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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Filmed as: Blade Runner) [Paperback]

Philip K. Dick (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 10 May 1984
"The most consistently brilliant science fiction writer in the world."
--John Brunner

THE INSPIRATION FOR BLADERUNNER. . .

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published in 1968. Grim and foreboding, even today it is a masterpiece ahead of its time.

By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans.

Emigrées to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in.

Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.

"[Dick] sees all the sparkling and terrifying possibilities. . . that other authors shy away from."
--Paul Williams, Rolling Stone
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

  • Paperback: 183 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins; New Ed edition (10 May 1984)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0006482805
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006482802
  • ASIN: 0586036059
  • Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.4 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 54,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Authors

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Les Martin
Philip K. Dick

Product Description

Amazon Review

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a book that most people think they remember, and almost always get more or less wrong. Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner took a lot from it, and threw a lot away; wonderful in itself, it is a flash thriller where Dick's novel is a sober meditation. As we all know, bounty hunter Rick Deckard is stalking a group of androids returned from space with short life spans and murder on their minds--where Scott's Deckard was Harrison Ford, Dick's is a financially over-stretched municipal employee with bills to pay and a depressed wife. In a world where most animals have died, and pet-keeping is a social duty, he can only afford a robot imitation, unless he gets a big financial break. The genetically warped "chickenhead" John Isidore has visions of a tomb-world where entropy has finally won. And everyone plugs in to the spiritual agony of Mercer, whose sufferings for the sins of humanity are broadcast several times a day. Prefiguring the religious obsessions of Dick's last novels, this asks dark questions about identity and altruism. After all, is it right to kill the killers just because Mercer says so? --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

Published to celebrate the life and work of Philip K. Dick, the bestselling author of BLADE RUNNER and MINORITY REPORT, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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First Sentence
A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A stimulating classic that is a world apart from Blade Runner 19 Jun 2007
By Mr. Paul J. Bradshaw
Format:Paperback
Forget about Blade Runner. That was as much about Ridley Scott's stylish visual sense as androids and humanity. The book the film was based on is much more about decay. This is not a world of Tokyo cityscapes; it is a broken world, a dying world, a world populated by those too old or to stubborn to leave. It is about a society where people strive to own a real animal. And of course, it is about questions of what it is to be human, and about the rights of androids when their intelligence surpasses humans'.

As usual Dick imagines this with incisive intelligence himself, considering commercial and political influences on the development of androids and society in general. The plot is 'overcoming the monster', delivered in simple prose, with twists to confuse and tease your mind. A quick but stimulating read, in short, it deserves its classic status.
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62 of 65 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars One of Phillip K. Dick's masterpieces (but not his best) 19 Mar 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I read this novel some years after first seeing the film version - "Bladerunner". At first, I was disappointed: I foolishly expected something to resemble the film - but I had forgotten that Dick himself was extremely distressed about the distruction of his plot when the film was made: Hence the book and the film, although based on the same ideas should really be viewed as different stories: Both have a "Bladerunner" chasing after escaped Androids, but there the similarities start to run out.

On reflection, I now recognise the book as being an excellent work. The only reason I have awarded it four stars out of five is that I have also read "Ubik" - which is so excellent that I cannot judge "Do Androids..." at 100% in comparison.

The book is more subtle than the film, and includes a lot of Dicks subtle examination of the human condition, which, over the years, had led him to accurately predict several technological innovations to come, not because he was up on technology, but because he knew the sort of thing we'd end up doing. The story contains electric animals, since the real ones have become rather scarce, one of these being the electric sheep owned by the main character, which he pretends is real to save face. One of my favorites is the device which can change your mood: When you don't feel like changing your mood, you can dial in a code to put you in the mood for using the machine! So, given that we are now cloning sheep, I would suggest mood-machines and Androids are on the way.

