Phoenix Without Ashes Vol.1 (Deluxe Edition)

When this singular and memorable book was published in the middle of last year in a four-issue arc, the first reviews were wild with praise. But one reviewer, at the start of the story, said something like, "there's never been an idea like this one! It is enthralling: I just wish more of the questions were answered."

Far be it from me to call that reviewer an idiot, but that's what four issues are supposed to do in the World of Ideas and Wonders! The first issue asks questions, poses puzzles, introduces people who become more substantial as the issues appear. The second issue complicates the questions, offers some leads, and draws the reader into the labyrinth. By the third issue, the reader knows the shape of the larger concepts, is rooting for Devon or Garth or Elder Micah, and waits breathlessly for the answers to be ripped open. Far be it from me to call that reviewer a bit of a dunderhead for his remarks. But now...

Here is the complete story, the idea that had never been done on television, never even been thought of! (And, sure, it's been ripped off a thousand times since, but this original version will bring it home like a fresh, hot pizza. Ssssmokin'!)

When it went on the air, it turned out to be the worst. TV series ever shot, according to its creator, the eminent short story Grand Master, and feckless social, as well as television, essayist, columnist, annoying person, Harlan Ellison. The kindest thing he had to say about the imbeciles who mounted this show, starting with 20th Century-Fox and the Canadian TV potatoheads, was that "it stinks on ice." Further, he commented, "Ice stinks on it."

So he took his name off it, and put his registered pseudonym, "Cordwainer Bird," on it. ("Bird," as in "for the," or flipping one.) But you can read all about that, mercilessly, in the long essay Ellison wrote for the first novelization of PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES. This special grand deluxe imperial collector's edition has all those jollies, PLUS an original cover painting by the creator of "Dinotopia," the eminent James Gurney.

Everything about this magnificent, expensive edition is eminent.

The eminent Ellison, the eminent novelist Edward Bryant, who adapted Ellison's original screenplay. The eminent Alan Robinson, who has worked off the original script itself. And a gallery of ssssmokin' covers off that four-issue arc by the eminent John K. Snyder III. Eminence practically leaks off these pages.

And if that perplexing headline above cries for your attention, remember that the answers lie only inside this grand mountaintop of a classic volume. Just remember that God wrote this book.