This 1965 novel by the science-fiction visionary foresaw the idea of virtual reality in its story of a postapocalyptic future. Earth is dominated by the commercial rivalry of two manufacturers of mind-altering drugs, products that offer users escape into dream worlds indistinguishable from reality. The central plot follows business consultant Barney Mayerson and his struggles against the godlike (and possibly alien) Palmer Eldritch. Subplots involve the settlement of Mars, selective evolutionary enhancements, and drug culture. Tom Weiner's reading is oddly gruff, and at times choppy. But as the book progresses, his voice melds with Dick’s satire of the corporate world. His drone-like inflection helps enhance the author's message of a reality-within-reality in which no one can be certain of what is real and what is illusion. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
When I was an unfortunate looking teenager, I took a very powerful acne drug with some very scary side effects, side effects serious enough that the manufacturer included drawings of the horrible things it would do to a baby if a pregnant woman took it. But, as real life and fiction have proven time and […]
In 1982, Ridley Scott loosely adapted Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? into the classic science fiction film Blade Runner, a detective story that kept the novel’s dark aesthetic, odd symbolism, and meditations on empathy. With sequel, Blade Runner 2049 on the horizon, there’s no better time to get acquainted with the author of the original. […]
Beyond the bread-and-butter science fiction (take your pick: milSF, space opera, alt history, what have you) lies the realm of metaphysical sci-fi, a subgenre that plunges headfirst into the surreal. In metaphysical science fiction, the boundaries of reality can stretch and break, and the human mind is as uncharted and alien as the outer reaches of […]