The first few pages set up the stage for the story in a way that an average author would have required 100 pages of descriptions and explanations. And it all made sense. This is a good book if you have never been introduced to PKD's work, since it is very accessible and well written. It is required reading for any PKD fans who have not yet gotten around to it.

Just remember- it is safe when taken as directed.

UBIK is a "best of" Dick's obsessions: it contains obvious reminiscences of The Eye in the Sky (the collective nightmare), The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (the greedy, almighty, elusive son of a b...), Counter-clock world (time running backwards), The World Jones Made (precognition), Time Out of Joint (the fake world), to name a few. In a way, it is also reminiscent of VALIS (the Godlike entity which communicates with the hero by mystical means), which was written 12 years after UBIK!

How could so many themes be exploited so intelligently in such a short novel? The answer is: thanks to Dick's straightforward style. In UBIK, every word counts. The hero, Joe Chip, races with Death: each passing minute lowers his chances to find a UBIK vaporizer and to save his skin. Through Dick's sparing use of words, the reader understands this message: if Joe Chip rests, he will die. Some of Dick's despisers criticize his so-called "hasty" style: can't they see that, thanks to this style, he could describe the undescribable? When you get rid of the superfluous, you get a chance to grab the true essence of horror. At least, that's what Dick thought; I personnally think he was right and that he should be remebered of today not only for his hallucinatory visions but also for his style.

The style allows Dick to exploit the above themes "intelligently", ie in depth and by intertwinig them. But it will probably not allow the reader to fully understand the book after the first reading, unless he's VERY familiar with Dick's tricks, mainly the different levels of reality. One of my friends, who is an experienced sci-fi reader (but not a Dick's reader), still can't understand the last few lines of UBIK, where Runciter finds a Joe Chip coin in his pocket. She asked me, and I said: "I think you should re-read the book entirely." I all the less recommend UBIK to people who don't usually read sci-fi: insofar as the style is pleasant, and the basic cat-and-mouse story catching, they may 1) have a superficial reading of it, ie think that it works only on one level (as an "adventure" novel, like, for instance, Solar Lottery); 2) thus, read 90 per cent of it and think they have understood it all; 3) be completely bewildered by the last 10 per cent and make the conclusion that all the book is a piece of nonsense.

At the end of his life, Dick said in an interview that he was not very satisfied with UBIK: he felt that with this novel, he started to repeat himself. That is absolutely true. There is nothing new in UBIK - Dick only picked up the best of his previous books, confronted for the first time his obsessions one with another, and tried to examine whether the whole could be superior to the sum of its parts. It was like playing poker, canasta, baccara and gin rummy with the same deck of cards. The result is convincing.

This is one of his novels where the perception of reality takes center stage, this time centered around a drug (chew-z) that is supposed to create a world entirely for you, in an instant. PKD explores this perception, not just from an objective standpoint (is this world any less real than the reality you live in?), but what effect it has on people as well. One of the aspects of PKDs fiction that I admire greatly is his unwavering devotion to displaying the full range of human emotion and experience when faced with the unknowable (or the just plain weird- Leo's actions when faced with the loss of his company were suprising, yet believable). No other science-fiction author I can think of was as concerned with the human soul/experience as PKD, even if he does fall short at times of displaying the concept with his words. Still a recommended book.

As a SF novel, 3 Stigmata is absolutely brilliant. The ideas in this book are enough to ensure its brilliance alone; like Perky Pat and Can-D (which I felt was sheer genius on PKD's part), the hovels on Mars, the extreme temperatures on Earth (although this gets little attention as the book progresses), E-therapy, and of course Palmer Eldritch himself and Chew-Z. The time-travelling as a result of Chew-Z provides some of the best moments in the book, and the ending, where Barney and Palmer Eldritch merge into one... well, this defies words.

If anything is flawed in this book I believe it is the characterisation. In PKD's best books you feel strong empathy for the characters, good and bad (a prime example of this is Ubik.) Aside from Palmer Eldritch himself, who is a brilliant character, the chars. are not PKD's best. Barney, Leo, Roni, Emily are half the people Glen Runciter and Joe Chip are.

