorney named Allison Roche. Allison, who once had a brief sexual liaison with Rudy, presumes on that relationship to ask him to do the unthinkable. She wants him to slip into the mind of the most heinous serial killer she has ever tried to send to the chair, and he's not in the least bit excited about this.
It's a good fun tale and I really enjoyed it.
June 26, 2012
One of Ellison's few long form (novella length) stories, brilliant. Harlan told a story once about Roland Emmerich (Director of crap movies like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, etc) coming to pitch for rights to the film rights. He described Emmerich as speaking like a valley girl with a German accent. Bang on.
Also, my reviews will not spoil anything, in fact, they may not even say much about the story.
But this is a good one, one of Harlan's best.
Also, my reviews will not spoil anything, in fact, they may not even say much about the story.
But this is a good one, one of Harlan's best.
August 1, 2011
With a cover from renowned artist Frank Miller, one should know that this little book makes a powerful read. Told through a man who can "jump" into the mids of others, this tale of a wrongfully convicted inmate provides two shocking twists before entering its satisfying conclusion. A highly recommended read!
October 21, 2012
Yet another amazing story by Harlan Ellison. I must admit that I was initially drawn to the book due to the involvement of Frank Miller, but once Ellison starts to do what he does best, it's all about his extraordinary storytelling ability.
November 18, 2008
Blah blah; Harlan Ellison; blah blah. If you know what he does and you like it, you'll like this. That's about it.
December 20, 2020
4.5 Stars
A speculative fiction noir novella. Rudy Pairis is telepathic. His good friend and one time lover is now a district attorney. She asks him to slip into the mind of a serial killer to hopefully prove his innocence.
I’d give it five stars but it’s a little wordy and repetitive in a couple of places. But it has one heck of a powerful ending.
Excellent dust jacket art by Frank Miller.
A speculative fiction noir novella. Rudy Pairis is telepathic. His good friend and one time lover is now a district attorney. She asks him to slip into the mind of a serial killer to hopefully prove his innocence.
I’d give it five stars but it’s a little wordy and repetitive in a couple of places. But it has one heck of a powerful ending.
Excellent dust jacket art by Frank Miller.
March 5, 2018
Great story, compelling, mysterious, a brush with evil. Must read more Harlan Ellison.
March 8, 2020
In the words of Frank Miller from the Prologue "his stories fee true".
Shelved as 'dnf'
August 8, 202330% dnf. The plot was interesting but that's about it.
February 9, 2018
Stephen King recommended author. King calls Harlan Ellison a "ferociously talented writer."
June 25, 2018
It’s nice to see Ellison returning to stories with plot and character, after the indefinable “Eidolon” and “The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore.” Ellison states that this story took ten years to write, and it shows an affinity with that Ellison of ten years ago–passionate, filled with righteous anger, and burning up the pages with his rage. “Mefisto” is the story of a serial killer, who may or may not be the person we think he is, and of the District Attorney who prosecuted him, then fell in love with him and believes him to be innocent now, and, most importantly, with Rudy, who can jaunt (shades of Alfred Bester) into people’s minds (i.e., read them). A love triangle made in hell, made even more unholy by the amount of killing gone before, and the possible miscarriage of justice. Hey, let’s face it, this story has everything–so why aren’t I wild about it? Can it be that Ellison’s jocular, biting, ironic style has staled? Maybe it’s just dated, more a product of the radical sixties than the disturbed ’90s. Ellison has updated his references, but the manner is still the same as can be found in “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs.” And he’s damned clever, but unsurprising, since we expect something of a twist from him. With Ellison, I have so many expectations, and am easily critical. Under the by-line of any other author, I might be raving; from Ellison, I expect so much more.
