Author: Philip K. Dick
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 5/5
Publication Date: (originally) 1969
Story Notion: (Initial thoughts upon finishing) It is 3am and that was fantastic. Ahhhh. Oh my god such a good first book of 2013. And now I must read everything by Philip K. Dick.
Plot summary: (From Goodreads)
(NOTE: I'd suggest not reading the plot unless you REALLY want to know exactly what it's about. It doesn't have spoilers, but it's better for this if you're learning as you read, I think, at least).
Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business—deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in “half-life,” a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter’s face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time. As consumables deteriorate and technology gets ever more primitive, the group needs to find out what is causing the shifts and what a mysterious product called Ubik has to do with it all.
Review:
This is the first book I read by Philip K. Dick and I'm really glad it was. It's taken me a couple days to fully soak in this one and still my initial thought on it is still "oh my god what did I read? It was soooooo goooddd." Which is good, but not good for trying to tell you why I loved this book so much, or to help you in deciding tor ead it.
I learned about it through Sword and Laser, they had that video in the middle of their video show talking all about Philip K. Dick, who I had never heard of until then (which is shocking considering how much I feel like I'm hearing about him now). I'm not big into SciFi, but it's not because I feel against it (I feel the opposite, really), but I'm never been sure where to start. I've read SciFi before, and some of my favorite shows are SciFi, but I've definitely read more Fantasy.
In that video previously mentioned it says Ubik is comparable to Inception, which is probably the best way to introduce it to someone because it's hard to explain otherwise. (I told my mom it was like Inception times 10). And I think the best thing about this book, besides the fantastic character, plots, attention to detail, is the fact that it's easily understood. I grew up watching Stargate SG-1 so I'm not new to the science jargon that kind of makes sense (theoretically), but this is just normal people and they're just as confused as you are at the beginning.
I just want to mention the other things I briefly said up there, characters, plot, and attention to detail. The thing is, I loved the details in the book, the writing, and the way somethings were described was just so well done that I could see it. And I love that. A lot. The characters are also so interesting and complex and the whole plot. I'm not going to say a word about it, but - it was amazing, I'd suggest giving it a try if any of my rambling have ignited some interest.
No comments:
Post a Comment