A few that I love that don’t tend to make top 5 lists are our friends from frolix 8, clans of the alphane moon, the penultimate truth, and I really like Martian time slip.
I never tackled the trilogy or Ubik but I loved some of his novels which explored concepts perception in a way that transcended the plot. It was like he manipulated syntax and style within the writing Books like lEye in the sky or flow my tears the policeman said. It’s been a bunch of decades since I’ve read him but he blew my mind at the time
Same man, got a audio reading of VALIS recommended to me and knew I had to read it, bought the trilogy and am now diving into more of his work, great stuff
I’m kinda puzzled with the recent resurgence of this one. It’s been published as a masterwork. I didn’t much like this one the first time I read it but I have it queued up for a reread so will see.
I love the book of valis and do android s dream of electric sheep,the book that inspired sling blade.and the Man in the high Castle is also very interesting
True, his portrail of women often's not too sympathetic, but the men in his works are mostly just as dislikable. All in all, he didn't like people much 😂 and I love him for that
Ha! True! However, he hates women more, as the women are often the source of trouble for his male characters, and he also saw women as the source of trouble in his own life. :)
Great Vlog lecture! I just finished THE SIMULACRA; probably wasn't going to make your list, but the inventive situations and gadgetry made it a fun as hell read. Plot wise, it fits more in with his short stories, and possibly much of the word count could have been trimmed if he was telling a straight-forward narrative, but that would have sacrificed far too much of the absolute insanity this vision of the future presents, and I'm glad the insanity was there to enjoy.
The *only* one of these I've read is your #1, and it's also one of my favorites. Would love to hear your recommendations for a PKD short story collection anthology if you have one. I found one in a university library once that was a really odd collection of stuff written in a specific year-span, if I recall correctly, and that was interesting but probably not the best.
I am a huge PKD fan and knowing that Daniel is too was one of the reasons I’m a Dungeon Dive fan! I think the first video I saw by the Dungeon Dive was his Dungeon Degenerates review and I think he was juxtaposing PKD book covers with the game? I may have imagined that, was I dreaming? I need to rewatch that video! anyway, keep it up!
@@allfictionisfantasy Of course I like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but I also like Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, The 3 Stigmata, VALIS, as well as the book where objects disappear and leave only a word on a piece of paper - I think it's Time Out of Joint? I also fondly remember the very first PKD I ever read, his short story, Beyond Lies the Wub!
I've got a bunch of PKD books tee'd up now! Thanks Daniel. I'm in the third book of the Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne, then I have some Joe Abercrombie to read, then Malazan. In parallel I read 1-off SF - usually on Audible in the car. Looks like these are available on Audible - COOL!! I've got a whole Dungeon Dive / AFiF To Be Read list that's starting to get a little too long. 🙂
@@allfictionisfantasy That's on top of all of the games (board and solo rpg's) that I have qued up! An embrassament of entertainment goddness / riches for sure! :)
Valis reminds me of typical LA society in 1970s . I say this because I lived in Wilshire corridor, Vermont and Wilshire Blvd. in 1980’s and the atmosphere of those times could be twisted by Dick into the novel Valis. Hollywood and the desires of the population on the outside of power and fame, while aspiring to get inside, could find solace as participants in the creation of a “poor man’s fantasyland”. Hey I think I’m mucking around with the source that inspired Philip K. Dick.😢😮😅.. so after describing this, and thinking about what I saw and heard first and second hand….what is wisdom creating about reading about it……I tell you what Dicks work remind me of, Robert Crumb’s cartoons/ comics.
I love all of these books, but never recommend the Valis trilogy to anyone but hardcore Dick fans. I also think Radio Free Albemuth is the best book of that series, and yes, it was meant to be part of the series, so it's really a Valis quartet, although it's never packaged that way. I've always had a soft spot for Dr. Bloodmoney, so thanks for mentioning it.
Everything I’ve read about RFA says that it was an original version of VALIS that was canned and rewritten as VALIS, not that it was a part 4 of the series. I’ve always heard that the unfinished novel The Owl in Daylight was a possible follow up. There are a lot of apocryphal stories of Dick out there. He himself was a famous liar and trickster so who knows.
