Philip K. Dick

Morrigan

Anyone read his stuff and can recommend me similar authors..?
I was blown away by his short stories in Minority Report, and the novel A Scanner Darkly. I'm going to start Valis soon, but I would like to see if there's any other authors like him. Any ideas?

How long before someone mentions that Bladerunner was in fact based on Do Androids Dream... etc. etc. etc.

Dades

Deleted User wrote:

How long before someone mentions that Bladerunner was in fact based on Do Androids Dream... etc. etc. etc.

Yeah. When will the world understand, man...

I've only read a few PKDs but I really enjoyed The World Jones Made.
Check out the sci-fi/fantasy board if you're looking specifically for more sci fi recommendations.
I assume you've had a look at Arthur C Clarke, though in his stuff, the science takes precedence over story a lot. Childhood's End is my all time fav of his.

daithimac

"The man in the high castle" is a great book. its based in America in the 1960's as the country is recovering from world war two which it has lost. the nation is devided in three with the japaneese controling the west coast the Nazis controling the east coast and middle america a sort of buffer zone between the two. I would highly recommend it

Earthhorse

I was waiting for others to respond, on the off chance that they knew of anyone who wrote like Dick, before replying myself.

The truth is, I don't think anyone quite captures the cosmic cul-de-sacs his protaganists often find themselves in, the way Dick did. If I were you I'd continue to read the short fiction (there should be five volumes in all) as that represents him at his best.

Having read several longer pieces (The Man in the High Castle, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, Confessions of a Crap Artist) the only one I'd recommend is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Having said that there's a lot of long fiction too and there could be a lot of good books in there.

Morrigan

Thanks guys
Btw did you know that bladerunner was actually based on... oh..

Anyway...

I've read Clarke and really enjoyed his stuff (Rendezvous with Rama springs to mind), but it's true that PKD's stuff is not as sci-fi -y as the many great Sci-Fi authors. And that is what is so cool about it for me. Most of what I've read seems to focus on how the empircal world - and the information we recieve through our senses (our only connection with the "Real" world)- can't always be trusted. And what do you do when you can't believe what you see or hear, smell, touch or taste...? The idea that "reality" is totally subjective isn't a new idea, but PKD manages to infuse his stories with such desperation and subdued panic that it brings the paranoia of the main character to life. The fact that it's usually set in the future/alternative reality just adds to the uncomfortable disorientation.

I'm planning on reading as much of his oeuvre as possible. I'll give The World Jones Made, The man in the high castle, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep priority.

But I'd still really love to find another author who can match PKD's genius.

dahamsta

Just finished the first volume of "The Collected Short Stories of Philip K. Dick", looking forward to the second.

Have you read Asimov's short stories? They tend to be a bit more sci-fi, but when you get right down to it they're often more mystery and intrigue than anything else; the robot stories in particular. (Don't take I, Robot as gospel. I watched the first half-hour and damn-near went apoplectic. A pity his estate gave it the ok imho, it was an abomination.)

Ray Bradbury's short stories are excellent too.

adam

Jay Tomio

If you like PKd it is essential to read his The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, one of my favorites.

2 recent releases come to mind, that you may enjoy Counting Heads by Davd Marusek, and Prodigy by David Kalstein .

Krusty_Clown

A scanner darkly and Ubik are both very good...
Most will probably disagree, but some of Robert Heinlehens books might be a good follow-on.. Lem's Fiasco is a great book.. Iain M Banks maybe...

aidan_walsh

Ken Shabby wrote:

Have you read Asimov's short stories? They tend to be a bit more sci-fi, but when you get right down to it they're often more mystery and intrigue than anything else; the robot stories in particular.

I agree. I ahve been working my way through the Robot stories lately, after reading the original Foundation trilogy. All quite wonderul and very entertaining stuff.

Morrigan

Krusty_Clown wrote:

A scanner darkly and Ubik are both very good...
Most will probably disagree, but some of Robert Heinlehens books might be a good follow-on.. Lem's Fiasco is a great book.. Iain M Banks maybe...

I was really impressed by "A Scanner Darkly"... it was as close to flawless as I've read in a long time...
I've read Iain M. Banks -The State of the Art, Inversion, Look to Windward and Consider Phlebas - liked his stuff a lot. Heavy going sometimes - he really puts a lot of descriptive detail in, and a lot of the time the things he's describing are crazy...perhaps due to my limited intellect I found it hard to picture some of things he would describe...
Do you mean Robert A. Heinlein..? I'm surprised I never heard of him before... Just read his wikipedia entry and he sounds very interesting... will give him a try... Same goes for Lem...
The main aspect of PKD's work that appeals to me is that most of the action happens inside the (anit-)hero's head... the emphasis is on how a sane person deals with an insane situation...
Just like bishops, I love sci-fi, but does anyone know of any non-sci-fi authors like him?

Krusty_Clown

Sorry, yes... That's Robert A. Heinlein. I grew up reading his books, you'd think I'd know his name by now.