There’s just one word that all my thoughts about this book boil down to: Unsettling. The dark atmosphere of a post-nuclear world, the ethical quandaries that plague every plot turn, and the inhuman dopplegangers that may show up around any corner all gang up to create a seriously weird story. The really strange part about this is how unsuspenseful Phillip K Dick’s (PKD) style seems to be. Most scenes are put forward in simple, snappy terms, dressed in a variety of frankly questionable adverbs. Other scenes are otherworldly, with events unfolding into nearly undecipherable metaphor. In the best (and thus far sparing) moments, the dreamlike sequences sprinkled throughout are captured and translated into meaningful perspectives that give deep insight into both the world and the characters. I hope as the novel progresses that these moments become more and more common.

Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter in post-apocalyptic California, tasked with hunting down four escaped ‘andys,’ humanoid androids that are not only illegal on Earth, but also totally lacking in empathy. Beyond the physical danger they pose, these andys are reviled due to the nature of their very existence. Due to the destruction of most of Earth’s natural environment, scarce animals are prized to the point of worship, and the predominant ideology Mercerism promotes empathic beings as a kind of ubermensch that all people should aspire to being. Adjacent to this belief system are the pseudo-lifeforms created by various corporations, all of whom are considered lesser beings, even those with human intellect. The real meat of the issue when it comes to the androids is that many of them truly believe themselves to be human, despite their lack of empathy. Some have undergone memory implantation that leads them to believe they’ve lived full lives, with friends, pets, even family. Anybody could be an andy, replaced at some unknowable point in time and made to believe they are human. This makes Deckard’s job incredibly difficult, both in identifying the andys for ‘retirement’ and from an ethical perspective. Is killing something that believes itself to be human the same as killing a real person? Is their form of life any less real because of their lack of empathy? Do they dream of electric sheep at night, the same as any human?

Despite the strangely stilted pacing and highly variable amount of detail, I find myself unable to tear away from this book. The prose is a little lacking in my opinion, but the content therein more than makes up for it. Deckard is a unique character with, at times, alien sensibilities, morals, and decision making. These differences highlight the human side of his being, bringing him to life in ways that I don’t fully understand at this point in the book. Similarly, the other characters are multidimensional beings with a lot going on, especially the ones who aren’t human. I’m excited to read more and I hope to finish by the next post, so I can make a full review of this intriguing title.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley