Outside the circles of serious science fiction fans, Philip K. Dick is mostly known as the author of the books that the movies Blade Runner and Minority Report were based on. Science fiction fans know him as one of the most inventive and best writers in the genre. I would go a step further and say that he is one of the most important writers of his era, which is the early 1960s through the early 1980s.
It has always been a bit of a puzzle to me that science fiction authors are always thought of as being a bit "minor league" by the literary establishment. Writers like Dick, Ray Bradbury and Robert Silverburg belie this theory.
"The Man In The High Castle" is widely viewed as Philip K. Dick's masterpiece. Originally published in 1962 it is one of the first of the now prevalent alternate history sub genre and it's basic premise is that America came out on the losing end of World War II and is now under the split control of Japan and Germany.
Like most of Dick's best work, this is a thought provoking work of social commentary and solid fiction writing that left me with as many questions as it did answers. I had to resist the urge to immediatly go back and read it again.
11 years ago