If you're new to Dick, you're also new to his unique ability of being able to weave a puzzle that will take at least half the book to unravel (or so you think, until you reach the end, and you realise you were wrong!... Read more ›

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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars After the nuclear war 29 Jun 2007
By T. Bobley
Format:Paperback
Deckard is a bounty hunter in the regular employment of the San Francisco police department. His regular salary is low but he earns 1000 dollars for every android he destroys. there's not much life left on Earth. Most of the plants and animals were either killed in the nuclear war or died later from radiation poisoning. Those left are still deteriorating and dying. Unaffected survivors were persuaded to colonise other planets and were offered android 'slaves' as an incentive. So Deckard and his wife now live in a dry, barren, depopulated city where radioactive dust and escaped androids are the big problems. The diminishing fertility of the few remaining healthy men is guarded by lead codpieces. The most expensive, prestigious and coveted commodity is an actual living animal - even a spider or a toad is highly valued. Deckard and his wife own an electric sheep which they keep on the roof of their apartment building. They're ashamed of it. If Deckard could 'retire' 3 androids, the 3000 dollar bounty would be enough for a down-payment on a real ostrich or a goat. This is his ambition.

If you've watched 'Blade Runner', it might strike you that this, the book it was based upon, tells a very different story. This Deckard bears little resemblance to the Harrison Ford Deckard. The android characters are equally dissimilar to those in the film. the way they're tested (in book and film alike) is by asking them a series of questions, the answers to which show whether they have empathy. Androids fail the empathy test. Whereas the film androids failed the test, they then went on to behave empathetically. the book androids, on the other hand, confirm the test results in their cold behaviour, not only to their enemies, but to each other.... Read more ›
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A shocking portrayal of a brutal future. 10 Jan 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', a true classic of science fiction novels and one that stands alone at that. This is the original format of the classic movie under the title 'Blade Runner'. It follows the trials of the Bounty Hunter Rick Deckard as he hunts down humanoids known as 'Replicants'- androids with the appearance of a regular human but with super strength, agility and intelligence. They are illegal on earth so the position of a 'Blade Runner' is put to the test - a hunter/killer of the perpatrators. Rick Deckard is one of them. This all takes place in a dreary acid rain-sodden San-Fransisco. With an extremely dark, murky however engaging atmosphere. Although the 'Blade Runner' film was based on this novel, it's story line is completely altered although it's atmoshere and technologies remain. If you liked the film then this is simply a must as it almost adds a brand new chapter the the blade runner saga which is truly remarkable. I, personally have read it several times already and I am about to start it again. A truly timeless sci-fi classic - 5 stars!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but overrated
Speaking as someone who has not seen Blade Runner, I had no prior expectations when I began reading this book. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Timofey pnin
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant 20.th century novel
I call Philip K.Dick the wizard of speculative fiction and if you read this book you'll see it's not inflated,biased hype'. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Richard Fahey
5.0 out of 5 stars Page turner
The author sets the scene perfectly and keeps the story flowing all the like the way. I like how Phillip emphasises the importance of animals in the book and the real need for... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Nick
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good
I read this after a friend recommended it and I really enjoyed it. I'm a fan of sic-fi, esp the utopia/distopia stuff and I found this book interesting as well as easy to read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by JWT
5.0 out of 5 stars Sheer Genius
Scary in its resonance today as we become more crowded and we talk about inhabiting other planets. Also it asks some serious questions about what is real and what is not and what... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr M Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars Weird and wonderful
Because this book led to "Blade Runner" it should have a special place in everyone's heart. It's seriously weird, much more so than the movie and there are times when you... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Victoria Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening.
I will always remember the passage in the book when Deckard contemplated not retiring the androids but mercer advised him that he must carry out his orders even though he knew they... Read more
Published 2 months ago by cheekycheeks
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Great, book needed for uni studies, good for those who are interested in dystopian novels. I needed this for my creative writing part of my English Degree.
Published 2 months ago by Sharfa Sorwar
4.0 out of 5 stars Future
This book was a bit too futuristic for my liking. I still enjoyed the book and the story flowed well.
Published 2 months ago by Jojo
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
One of the classics. Classic cult sci-fi. The best. Read it. Read it now! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!
Published 3 months ago by Mel
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