The Divine Invasion: VALIS, Book 2 (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Once again Dick asks the question "What is it that makes us human?". This time from the point of view of our relationship with faith, the soul and post existential theology.

The beauty of this book lies in the extraordinary compassion Dick shows for his characters. Not surprising as his central argument is that we are all of us a complex set of alternate points of view. Humanity lies in the search for truth and through it the absorption of our various facets.

This book is a lot simpler than it seems and a great deal funnier than one might imagine. It doesn't have to be read as part of the trilogy and can be an interesting alternative point of entry to Dick's other work. But then again, start wherever you can and read them all. You will only have yourself to blame if you miss out!

Part of PKDick's semi-religious trilogy, but much easier to read than the confusing first volume, VALIS. This is also a moving story, which I enjoyed hugely. Some of the theology is strange - you have to be in the right mood to be receptive to it. But he has a unique way of making you care what happens to his characters. Superb

"Exiled for 2,000 years God must retake the Earth from the clutches of his nemesis using a man caught between life and death as His vessel. God is in exile. The only man who can help is clinically dead. Herb Asher, an audio engineer by trade, is in suspended animation following a car accident that appears to have taken his life. As he floats in cryonic suspension he awaits his new spleen and dreams back through the last six years of his life which reveal much of his bizarre journey and the battle with Belial, the force of evil that will stop at nothing to achieve its goal."
- product description

Philip K Dick's thirty-fourth published novel, written in 1980 and published in 1981. The Divine Invasion (which was originally titled, "Valis Regained") is the second of Dick's final three novels (along with VALIS and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer) which are often referred to as the VALIS trilogy. Though The Transmigration of Timothy Archer was not originally intended as part of the trilogy, Dick himself called the three novels a trilogy, saying "the three do form a trilogy constellating around a basic theme."

The Divine Invasion continues Dick's exploration of the philosophical and religious themes that dominate his later works, with a particularly gnostic element. It was a British Science Fiction Award nominee in 1982.

"I am a fictionalizing philosopher, not a novelist; my novel and story-writing ability is employed as a means to formulate my perception. The core of my writing is not art but truth. Thus what I tell is the truth, yet I can do nothing to alleviate it, either by deed or explanation. Yet this seems somehow to help a certain kind of sensitive troubled person, for whom I speak. I think I understand the common ingredient in those whom my writing helps: they cannot or will not blunt their own intimations about the irrational, mysterious nature of reality, and for them, my corpus of writing is one long ratiocination regarding this inexplicable reality, an investigation & presentation, analysis and response and personal history. My audience will always be limited to those people."
- Philip K Dick, Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick

If you are new to Philip K Dick's work I would recommend the following novels (which generally seem to be regarded as among his best):

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
Ubik (S.F. Masterworks)
The Man In The High Castle (S.F. Masterworks)
A Scanner Darkly (S.F. Masterworks)
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (S.F. Masterworks)

That said, though some of PKD's works are better than others, to my mind they are all well worth reading. I would also recommend his short story collections.

I would also recommend Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick (Gollancz S.F.).