@@matthewscherneck6291 Oh no! Not at all. I've just always found it interesting / funny how people pronounce made up words differently. For example, I've been told a few times that I say Melnibone wrong. :) It's a made up fantasy word! We never hear these words spoken, because they're not used in any actual language, so when we first read them we have to form how they're pronounced in our heads, and that's the way they'll be forever. :)
I think that Dick liked to portray women as central figures in his earlier writings, at a time when woman were either absent or only had functioning roles in SF. A strong example of this, would be Juliana Fink in "The Man in the High Castle", who's an important character in the formation of the novel, and like most of the female characters in his fiction, she's feisty and independent, probably unlike most women in SF at the time. This was probably because he had a strong view of women as being headstrong, manipulating and vituperative, but at least he wrote about women as real people, unlike probably most SF authors at the time.
I agree with that, and he was, by all accounts of everyone who knew him, also a massive misogynist. I'm not sure why so many people on this video are taking issue with that. No where did I ever say he should be canceled or not praised. It's one of my top 5 favorite authors of all time. Been reading him since the 1980s. Still do. Have a MASSIVE PDK library. It's OK for us to be critical. :) And, he also portrayed men as being assholes. PKD didn't have many good things to say about anyone. He was massively troubled and psychologically damaged.
@@allfictionisfantasy He was misogynistic, and he wrote about it honestly, but he also liked women, which is why there's also nice female characters in his fiction, just the same as there's nasty men.
@@expressoric Agreed - if anything, I think PKD viewed writing as a kind of therapeutic practice. But even his "nice" female characters are a form of misogyny. They're often presented as being "nice" in terms of being pixie-like, or doll-like. Have you read the non-fiction book The Dark Haired Girl?
@@allfictionisfantasy Yes, I think his writing can be described as trans-realism. Being "pixie-like" or "doll-like" sounds like sexist rather than misogynistic, which probably describes most female characters in SF during the first two decades that Dick was writing. However, as I said, his women weren't really like that, at least by the standards of the time. I've read "The Dark Haired Girl". It describes his attraction to younger women, such those he knew in Canada, and the one who became his wife, Tessa, all of which caused him some angst and to be destructive to himself.
Ive tried to thoughtfully listen to 3 of his audiobooks available on TH-cam, and I can’t understand why his style and character development is attractive. If I compare his 3 audiobooks to Ursula Le Guin Left Hand of Darkness, Philip K. Dick is a mental skeleton. Perhaps Dick is a inspiration for Steven King’s novels.
I think this proves that choices of novels by Dick and other SF authors is very subjective. I don't really like "Valis", I think it's flawed structurally and rambles. I prefer it's supposed sequel "The Divine Invasion", it's more concise. I'm also not really satisfied with "Ubik". What you say about the prose of his SF is really spot-on, which is why I'm dismissive of "Ubik", because I don't think the writing of it is all that good. I agree with your other choices, the actual writing of them going a long way to making them the novels they are. I think I'd probably replace your other two novels with "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "Galactic Pot-Healer".
Of the 50s book. Is mixed between eye in the sky or time out of joint. Only problem with eye in the sky i don’t give a crap about Bábi Faith is so boring. Really dr bloodmoney, sollar lottery comisc puppet was ok one. Unlike eye in the sky i like whole meet with Zoroastrianism gods. I am not a Zoroastrianism. But that pretty good we don’t see that many Zoroastrianism. So yeah
A few that I love that don’t tend to make top 5 lists are our friends from frolix 8, clans of the alphane moon, the penultimate truth, and I really like Martian time slip.
My top 5 in particular order; A Scanner Darkly, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, The Penultimate Truth, The Simulacra, and Doctor Bloodmoney!
I never tackled the trilogy or Ubik but I loved some of his novels which explored concepts perception in a way that transcended the plot. It was like he manipulated syntax and style within the writing Books like lEye in the sky or flow my tears the policeman said. It’s been a bunch of decades since I’ve read him but he blew my mind at the time
Flow My Tears is amazing. Almost made my top 5.
Love PKD! My introduction to his work was VALIS which was a really crazy one to start with, haha. Definitely need to check out your #1 pick!
VALIS is a totally crazy place to start!
Same man, got a audio reading of VALIS recommended to me and knew I had to read it, bought the trilogy and am now diving into more of his work, great stuff
Parts of Dick's tropes inspired cyberpunk like corporate overreach, drugs/augments, psyching into parallel universes (often drug induced).
Sure did!
Love me some PKD. Excited to watch through this!
I’ve never read Dr Bloodmoney but I have it on my shelf. I might need to check it out. PKD is one of my favorite science fiction authors.
I’m kinda puzzled with the recent resurgence of this one. It’s been published as a masterwork. I didn’t much like this one the first time I read it but I have it queued up for a reread so will see.