April 17, 2015
Harlan Ellison is the best damn writer on the planet! This story is an absolute masterpiece. I've read it before, but this version with the beautiful cover illustration by Frank Miller and the brilliant introduction ( also by Miller) just complete the package. The story itself is wonderful. You get sucked in right away, and you give a good goddamn about the characters too. Mr. Ellison said that this was a hard story to write, and if that is true I must say, you cannot tell at all. It seems as if he is breezing right through it, easy as pie. Then the end comes and ( no spoilers) grabs you by the throat and holy god! Genius! The man is a genius!
September 6, 2017
My least favourite piece of work by one of my most favourite writers. The dialogues have a very choppy grindhouse film feel to them, as if they were written with a radio play in mind rather than a novella. A bit preachy in its politically correctedness, and half the time it felt like Ellison was trying too hard to capture a black person's speech. I can reckon how challenging that can be, trying to capture a dialect in written dialogue, but I feel he could have just skipped trying to make an educated Black man who gets around with the DEA and sleeps with district attorneys would talk ghetto.
March 16, 2015
Had an OMNI magazine subscription back in the ’90s and that’s when I first read this excellent novella. Read it again tonight—in Harlan Ellison’s new The Top of the Volcano collection—since that first time, and the story still delivers the goods. When you get to the end you feel like you’ve been punched in the gut a few times. Probably one of the best stories involving telepathy in all of the genre. Wish I owned this edition with the excellent Frank Miller artwork on cover.
April 8, 2019
Incredible novella with a twist I didn’t see coming. And then a second even better twist I didn’t see coming. Brilliant!!!
I couldn’t possibly review this story without spoiling it, so I’ll just say if you like noir don’t pass this one up!
I couldn’t possibly review this story without spoiling it, so I’ll just say if you like noir don’t pass this one up!
November 20, 2023
DNF @ 30%
CW: Obnoxious white dude writing offensive Black man and white woman, including a number of occasions wifh him writing the Black protagonist as dropping hard Rs.
I'm in a really annoying, impossible to please phase at the moment with my mental health and general existential crises, which made actually made me pick this up, as I had such a profoundly positive and strangely reassuring experience with I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. So much so I listened.lnronfihe different readings, including the BBC radio over the course of one evening. At first, that classic Ellis absolute lack of charm and nihilistic self-importance was a tone that was working for my own neurotic heads pace, and I was genuinely intrigued by the descriptions of the mind reading and their mental roll.
However, this didn't last because this is some Ellis at his most self-indulgent fart huffing, which is one thing, but while juggling a protagonist who is a Black man and his foil who is a white woman, is something else slenfifeor/entirely. Frankly, I for a feeling relatively early on that it was going to be a race between the story actually getting to the central conflict, before my discomfort levels with the desoltry characterisation becoming increasingly racist and misogynistic in their portrayal and language. Sadly, the action lost.
To be clear, I don't think Ellis is necessarily going out of this way to be gross. It just comes naturally. I think he genuinely believes he is really doing something with his awkward phonetics that edge towards AAVE and multiple hard Rs.
.
On the whole it was just to full of itself and utterly insufferable Ellis that made me realise that there was no exploration of the oremins or pay off that was every going to be worth putting up with nasty white cis man writing a painful and offensive Black man and white woman.
Maybe I was just in the right place at the right time for No Mouth to really speak to me and my feelings of helplessness in this hell world. Not ready to abandon trying any more Ellis, but my opinion of him continues to plummet.
CW: Obnoxious white dude writing offensive Black man and white woman, including a number of occasions wifh him writing the Black protagonist as dropping hard Rs.
I'm in a really annoying, impossible to please phase at the moment with my mental health and general existential crises, which made actually made me pick this up, as I had such a profoundly positive and strangely reassuring experience with I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. So much so I listened.lnronfihe different readings, including the BBC radio over the course of one evening. At first, that classic Ellis absolute lack of charm and nihilistic self-importance was a tone that was working for my own neurotic heads pace, and I was genuinely intrigued by the descriptions of the mind reading and their mental roll.