This is not my favourite PKD novel, but that is due to the subject material, not the execution of the novel. '3 Stigmata' is the first really religious PKD novel, and it stands as a precursor to later works such as 'Valis' and the 'Divine Invasion.'

After an interstellar war that ended 15 years ago, the world has forgotten this alphane moon and its inhabitants. Alpha III was considered as a giant hospital for mentally ill people by the Earth; now maniaco-depressives, schizophrenics and obsessive have founded cities and try to leave peacefully. But Alphans and Earth want to retake possession of this forgotten moon for obscure political reasons.

If you liked EYE IN THE SKY, a novel published 7 years before by PKD, you will appreciate CLANS OF THE ALPHANE MOON and its numerous points of views. The same events are described and analyzed by the different characters and one is lead to understand very soon that there is no objectiveness in Reality and that the actions of so-called sane people often obey to rather perverse motivations. Anyway, if you're a Philip K. Dick fan, you already know by now that there is no such thing as Reality !

A book to discover if you are lucky enough to find it.

Ragle Gumm's efforts to discover the "hidden" side of the world he has been thrown into is, in my opinion, the most interesting aspect of the novel. The science-fictional explanation of the reasons why Ragle Gumm has to play everyday is not very convincing and the analysis of the origin of the war between Lunatics and Terrians way too simple for an author such as PKD.

However, TIME OUT OF JOINT provides the kind of pleasure the Philip K. Dick fan searches in vain in today sci-fi production. So don't hesitate to add this book to your collection if you are already familiar with the world of this writer.

TIME OUT OF JOINT is one of Dick's earlier novels that treats the theme of "The World Is Not What We Think It Is" explicitly. It's a novel about knowledge and recognition. The characters play parts in a detective story where the mystery involves piecing together missing parts of the world. Some of the clues include finding light switches on the wrong side of the door, finding a note where a lemonade stand used to be, finding pictures of some actress nobody's ever heard of, and seeing visions.

A number of PKD's later books involved more significant permutations of this theme of Nature-In-Disguise. This story is like a one-trick pony in comparison to books like PALMER ELDRITCH, NOW WAIT FOR LAST YEAR, UBIK, MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, MAZE OF DEATH, or VALIS. But the gradual accumulation of evidence, the dawning of recognition in the main characters, makes for pretty fascinating reading.

For good or ill, several modern film makers have really taken this motif to heart (e.g., Dark City, The Matrix, The 13th Floor, The 6th Sense, etc.).

Knopf requested a rewrite for this novel circa 1960 and sadly the author never revised it, despite not finding a publisher for it until 1975. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to pick up "three stigmata" or "dr bloodmoney" for my pkd fix.

Indeed, here we see Dick writing about the obsessions and personality disorders of the every-day man. He writes it in Faulkner-fashion; letting his characters trade off first person accounts. Jack is only one of them. The tale of spouse abuse, UFO-worshipping, deception, and modern convenience is brilliant. Had Dick refined a few of the early chapters, it would have been perfect. A dark, and overlooked treasure

Nevertheless, as others have said, Maze is possibly the fastest PKD read you will encounter. I have read this book but once, and I was astounded at the time. I rate this extremely highly as a work of fiction, although I suspect that further reading will confirm what others have said - that is that the soul is not there, Dick no longer believes in what he is writing.

While many authors have expanded on themes in this story, written in 1970, I don't think that anyone's improved on his presentation of them. Read it with your mind open to all possibilities.

This is a must read book, it travels to the year 2021 and it presents a different world, were human emotions are maybe the only thing left from the world we know; all it's gone, the animals, people are moving from earth to other planets, and the androids are moving from the other planets to earth, it's up to the bounty hunters (Blade Runners) to find them and retire them (kill); it put your emotions on the line, because at some point, I feel sorry for the androids, they only want to escape form the humans and make their own lives here on earth, the new ones (Nexus 6) are trying to develop their own emotions. It's a great book and it would make you think about a lot of thing in life and appreciate more the things you have, because in the end, how do you know if you're an android or a human? You cannot, that's the problem...