I love the book of valis and do android s dream of electric sheep,the book that inspired sling blade.and the Man in the high Castle is also very interesting
True, his portrail of women often's not too sympathetic, but the men in his works are mostly just as dislikable. All in all, he didn't like people much 😂 and I love him for that
Ha! True! However, he hates women more, as the women are often the source of trouble for his male characters, and he also saw women as the source of trouble in his own life. :)
I loved androids so much. excited to get into his other works.
I am on my journey to read all of his sci-fi novels now. Not too fast, but when i get the time.
Enjoy the ride.
Only a few videos in, but I hope the up front apologies are not a trend.
Probably not the channel for. Glad you found out early so you don't waste your time!
PKD is one of my favorites. His short story collections are my favorites. Then UBIK and man in the high castle.
I’ve never been able to get into his short stories for some reason.
Top 3: Faith of Our Fathers, the last of the masters, and variable man. Also upon the Dull earth. Was pretty wild.
I’ve got the complete collection from Subterranean Press. I’ll see if I’ve read those ones yet.
Great video! My favourite is Flow my tears policeman said, such an underrated masterpiece.
Thanks! Flow is very good.
Great Vlog lecture! I just finished THE SIMULACRA; probably wasn't going to make your list, but the inventive situations and gadgetry made it a fun as hell read. Plot wise, it fits more in with his short stories, and possibly much of the word count could have been trimmed if he was telling a straight-forward narrative, but that would have sacrificed far too much of the absolute insanity this vision of the future presents, and I'm glad the insanity was there to enjoy.
I like The Simulacra quite a bit. It was one of the first novels of his I read, and I think it holds up.
I’d love a book written from the point of view of a female PKD character
The closest would be The Transmigration of Timothy Archer.
The *only* one of these I've read is your #1, and it's also one of my favorites. Would love to hear your recommendations for a PKD short story collection anthology if you have one. I found one in a university library once that was a really odd collection of stuff written in a specific year-span, if I recall correctly, and that was interesting but probably not the best.
I’m not really into his short stories, unfortunately. They’re so hit and miss.
Thank you for this video.
Have you seen (/like) the movie "Scanner Darkly"?
I have! Yes. I like it.
I am a huge PKD fan and knowing that Daniel is too was one of the reasons I’m a Dungeon Dive fan! I think the first video I saw by the Dungeon Dive was his Dungeon Degenerates review and I think he was juxtaposing PKD book covers with the game? I may have imagined that, was I dreaming? I need to rewatch that video! anyway, keep it up!
What are some of your favorite PKD books?
@@allfictionisfantasy Of course I like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but I also like Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, The 3 Stigmata, VALIS, as well as the book where objects disappear and leave only a word on a piece of paper - I think it's Time Out of Joint? I also fondly remember the very first PKD I ever read, his short story, Beyond Lies the Wub!
Great video Dan
Thanks, man!
I've got a bunch of PKD books tee'd up now! Thanks Daniel. I'm in the third book of the Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne, then I have some Joe Abercrombie to read, then Malazan. In parallel I read 1-off SF - usually on Audible in the car. Looks like these are available on Audible - COOL!! I've got a whole Dungeon Dive / AFiF To Be Read list that's starting to get a little too long. 🙂
Too many damn books to read! :)
@@allfictionisfantasy That's on top of all of the games (board and solo rpg's) that I have qued up! An embrassament of entertainment goddness / riches for sure! :)
Valis reminds me of typical LA society in 1970s . I say this because I lived in Wilshire corridor, Vermont and Wilshire Blvd. in 1980’s and the atmosphere of those times could be twisted by Dick into the novel Valis. Hollywood and the desires of the population on the outside of power and fame, while aspiring to get inside, could find solace as participants in the creation of a “poor man’s fantasyland”. Hey I think I’m mucking around with the source that inspired Philip K. Dick.😢😮😅.. so after describing this, and thinking about what I saw and heard first and second hand….what is wisdom creating about reading about it……I tell you what Dicks work remind me of, Robert Crumb’s cartoons/ comics.
I totally agree. I lived in the valley for a bit in the mid 1980s.
Boy in the Broken Bubble wasn't sf as far as I recall.
I love the sci-fi science fiction books he, a one of the best author writers
I love all of these books, but never recommend the Valis trilogy to anyone but hardcore Dick fans. I also think Radio Free Albemuth is the best book of that series, and yes, it was meant to be part of the series, so it's really a Valis quartet, although it's never packaged that way. I've always had a soft spot for Dr. Bloodmoney, so thanks for mentioning it.
