The Skull by Philip K Dick - Short Story Review

This was a cool time travel story.  One that plays with the grandfather paradox.

A prisoner, his name being Conger, with skills in hunting, tracking and killing is dispatched to the past to prevent the rise of a religion that upsets the status quo.

I liked how so many of the aspects of the story are now hardwired into storytelling today.  Messing with the timeline can have unexpected consequences.

It was well done and terrific to know that Dick helped to lay the foundation in this type of story.

You can read the story online here - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/30255/30255-h/30255-h.htm

Philip K Dick

Dust to Dust by Chris Roberson & Robert Adler - Book Report #210

In anticipation of the new Blade Runner movie I dug into my old comic collection and read this two-volume story.

It is a prequel to the original movie, however the esthetics are the same.  The art was wonderful, it was dark, dirty, dusty, mouldy and just as wet as Ridley Scott's creation of 1982.

The main story is the same - six rogue androids are on a list to be retired.  Charlie Victor, a replicant himself with a terrific backstory, engages the help of  a "special" human, Malcolm Reed, who can discern humans from replicants.  This talent is a burden all it's own.

Together they navigate an intricate world of violence, morality and "human" rights.

I found the story to be a nice addition to the world of the original Blade Runner movie.

The Gun by Philip K Dick - Short Story Review

September 1952

A team of scientists are in orbit around an unexplored world.

What they find is devastation.  An atomic war has taken place destroying the entire surface of the planet.

Suddenly they are attacked and shot down.

After safely crash landing, a party is sent to investigate the gun that attacked them.

It was a well crafted story that played on the assumptions most readers bring to a story.

Terrific.

By the way, isn't this one of the greatest things about the written word?  Dick himself died 35 years ago (1982) and the story was published 65 years ago (1952) and here I am, today, enjoying it for the first time.

Cool.

Philip K Dick

Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K Dick - Short Story Review

July 1952

Here's an interesting story, Philip K Dick's first published work, was about a ship's captain who is obsessed with eating an animal that one of his crew has brought on board.

But the creature is intelligent and would rather talk the matter over.

That's about all I can say without revealing too much.

It certainly provided me with a smile at the end.

From The Variable Man and Other Stories collection edited by Gregg Rickman.

Philip K Dick