Let's get one thing straight first of all - the only reason that this book is awarded four and not five stars is because of the misleading nature of its cover design. If, like me, you are investing in this because you thoroughly enjoyed the film and want to check out the author, you will be in for a bit of a shock - Minority Report is actually a SHORT story and the movie bears little or no resemblance to it. Anyone expecting a novel-sized read mirroring the plot and suspense of the Tom Cruise blockbuster will initially be disappointed.
However the disappointment won't be for long. This book is in fact a collection of nine Philip K Dick short stories, every one of them supremely imaginative, thought provoking and utterly engrossing futuristic fantasies. As well as Minority Report - ironically, possibly the weakest of the nine - there is "The Electric Ant", about a man discovering he is in fact a robot; "Oh! To Be A Blobel", a heartbreaking tale of inter-alien relationships; and "War Game", chartering the children's toy market sometime in the distant future. Also included is "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", "The Impostor" and "Second Variety" which were made into the films "Total Recall", "The Impostor" and "Screamers" respectively.
What made the late Philip K Dick such a genius is not just the unique, Earth-shattering situations in which he places his characters, but the characters themselves. Despite being aliens, or on other planets, or in the future, they encounter the same passions, problems and emotional traumas that we do here in the early 21st Century. A perfect introduction to the world of Dick, ignore the fact that this is not 'the book of the film' and prepare to be immersed in the best science fiction writing of all time.