However, this didn't last because this is some Ellis at his most self-indulgent fart huffing, which is one thing, but while juggling a protagonist who is a Black man and his foil who is a white woman, is something else slenfifeor/entirely. Frankly, I for a feeling relatively early on that it was going to be a race between the story actually getting to the central conflict, before my discomfort levels with the desoltry characterisation becoming increasingly racist and misogynistic in their portrayal and language. Sadly, the action lost.
To be clear, I don't think Ellis is necessarily going out of this way to be gross. It just comes naturally. I think he genuinely believes he is really doing something with his awkward phonetics that edge towards AAVE and multiple hard Rs.
.
On the whole it was just to full of itself and utterly insufferable Ellis that made me realise that there was no exploration of the oremins or pay off that was every going to be worth putting up with nasty white cis man writing a painful and offensive Black man and white woman.
Maybe I was just in the right place at the right time for No Mouth to really speak to me and my feelings of helplessness in this hell world. Not ready to abandon trying any more Ellis, but my opinion of him continues to plummet.
April 5, 2022
Overall, it's not awful, but nothing really to shout about. The setup for the story was strong, but the plot devices felt weak and made the ending feel flat. I acknowledge that I may have some bias here that could be due to a lot of modern media following the kind of story structure. That isn't necessarily a problem of the story, but it doesn't help with reading it in 2022. Honestly, if you told me a lot of 90s TV, film, and fiction writers heralded this story as a groundbreaking, I wouldn't be surprised. If I had read this when it came out, I probably would have loved it, but at this point, it just seems trite and kind of quaint.
Ellison seems to have made a decent effort on research, and he certainly knows how to write a sentence. A glaring issue I have in 2022 is how Ellison handles race here - it made me a bit uncomfortable. I think the characters are dependant on some questionable assumptions regarding African Americans and incarcerated individuals. These assumptions make it all the more problematic that Ellison (a white male in the USA) wrote the main character as an African American. The motives and personalities of the characters felt inauthentic and forced, and I don't think Ellison took the time to really examine the underlying issues that contributed to each character's situation, or he wrote them as the result of some uncommon trauma. For example, a woman can become a highly regarded federal prosecutor simply because she wants to or because she's angry with the patriarchal United States; sexual assault doesn't have to cause that kind of career achievement for a female character.
Ellison seems to have made a decent effort on research, and he certainly knows how to write a sentence. A glaring issue I have in 2022 is how Ellison handles race here - it made me a bit uncomfortable. I think the characters are dependant on some questionable assumptions regarding African Americans and incarcerated individuals. These assumptions make it all the more problematic that Ellison (a white male in the USA) wrote the main character as an African American. The motives and personalities of the characters felt inauthentic and forced, and I don't think Ellison took the time to really examine the underlying issues that contributed to each character's situation, or he wrote them as the result of some uncommon trauma. For example, a woman can become a highly regarded federal prosecutor simply because she wants to or because she's angry with the patriarchal United States; sexual assault doesn't have to cause that kind of career achievement for a female character.
April 11, 2023
Picked this up on a lark at a thrift store, read it in about an hour, and I can't say it was time well spent -- probably the best thing about it is the Frank Miller cover. Ellison is a legendary writer, but this novella about a black Rhodes-scholar named Rudy who can see into other people's minds, but not profit from it, has not aged well at all. The protagonist is good friends with an ambitious Alabama DA who has just prosecuted the most heinous serial killer known to history. However, a few days before execution, she comes to him to ask him to "jaunt" into the killer's mind, because she suddenly believes he's innocent.
The bulk of the pages is Rudy's narration of them sitting at a diner talking about this prospect, with tons of digressions into his past and their past, loaded with plenty of social commentary. However, the writing is completely overstuffed, packed with jibes, references, and attempts at clever wordplay that must have been a lot more fun to write than read. There's a whole racial thread to this (the DA is white), but none of that goes anywhere at all. Even worse, Rudy's interior voice slips in and out of African-American vernacular in ways that don't make any sense and are painfully grating on the page some thirty years later. Because it's Ellison, you know there's a big twist coming at the end, but the payoff sure isn't worth it.
