Book Review of Ubik by Philip K. Dick

When a bomb explodes on Luna and kills Glen Runciter, head of an anti-psi prudence organization, the world begins reversing in time and his team of anti-telepaths dying off one after another, shriveling up and decaying into dregs. The new leader, Joe Chip, must keep Runciter in half-life, the mind continuing to work while the body suspended and decaying, find the cause even as he began to decay. Through his half-dead boss, Joe realizes only Ubik, a mysterious spray, could save his life, but an evil force seeks to prevent him from getting hold of the cure.

Image by Meul

Ubik, Philip K. Dick’s futuristic tale of telepaths and precogs, takes the reader into a surrealistic world of time reversal and pseudo-science. Like other successful sci-fi writers, he creates a compelling world where the readers are willing to suspend their beliefs and experience coin-slotted doors and refrigerators with attitudes. Joe Clip isn’t likeable but the twists in plot lead the reader guessing on the causes of the changes and what Ubik is. A fun sci-fi read.

Philip K Dick

Isaac Asimov's Foundation: The Future of Humanity

In Foundation, Isaac Asimov created a compelling world where the psychohistorian Hari Seldon foresees the empire crumbling under its weight and seeks to direct the future by gathering a group of mathematicians and scientists and creating the Foundation in the planet Terminus, at the end of the galaxy. He predicts the Foundation would usher forth the second empire and prevail against the warlords in the outer region of the empire. So begins the political machinations of Foundation leaders like Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow, who would use religion and then commerce to control more powerful enemies around Terminus and whose strategies and tactics are worthy of Machiavelli and Sun Tzu. In Foundation, Asimov shows knowledge not only of science but also of human nature, creating characters who scheme to undercut their opponents and achieve their goals. A great science fiction read.

Isaac Asimov