Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. DickMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A book this iconic hardly needs a synopsis, but it's beautifully moody and descriptive. The whole dystopian near future Earth feels grotty and dark in how it's been completely taken over by a radioactive dust and most of the populace have emigrated to nearby Mars, tempted with the promise of a free android servant upon arrival.
Martian androids are doing the opposite, revolting and fleeing to Earth. A group of 8 have most recently fled Mars to Earth, where it's cop and bounty hunter Rick Deckard's job to hunt down 6 of them after his partner only managed two before being incapacitated.
Scattered in different walks of life, Deckard is to hunt them down and perform the Voight Kampff test, an empathy test to designed specifically to drigger physical responses that would only appear in Human's to hunt them out. So far, the test hasn't been bested. Is this about to change?
Deckard's perspective wavers throughout the book as he becomes less sure about what is right and what he believes. Humanity has different priorities, with people coveting the ownership of real animals, most of which are either at or nearing extinction after the war. Deckard spends more time obsessing over animal ownership at times than he does in the final climatic scene between the 3 remaining androids. I find this bizarre, but no less endearing and I was still glued to the book from beginning to end.
It's only short and not over complicated, yet Philip K Dick still manages to explore some pretty deep themes throughout and Deckard feels like a genuinely torn individual. It's an entirely believable dystopian future too, and doesn't feel dated as I thought it might. Excellent read for sci-fi fans.
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