Showing results by author "Philip K. Dick" in All Categories

The Crawlers is a science ficion short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. Submitted under the title "Foundling Home", it was first published as The Crawlers in Imagination magazine, July 1954. The story starts out from the point of view of a crawler constructing one of its curious hives. The crawler seems sentient and to genuinely enjoy building its odd dwelling. The story is set in a small Midwestern town, with references later in the story to mysterious "pools" which seem to cause mutations.

In "The Gun", a group of space explorers are shot down above a deserted planet. While some of the crew work on repairing the ship, the remainder set out to investigate the planet. Otherwise unpopulated, they discover the huge gun that shot them down sitting atop a trove of cultural artifacts from a bygone civilization. What harm could come of dismantling the gun and taking a few of the artifacts home with them?

"The Variable Man" is one of Philip K. Dick's most famous stories. A "fix-it man" from the past accidentally winds up on Earth 200 years in the future. His arrival may well put a crack in the progress of a delicate war by computers.

X Minus One premiered in April 1955 on NBC and ran until January 1958. Like its predecessor series, Dimension X, X Minus One featured stories by the greatest names in modern science fiction: Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Clifford Simak, Robert Bloch, and many more.

Taylor felt life was pretty good. Sure living in an underground bunker developing more sophisticated weapons to bomb the Soviets was less than ideal. But he had a pretty wife, and he was safe from the radioactive poisoned environment that existed above ground. The leadies, a sophisticated robot servant, could inform them of the devastating destruction, the bombed out cities, and the further Soviet attacks. But it was a strange fact that the latest leadie to return to the bunker showed no sign of radioactivity.

Working in a military research facility, Kramer comes up with a system of installing a man's brain as the central processor of a rocket. Since a pilot could not withstand the pressures of deep space flight, a willing sacrifice will need to be made. Kramer's ex-wife, Dolores, remembers an old professor, Professor Thomas, that she and Kramer had attended in college. Professor Thomas is near the end of his lifespan. His mind is still agile, and it is agreed that it is his mind that will go into the rocket.

Dans Ubik, Philip K. Dick réunit tous les grands thèmes de la SF : la télépathie, le voyage dans le temps, la porosité entre le monde des vivants et celui des morts, et le développement des machines automatiques. Joe Chip, spécialisé dans la traque des télépathes, est envoyé sur la Lune avec d'autres agents pour neutraliser une autre équipe qui pourrait nuire à leur intérêt. Ce voyage sera-t-il irréversible ?

Al Miller is a self-proclaimed nobody, a used-car salesman with a lot full of junkers. His elderly landlord, Jim Fergessen, has decided to retire and has just cashed in on his property, which includes the lot that Al rents next to Fergessen's garage. Chris Harman is a record-company owner who has relied on Fergessen's for years to fix his Cadillac. When he hears about Jim Fergessen's sudden retirement fund, he tells him about a new realty development that Harman swears is a surefire path to easy wealth.

"Beyond Lies the Wub" was Philip K. Dick's first published story and appeared in Planet Stories magazine. In it, a crew takes an alien aboard their ship but the alien's appearance belies its intelligence and powers.

Seven Tales by Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) is a collection of science fiction short stories written by the Hugo and Nebula award-winning author and published by the pulp science fiction magazines of the 1950s. This anthology includes "Sales Pitch", a tale of future consumerism and robot salesmen; "The Crawlers", a story of mutant children born of radiation; "Meddler", a stern warning on the dangers of time travel: "Prominent Author", the tale of a transportation device that travels through the fourth dimension, and more.

In the distant future, Earth is at war with the planet Mars. Three saboteurs from Earth cause a major Martian city to disappear. They board the last spaceship bound for the planet Earth, and set up a conversation with a stranger…

A cat walking across a room swerves suddenly and walks carefully around something we can't see. We shrug, smile, and remark that cats are always doing that. Our hitherto amiable dog suddenly develops the irritating habit of barking and growling violently at certain innocent passersby. We still shrug, wonder what's got into the mutt, and pass it off. Mr. Dick argues with frightening urgency that if we are wise, we wilt immediately investigate these oddities of animal behavior.

Thomas Cole, the variable man, is not himself variable, but when he is transported from the early 20th century into the 22nd century, he becomes a variable affecting the outcome of an interplanetary war.

Willianson's world, a culture that seemed a hideous nightmare to men who know nothing of beauty, must be destroyed. Philip Dick's characters have an exciting way of letting their logically motivated self-interest lead them straight down the flaming road to ruin. We suspect that it is this distinctly individual approach which has made him one of the most admired and widely read of science fiction writers of the past few years.

Precorrendo i motivi cari al cyberpunk, Philip K. Dick affonda la penna nei temi della decadenza, delle fantasie cosmiche e delle inquietudini interiori che attanagliano l'uomo moderno. Chi o cos'è Valis? È un'imperscrutabile entità intelligente che vive nello spazio? O forse un meccanismo, una formula o, ancora, un essere vivente vero e proprio, che emana uno sconvolgente flusso di informazioni sulla natura dell'universo?

Il quarto ed ultimo volume della raccolta di straordinari racconti di Philip K. Dick, i primi scritti del più geniale tra gli innovatori del genere della fantascienza. Un totale di trentatré racconti, pubblicati tra il 1947 e il 1953, di un Philip K. Dick che muove i primi passi nella letteratura fantascientifica.

Il secondo volume della raccolta di straordinari racconti di Philip K. Dick, i primi scritti del più geniale tra gli innovatori del genere della fantascienza. Un totale di trentatré racconti, pubblicati tra il 1947 e il 1953, di un Philip K. Dick che muove i primi passi nella letteratura fantascientifica.

"The Defenders", one of Philip K. Dick's earlier stories, describes a world where a global war between two continents has devastated the suface of the earth. Mankind has been forced to live underground where they continue to fight the war using robot "leadys" who are immune to radiation. Then a startling discovery is made about the robots which changes the entire future of mankind.

Three disparate and suspenseful looks at ourselves in three very different worlds. These engaging short stories by three of the masters of American science fiction literature, Isaac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Philip K. Dick, open windows into our psyches, our souls, and our surroundings that presage the world we find ourselves in today. Like episodes of The Twilight Zone, cinematic in their language and characters, the stories connect with our times in surprising ways.

Imagine if you will, you have been underground during the day, and when you come up the world has changed. There is a man hanging from a telephone pole right on Main Street, and no one seems to notice or if they do, they don't indeed care. Life appears otherwise normal, but is it? Who do you tell? Who can you tell? Or is anything really wrong? Philip K. Dick takes us into that nightmare where we run and things seen so real, but perhaps you are the one that is confused.