Phillip K. Dick's novel Blade Runner: (Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep)explores many issues dealing with how humans treat androids. On one hand the humans treat the android animals like real animals, but they treat the human androids like machines. The humans do not feel it is bad to kill androids, unless they are animal androids. The only difference between humans and the androids is the fact that humans feel empathy. The androids do have some emotions, intelligence, and artificial memories that keep them from realizing that they're androids.

Dick explores the issue of what makes humans human? Is it the body, the mind, or some combination of both? The androids possess an exterior exactly the same as humans, and organs that are the same; the only difference is in the feeling of empathy, which, is arguable. There are some things that the androids do which might lead one to believe that they do feel empathy. In any instance, Dick argues that maybe the humans are the inhumane ones.

Blade Runner the book is much better than the classic movie. It not only lets the reader become more involved in the thought process of Deckard (the main character), but it also has other issues that were not even covered in the movie, such as how everyone in this society owns are wants to own an animal. They go so far as to own android animals in an effort to make it look like they own an animal.

This is a must read for any fan of the movie, fan of science fiction, or anyone with a sociological background. This book is definitely an A+ for Phillip K. Dick.

It's a shame that some of the reviewers[don't] understand the concept of time, and how the present has beeninfluenced by such people as Dick. They think that Dick should haveexplained how people could breathe in the Martian atmosphere, yet theyfail to realize that this book was written before the american spaceage. It was written in 1964!... There was still a lot to learnabout other worlds then, and for Dick to write a book like this,that's like William Gibson writing a book about jacking in to theinternet before there WAS an internet (that people actuallyused). Before his time! Oh yeah, FYI, William Gibson wrote"Necromancer", which is the basis of the Matrix (written in'84, before computers in general were very popular publicly, keep thatin mind!).

This book is awesome! I'm reminded of Vonnegut's"Slaughterhouse-Five" in the respect of time, with all theschizophrenic patches of action strewn about. Philip K. Dick justmakes you think....this is one of those books where once you'refinished, you'll have a moment of silence. You can't beat that.

Ihope you choose to read this book. If you don't like this book, giveit however many stars you like. But try to keep in mind when Dickwrote this! Not too shabby -- before we had even landed on the moon,Dick is writing about colonizing mars, detailing a society. Read it!

The basic plot revolves around the efforts of Arnie Kott, a bullish big fish in a small pond, to determine if an autistic child named Manfred Steiner can see the future. It is then Kott's intention to use that knowledge to further his own self interests. Drawn into this story are several others that Kott needs to carry out his plan, and it is through their perspectives, their personal struggles that may not even peripherally relate to Kott's scheme, that the novel derives its impact. One section of the book, in fact, recounts a single evening from four different points of view. It's an amazing display of technique that seems a natural development in the telling of the story and manages to challenge the reader's own opinions about the characters involved.

The novel's background detail is convincing as well, from the way Mars' relatively few surviving aboriginal inhabitants are portrayed as a race doomed long before humanity arrived, now lingering until probable eventual extinction, to the desolate nature of Mars itself and the attitudes and practices that have been transplanted from Earth. Much like the excellent Dr. Bloodmoney, which would appear the following year (1965), Martian Time-Slip is an ensemble story in a landscape that offers little hope aside from the comfort and love of other living beings which, I would like to believe, is what Dick is saying is the only hope of any consequence.

Philip K. Dick has always read a lot, classic as well as modern literature. He rapidly felt that he had to adapt the classical structure of his first novels to a more deconstructed one in order to be able to treat his main themes like virtual realities or time gaps with the virtuosity we know. Some would say that most of the disturbing descriptions found in MARTIAN TIME-SLIP are the result of both a sick mind and the abuse of illegal substances. Maybe, maybe not. What is sure is that Philip K. Dick has written some of the most innovative pages of the literature of the sixties.

The description of the mental universe of Manfred Steiner, the schizophrenic boy, will leave you psychologically exhausted and with the urge to buy the whole literary production of this under-appreciated Master of american science-fiction.

A book for your library.