His last, full of extra paranoia, and some authorial self-insertion to boot. ( )

This novel was published posthumously, set from a completed and corrected manuscript that Dick left to a friend. It contrasts starkly with the completely niave prose of Dick's early work, the author being so technically assured as to even change narrators in mid sentence...twice.

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PKD's last novels are an obsessive reworking of a single theme: the idea that some supernatural/extra-terrestrial intelligence was trying to communicate with humanity in order to free it from an oppressive, satanic force. This in turn was based on experiences which Dick himself had undergone late in life, and the last books (VALIS, The Divine Invasion, etc) are an attempt to analyse and understand what they might mean. Delusory, drug-induced, paranoid fantasies? Religious revelation? Extra-terrestrial contact? The interesting thing is that Dick was himself open minded as to their true nature. In this final book, released after his death (it seems to have been an early version of VALIS), Dick is himself one of the main characters, but the visionary experiences are given to another character - so as to better analyse their nature, perhaps, to create a dialogue between the rational, sceptical, sci-fi writer, and the person who was tempted to treat the experiences as real and convincing proof of 'something other'. As a novel, I think it's fair to say, it doesn't completely work. There are some interesting ideas, and it is well-written, but its main appeal will be to those interested in Dick's life and later experiences. Such people may want to seek out the autobiographical writings commonly referred to as the Exegesis, in which Dick attempts to come to terms with his experiences.

Gareth Southwell is a philosopher, writer and illustrator.

This was a great Philip K. Dick novel! I was astounded that this was not published, in some form, during his lifetime. All of Dick's idiosyncrasies and the best aspects of his fiction are here: the paranoia, the sci-fi, the drugs-- everything. The ideas that he infuses through his writing serve to guide the story and the writing is surprisingly lucid and appealing. After a series of only satisfactory reads of Dick's novels, this one brings my interest in Philip K. Dick back around and makes me even more interested in the rest of his oeuvre.

Definitely recommended for Philip K. Dick enthusiasts or those interested in sci-fi.

4 stars! ( )

Rating: 3.5* of five

What a damned miracle it is to find this book again. In the Year of Our Suffering 2018, the weird way of PKD's imaginary travels has become our reality. Yuck! The fact that this wasn't published until after PKD's death suggests to me it wasn't fully baked yet. That is pretty much how I felt about the writing. He just didn't have a chance to get down into the working parts of the book before he died.

But damn, it's really really really scary how the imaginarium in his head led PKD to predict our present.

Then there's a 2014 movie that makes my hair stand on end. A good and faithful adaptation of the novel, a low-budget proof that the passion of a filmmaker makes for a good watch. I like this story because of how much it scares me. I think I should re-read the VALIS trilogy now! ( )