The Divine Invasion

VALIS, Book 2

By: Philip K. Dick

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

God is not dead. He has merely been exiled to an extraterrestrial planet. And it is on this planet that God meets Herb Asher and persuades him to help retake Earth from the demonic Belial.

Featuring virtual reality, parallel worlds, and interstellar travel, The Divine Invasion blends philosophy and adventure in a way few authors can achieve. As the middle novel of Dick’s VALIS trilogy, The Divine Invasion plays a pivotal role in answering the questions raised by the first novel, expanding that world while exploring just how much anyone can really know - even God himself.

Also listen to the first book, VALIS.

©1981 Phillip K. Dick (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

epic

I would recommend this book to Philip K Dick fans everywhere. it surprised me with a deep and complex story. Far surpassing my initial estimates of the contents.

Awesome Voice Actor

Dick reads Dick. Great narration on this title really immersive performance. Wonder what other works he reads

A very quirky novel

PKD is my favorite author, yet I’m not sure I would describe any of his novels as “gripping” in a plot sense, but rather of a hallucinatory quality, of liminal realities converging and superimposing themselves on one another. This book is no exception, and I loved it for the reasons I love Dick, the combination of wild specificity and ludicrous reality. A character gets pulled over by a space policeman and goes on to explain the exact orchestration of the Mahler 2nd Symphony, down to the number of oboes and contrabassoons. In keeping with the VALIS trilogy, there is a great deal of theology here, though this book is more Jewish, while VALIS was more Christian. Both are heavily mixed with Eastern dualism and Dick’s own cosmogony. Essentially a thinly veiled explication of his own beliefs, the characters are still interesting enough, though we’ve seem them all before. Not one of his better books, but not a bad one. I genuinely enjoyed it for the aforementioned reasons, but it is admittedly simultaneously thin and dense, a bit inscrutable, and at once, too scrutable.

Much better than VALIS: Book 1

It has character, story and a minimum of philosophical meandering compared to the original VALIS. The attempts at female voices were highly grating. Also, I could often not distinguish Emmanuel from Zina in their conversations. Sadly confusing in an already deliberately confusing fiction.

wow

Tjis book is great and I can't wait to listen to it again. The changes in time threw me off sometimes but that is also what made it a fun book

pkd never disappoints

another mind bending trip through the God head. I wouldn't rank this one as high as a scanner darkly but it delivers nonetheless

so wierd

Dick is one of my favorite writers, but the divine trilogy books are so strange. The plot seems secondary to the sense of the profound. If you are a P.K. Dick fan go for it, if not, well... good luck.

Absolutely the perfect title for this deep tale.

Its so difficult to put into words, but if you've ever deeply questioned reality, your sanity, religious beliefs, or ALL of the above then this tale may resonate with you in an eerily profound way. I couldn't have found this book at a better time in my life. Enjoy.

not as good as Valis

the book had a lot of good parts, w intersting characters..and it had great PKD craziness/brilliance. but I felt it finished poorly, like he was trying to wrap it up w some symbolic characterizations of Judeo symbols. It rang, stiff and preachy here and there and doubled down in the end. I'm not sure I'm going to listen to the 3rd book in this series.

An extended nativity, the second time around

The Divine Invasion, Philip K Dick's 2nd book in his VALIS trilogy is a standalone tale that begins as a pure SF story, but quickly evolves to a theological escapade that recapitulates the birth of Christ complete with an immaculate conception, virgin birth, and no room at the inn. With the Joseph and Mary stand-ins coming in from a colony world to an Earth that is controlled by hostile religious tyrants, Dick explores the notions of a split godhead.

Dick's sci-fi elements are muted except at the beginning with interstellar colonization. Cryogenic storage is developed with sophisticated transplant technology, but the real focus is a religious theme with the notion of a godhead that has two distinct parts, the creator and the protector. Thrown in is the notion that for the past many centuries, Earth has been under the control of an evil entity with the return of the creator representing the divine invasion.

The narration is superb with good character distinction and solid pacing for a good flow given the extent of philosophical discussions. Overall, the story is a bit weak, but does offer a glimpse into Dick's theological thinking.