Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
79th out of 101 books
—
3 voters
Mefisto in Onyx
Rudy Pairis, an educated African American, is telepathic. His friend and one-time lover, deputy district attorney Allison Roche, wants him to slip into the mind of serial killer Henry Lake "Spanky" Spanning because after successfully damning Spanning to the electric chair for 29 murders, she has fallen in love with him and wants to be sure of his innocence.
Hardcover, 91 pages
Published
March 1st 1994
by Mark V. Ziesing
(first published 1987)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
440)
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...more
A strange little book.
The plot is a sci-fantasy- a man who can "jaunt" into the minds of anyone he chooses, and meddle therein, is asked by a friend to clear the name of a man on death row. Race plays a big part in the story. The main character is a "highly-verbal" black man, with well-reasoned antagonism to the criminal-industrial complex that has disproportionately targeted people of color. The author (as far as I can tell from the google image search returns) is white as the driven snow, and...more
The plot is a sci-fantasy- a man who can "jaunt" into the minds of anyone he chooses, and meddle therein, is asked by a friend to clear the name of a man on death row. Race plays a big part in the story. The main character is a "highly-verbal" black man, with well-reasoned antagonism to the criminal-industrial complex that has disproportionately targeted people of color. The author (as far as I can tell from the google image search returns) is white as the driven snow, and...more
Mefisto in Onyx is the story of a black man who can read minds. When asked by a friend to determine whether or not a serial killer is innocent, he finds out far more than he had ever bargained for. Quite the weighty premise.
This is the first I've read of Harlan Ellison, and I can say that I enjoyed it. The premise, to me, was quite fresh and the twists all interesting although some of them I figured out on my own. There were several problems that I had with this novella.
Firstly, I believe he spe...more
This is the first I've read of Harlan Ellison, and I can say that I enjoyed it. The premise, to me, was quite fresh and the twists all interesting although some of them I figured out on my own. There were several problems that I had with this novella.
Firstly, I believe he spe...more
What an odd and oblong novella Mefisto in Onyx is. The first half of the text is a conversation at a diner, which itself is overrun by the narrator’s rants about his own history, love life, the burden of being psychic, oppression of African Americans and his loathing for a serial killer. But that serial killer may be innocent, and our psychic narrator is pressured to delve into his mind and discover the truth. It’s a heck of a premise, even though we only play with it by around the halfway mark....more
First thing by Ellison I've read and it's definitely not going to be the last. I liked it a lot, the premise, Ellison's writing style, the twists and turns it takes, almost everything about it.
I've noticed that several other reviewers have the same problem with this one as me, and that is that he spends too much time on the beginning and far less time on the ending, but that's not really a huge issue because it is written beautifully. I'll definitely have to check some of Ellison's other stuff.
O...more
I've noticed that several other reviewers have the same problem with this one as me, and that is that he spends too much time on the beginning and far less time on the ending, but that's not really a huge issue because it is written beautifully. I'll definitely have to check some of Ellison's other stuff.
O...more
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...more
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...more
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 employ...more
Only Harlan Ellison can get away with writing a short story (not even a novelette) and have it published as its own book. And... only Ellison can add a "thank you" to three people for "their rudeness, ineptitude, short-sightedness, cowardice, ignorant arrogance, and boneheaded behavior" for not printing the story in "one of their forgettable anthologies." I'm sorry, but the days when I thought it was fun to read Ellison's arrogance, rants, and full-frontal assaults are long gone. They were good...more
This is an imaginative and suspenseful science fiction story dealing with the effects of telepathy. It's short for a novel--only about 20,000 words--but the author does a really good job of creating three interesting, contradictory, and textured characters and then ratcheting up the tension with some surprising plot twists.
I've read a little Harlan Ellison, because I think he is a very imaginative writer, but I can only take him in small doses. I find his writing style can be pretentious and thi...more
I've read a little Harlan Ellison, because I think he is a very imaginative writer, but I can only take him in small doses. I find his writing style can be pretentious and thi...more
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.
I found the book by strolling through the Lakeland Public Library in the Science Fiction Section, I saw a smaller book in the H's. The title had both Frank Miller and Harlan Ellison on it, neat o! Then I read the intro flap that said this book is addictive and has to be read in one sitting. I thought "Yeah, I bet one sitting." I am really feeling inattentive today so in no way would this challenge be applied to me. I usually do not finish books in one time. But then I read the name Bester. Oh, O...more
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!
Ellison is a great writer but his voice is completely off in this novella. It is obvious that you are reading a white man try and sound like a black man. If Ellison hadn't tried so hard to make us buy that the narrator had experienced racism, I might have swallowed it more easily.
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.
So it starts off okay, a quick read, but the last 20 pages are great, what you think is going to happen doesn't, then again the story pivots and throws you right off the track and it ends with a great twis. Clever little book.
Not quite what you expect. It's starts off unpredictable, and ends somewhat predictable, but playing with what you know is going to happen and what you think is going to happen makes this a fun short read.
I haven't read anything by Harlan Ellison in ages, but I used to enjoy his writing quite a bit. Mefisto in Onyx is a short novella with a fun plot twist ending. Not bad.
Great story! Fierce, funny. Can only hope it becomes a movie. Great introduction to Harlan Ellison if you have never read him before. Plain good read.
I don't like sci-fi. But I love Ellison. This is one of my favorites. Read it when I was 16, and haven't forgotten it.
One of Ellison's best. Go ahead and read it. Whatever you think is going to happen is not going to happen. You will love it.
I remember finding this at the library a bit after it came out, and was not really impressed with it.
Chicago book club
I really enjoyed this....was it Sci Fi?
not my normal reading genre
I really enjoyed this....was it Sci Fi?
not my normal reading genre
Beautifully written, somewhat disquieting, filled with passion and frenzy.
The ending ruined this for me. It would have been much better had the tables not been turned, because the climax two-thirds of the way into this story belied perfectly the quiet beginning marred only by a foreshadowing that resulted in coming true in a way that was entirely unexpected yet was clear as a bell in hindsight. Sometimes it's just not damn fun at all when the white hats ride off into the sunset or when the boy gets the girl; just ask Shakespeare.
I love Ellison, but this one was a total misfire.
Great story and art.
I loved this so much it caused me to attempt to read other Ellison which was just disappointing comparatively. I read somewhere that they were trying to make this into a movie. It would be so wonderful if they did!!
Blah blah; Harlan Ellison; blah blah. If you know what he does and you like it, you'll like this. That's about it.
Wow. Just wow.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Harlan Jay Ellison is 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/writ...more
More about Harlan Ellison...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