Everything I’ve read about RFA says that it was an original version of VALIS that was canned and rewritten as VALIS, not that it was a part 4 of the series. I’ve always heard that the unfinished novel The Owl in Daylight was a possible follow up. There are a lot of apocryphal stories of Dick out there. He himself was a famous liar and trickster so who knows.
It's (you-bik) as in ubiquitous.
You say the made up word how you want to, I’ll say it how I want to. That’s the joy of SFF.
What a scholarly remark, sorry if I offended you.
@@matthewscherneck6291 Oh no! Not at all. I've just always found it interesting / funny how people pronounce made up words differently. For example, I've been told a few times that I say Melnibone wrong. :) It's a made up fantasy word! We never hear these words spoken, because they're not used in any actual language, so when we first read them we have to form how they're pronounced in our heads, and that's the way they'll be forever. :)
I think that Dick liked to portray women as central figures in his earlier writings, at a time when woman were either absent or only had functioning roles in SF. A strong example of this, would be Juliana Fink in "The Man in the High Castle", who's an important character in the formation of the novel, and like most of the female characters in his fiction, she's feisty and independent, probably unlike most women in SF at the time. This was probably because he had a strong view of women as being headstrong, manipulating and vituperative, but at least he wrote about women as real people, unlike probably most SF authors at the time.
I agree with that, and he was, by all accounts of everyone who knew him, also a massive misogynist. I'm not sure why so many people on this video are taking issue with that. No where did I ever say he should be canceled or not praised. It's one of my top 5 favorite authors of all time. Been reading him since the 1980s. Still do. Have a MASSIVE PDK library. It's OK for us to be critical. :) And, he also portrayed men as being assholes. PKD didn't have many good things to say about anyone. He was massively troubled and psychologically damaged.
@@allfictionisfantasy He was misogynistic, and he wrote about it honestly, but he also liked women, which is why there's also nice female characters in his fiction, just the same as there's nasty men.
@@expressoric Agreed - if anything, I think PKD viewed writing as a kind of therapeutic practice. But even his "nice" female characters are a form of misogyny. They're often presented as being "nice" in terms of being pixie-like, or doll-like.
Have you read the non-fiction book The Dark Haired Girl?
@@allfictionisfantasy Yes, I think his writing can be described as trans-realism. Being "pixie-like" or "doll-like" sounds like sexist rather than misogynistic, which probably describes most female characters in SF during the first two decades that Dick was writing. However, as I said, his women weren't really like that, at least by the standards of the time.
I've read "The Dark Haired Girl". It describes his attraction to younger women, such those he knew in Canada, and the one who became his wife, Tessa, all of which caused him some angst and to be destructive to himself.
Ive tried to thoughtfully listen to 3 of his audiobooks available on TH-cam, and I can’t understand why his style and character development is attractive. If I compare his 3 audiobooks to Ursula Le Guin Left Hand of Darkness, Philip K. Dick is a mental skeleton. Perhaps Dick is a inspiration for Steven King’s novels.
Hot take!
I heard he was always on some type of drugs during his writing process. Hence the weird out of nowhere segments his books tend to have.
He was on drugs a few times during his life. There are some books he said he didn’t even know he wrote.
I think this proves that choices of novels by Dick and other SF authors is very subjective. I don't really like "Valis", I think it's flawed structurally and rambles. I prefer it's supposed sequel "The Divine Invasion", it's more concise. I'm also not really satisfied with "Ubik". What you say about the prose of his SF is really spot-on, which is why I'm dismissive of "Ubik", because I don't think the writing of it is all that good. I agree with your other choices, the actual writing of them going a long way to making them the novels they are. I think I'd probably replace your other two novels with "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "Galactic Pot-Healer".
Pot Healer is great!
@@allfictionisfantasy True, it's deals with complex themes in a very funny way.
Of the 50s book. Is mixed between eye in the sky or time out of joint. Only problem with eye in the sky i don’t give a crap about Bábi Faith is so boring.
Really dr bloodmoney, sollar lottery comisc puppet was ok one. Unlike eye in the sky i like whole meet with Zoroastrianism gods. I am not a Zoroastrianism. But that pretty good we don’t see that many Zoroastrianism. So yeah
I like Time out of Joint quite a bit. Dr Bloodmoney is simply brilliant.