Last year someone put me onto a series of sci-fi books by an author called Isaac Asimov and I have to say he has very quickly become one of my all time favourite authors. I can imagine how impossible the concepts in his books must have been when they were first published and the fact that we are now a couple of decades past his post-apocalyptic future adds massive charm to his books. you can very clearly see just how gripped people were with a fear of how far science would be able to go with the production of robots so human-like in appearance that you may not be able to tell the difference. It also speaks volumes about racial equality and inherent rights of what is arguably a sentient being.
Anyhoo, I caught the classic sci-fi bug and trawled the internet for copies of various different books that I could download onto my kindle (which is quickly becoming the one inanimate object I would run into a burning building to save).
Enter ‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick
I have to say this is one of the strangest books I have ever read. It is bizarre in it’s portrayal of a protagonist with a rather dubious sense of morality especially bearing in mind that empathy has become the highest virtue. I did have a little bit of trouble imaging the setting, especially as every mode of transport is by hover cars that park on roofs adorned with animal enclosures. I have no real idea if there is even a ground left or if the buildings have all melded into one as in Asimov’s books, except for that one unfortunate passing comment about the goat. I found that it glossed over what I would have believed to be very important plot points which was a little irritating as the characters seemed to act differently that I would have expected.
It also did something to me on a personal level that no book has ever done before. It made me feel sorry for a spider!
Still, it is a brilliant book and a surprisingly quick read so I would recommend that if you have not yet tried it then you should give it a go. I’ve also never seen Blade Runner so I have no idea how the movie stacks up against the original source.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the first of my random book posts. I won’t glorify it to call it a review, I just feel like sharing!
The Running Stitch 