Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: The inspiration for the films Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049
"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.
Emigrees 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
--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.
Emigrees 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
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Community Reviews
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is an incredible novel written by Phillip K. Dick who is a great science fiction author, the novel helped inspire the Blade Runner movies, short films, video game, and Blade Runner: Black Lotus. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep brings a clear message of what it means to he human, it's dystopian world is shaped to be this hopeless society with no hope and all animals have gone instinct cause of a war called World War Terminus, so the Rosen Corporation (who is the Tyrell Corporation in the 1982 Blade Runner film) builds realistic robotic simulacra of animals and yes, humans as well. These androids are illegal and banned on the dying radioactive infested planet earth and are haunted down by bounty hunters (who are called Blade Runners in the Blade Runner movies) the book follows a character named Rick Deckard who is working for a police department to hunt down run away androids (the androids in blade runner are called replicants) who kill their owners and run off. Through the story, Rick start to question a lot of things, like his job, what he's doing, is he killing people, even his own humanity, and even has moments when he questions reality. The novel bring a message of, "is anything real" it even brings themes of slavery, not the of slavery you think, but what I can interpret as psychological slavery. Rick Deckard is ordered to go hunt down Androids through out the whole novel, though he does want to retire and live a comfortable life with his wife, but when a group of androids escape Mars and come to earth, the police hire Rick Deckard to go out and hunt them down as the other bounty hunter was almost killed. So they had to bring in the other bounty hunters. The story of this novel also brings another clear message of what it means to be Human, a lot of us do question ourselves on what it means to be a human, maybe it's our bodies, our brains, minds, skin, hands even. But maybe Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick, and Blade Runner are trying to say that it's our empathy is what makes us human. Also, this novel does deal with stuff about mental illness as well. So, do I recommend Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Yes. This novel has an incredible story, and a powerful message and the story itself and what it's trying to say including the main character are also powerful as well. 10/10
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