The bulk of the pages is Rudy's narration of them sitting at a diner talking about this prospect, with tons of digressions into his past and their past, loaded with plenty of social commentary. However, the writing is completely overstuffed, packed with jibes, references, and attempts at clever wordplay that must have been a lot more fun to write than read. There's a whole racial thread to this (the DA is white), but none of that goes anywhere at all. Even worse, Rudy's interior voice slips in and out of African-American vernacular in ways that don't make any sense and are painfully grating on the page some thirty years later. Because it's Ellison, you know there's a big twist coming at the end, but the payoff sure isn't worth it.
June 11, 2019
I expected the twist but not the double-cross. Well done. Very good stuff. Reminds me of this other book.. might have been Philip K Dick, might have been Ellison, about a person that suddenly gains super intelligence and his standoff with the only other of his kind. Interesting stuff. I'd love to see these ideas explored in more depth. Octavia Butler did it a bit (Doro) but I want to really see the dynamics between people with these powers play out. I want to really know the story of the titular 'Mefisto' and I want to really know what happened to the protagonist after that last scene. If there were any.. how do we say... growing pains? Interesting nonetheless, despite my mostly vowing off short fiction for the year.
July 17, 2018
Ellison isn't known for his novellas as much as his short stories, and the conclusion to this one comes racing along, perhaps a little faster than I would have liked. Despite this (and despite the sometimes hokey attempt at writing a black main character's inner monologue; Stephen King is much better at white-writing-black without seeming hackneyed and jivey), Ellison's unique sci-fi/horror sensibilities lent themselves well to this tale of a psychic involved in what looks like an open-and-shut case.
December 14, 2018
Not really sure how I feel about this story yet. I think I need to think. It was sort of predictable, but sort of fresh. Sort of awesome, but sort of over-bloated. Ellison was clearly a fantastic writer, and very intelligent, but portions of prose in this novella felt like he was flaunting those traits, rather than letting them play out behind the scenes. I read it in 1 and a half sittings, and I'm definitely glad I did, but yeah... 4 stars seems about right.
May 9, 2024
I read this as part of the "Greatest Hits" collection and I appreciated the disclaimer that came before the story about the use of language in regards to racism. It gave a better framework for how the story was intended.
This was weeeeeird! I thought we had a Tale of Two Cities situation on our hands and the FLIP! And then FLIP! lol Such an interesting tale that started out too slow and I thought about DNFing lol Glad I didn't though. The ending was wacky
This was weeeeeird! I thought we had a Tale of Two Cities situation on our hands and the FLIP! And then FLIP! lol Such an interesting tale that started out too slow and I thought about DNFing lol Glad I didn't though. The ending was wacky
June 20, 2017
10 Stars! Truly mind-blowing. Fantastic story that moves along, intriguing in its own way, then bang/twist! Reeling from the reveal, then wowza, the really real big shebang/twister! It gets in your head, like Hannibal Lecter kind of enthralling perversion, except more subtly, alluring, enchanting. The kind of story that stays with you for days after staring at the last page. WOW
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2018
If I could give more than 5 stars for this story I would. Mefisto in Onyx is so good, so blindingly brilliant, it had me reading like I rarely do, long and fast. I needed to find out what happened next. This story has more twists than a David Mamet play, and in this case that's a good thing. What a magnificent novella! This is my new favourite Harlan Ellison story!
June 12, 2024
ok, i'm a fan-boy now. i'll pull back from giving this a 5 because perceptive, smart people will probably suss out the ending. but it's a very fun read. even if it's maybe a bit predictable, it's very satisfying.
September 6, 2019
If you're a fan of stories with wild endings.......
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews