Dick, Philip K.

About the Author:

Born in 1928, Philip K. Dick wrote more than fifty books before his death in 1982.

AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:

4 out of 5

(1 book)

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

The book that famously became 'Blade Runner', Dick's version of the story couldn't be more different from that in Ridley Scott's movie.  The book is about Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who is tasked with hunting down rogue androids, Replicants. 

Dick presents a beautifully depressing future in which Earth is in social, economic and environmental decline and its inhabitants are not much better.  Deckard finds himself very much alone, with a wife who is indifferent to him, and his highest hope is the desire to own a real animal.  When he begins hunting the Nexus-6 Replicants, at first it is simple a source of income towards fulfilling his dream, but slowly the androids become more real to him than the humans he encounters.  This increases to the point where he even falls in love with an android. 

This questioning of the nature of humanity is what forms the core of the novel and is a classic science fiction concept.  There is also a concept in the book about Mercerism, but I've got to admit that, either because I'm dumb or wasn't paying attention, it went completely over my head and therefore made parts of the book incomprehensible to me.  When all is said and done, this is a good book, but not the sort of sci-fi masterpiece that I'm assured Dick is capable of.

4 out of 5

Collaborations & Anthologies:

The Wizards Of Odd (here)

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Science Fiction (here)