Book Review
Title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1)
Author: Philip K. Dick
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: *****
Review: I learned that Blade Runner was based off a book a lot later than I’d like to admit but I loved the movie and I even enjoyed the sequel that came out recently so I thought I’d give the book a go. The opening of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was interesting, we are introduced to Rick Deckard who makes his living by retiring andys or replicants. If you haven’t seen the movie then this requires some context, Earth has been decimated by war forcing many to evacuate to colony planets but many like Rick and his wife, Iran have chosen to stay behind. Rick needs to be on Earth for his job which is linked to the police force. From the outset we learn there is technology to alter one’s mood which Rick and Iran use often, however, their marriage isn’t a happy one as Iran doesn’t like Rick’s job despite the fact it pays very well, $1000 per replicant he retires. Rick also has a dream of retiring enough replicants to buy himself an animal. We learn on Earth real animals are rare and expensive due to the devastation on Earth and the larger the animal you owe, the bigger the status symbol it is. Rick used to own a sheep, but it died from tetanus, so he had an electric sheep made in the same image so people wouldn’t find out as it is seen as a bit shameful. I am eager to see how the story progress as the movie packs a lot in and the book is under 200 pages.
When the head bounty hunter is shot by an andy, Rick has the opportunity to retire the remaining six they believe are in t heir area right now, however, it isn’t going to be as easy as Rick first thought. It turns out the technology surrounding the andys is constantly evolving and their new nexus-6 brain means that the empathy tests they’ve always administers to determine whether someone is an andy might not work anymore. Rick is sent to the company that makes the nexus-6 to try out the empathy test on these new range of androids as well as some humans as the police force is concerned there are some humans that might fail the test. When he arrives at the facility Rick is quickly taken with the range of animals they have including a racoon and an owl which are thought to be extinct. When Rick arrives at the Rosen Association, he is going to be testing a mixed group of human and the new nexus-6 androids to sees if their empathy testing still works. However, the Association leader’s niece Rachel is the first test subject and she fails the test despite being human and Rick knows he’s been led into a trap as they can know demand almost anything from him, however, his gut is telling him something isn’t right with Rachel and he decides to retest her. He only asks her one question and he is able to determine that is an android and the test is still effective, he also believes her to a nexus-6 showing him the true challenge he faces in hunting down the other 6 that escaped.
We also get the perspective of John who is a special, special in this society means he is unfit to go to the colony planets as he failed the IQ test. The radioactive dust also affects specials differently as it affects their minds more than their bodies and John is a classic example of this. We follow john’s daily routine as he tries to make something of the life he has been forced to endure including living alone but this changes when a girl moves in downstairs. This girl introduces herself at first as Rachel Rosen but quickly says her name is Pris, so we know this is the same android Rachel that Rick tested. John thinks nothing of it, in fact, he seems quite enamoured with Pris. I didn’t like John’s boss as he was cruel in making John call a customer when he failed to realise that their cat was real and not artificial even after it’s death as real animals are worth lots of money but his other boss is very nice and even steps in to help when John struggles relaying the information to the customer. As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Rick manages to retire one of the rogue andys after it impersonates someone that should have been tagging along with him. Moments before, he had a call from Rachel Rosen telling him that he wouldn’t be able to get close to the new nexus-6 androids without the help of another nexus-6 like herself. Rick doesn’t want her help but when he goes after the second andy on the list and ends up in a situation where they are telling him he is the android and they are taking him somewhere to possibly kill him, he begins to admit that it might be a good idea to get Rachel’s help if he survives this encounter.
As he is booked into the police station he meets Phil Resch, one of their bounty hunters who after the bone marrow test on the android body in Rick’s car decides it will be best for Rick, himself and his superior; Garland to be tested, since Garland is also on Rick’s list. In the time he collects their equipment, Garland confesses he is an android so is everyone else on Rick’s list as they came together to Earth, except the android Rick killed as he came earlier. Resch ends up killing Garland as he tries to shot him and they pair head to retire Luba Luft, however, Rick knows Resch is also an android with false memories and isn’t aware that he is an android. On the way to opera house, Resch suggests that after they retire Luba, that Rick tests him as he know suspects what he is and Rick tries to put him off but he also knows he has to do it. They retire Luba successfully and when Rick tests Resch he is surprised when he tests as human, but it does make Rick question himself as he felt more cold towards Resch than Luba. Resch explains he felt the same way but it is to do with sex and rather than killing her and then feeling attracted to her, he should reverse his order. Rick for the first time realises that Resch is a better bounty hunter than he is and we can see Rick’s ideals begin challenged for the first time.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, we switch back to the perspective of John Isidore who meets up with Pris who we know if an android. She is beginning to trust John and when her two friends turn up he finally puts the pieces together and learns what they really are but he doesn’t have any desire to turn them in, in fact, John wants to protect them, helping them move into their new apartment and moving Pris in with him. He even goes as far as wanting to get a weapon, should a bounty hunter turn up although he doesn’t understand what a bounty hunter is. For the androids, John is the first human the have met that has accepted them and doesn’t care about what they have done to get back to Earth, possibly because he is special himself. Meanwhile, Rick is once again shopping for an animal with his new earnings for the numerous retirements he has done. From the android group we learn there were eight originally and know the three of them are the only ones left and only have John to protect them from Rick. Rick finally gets his wish when he buys a goat but he still has his heart set on buying a sheep to replace the electric one but on his way to get the three remaining androids now he knows where they are, he calls Rachel. He convinces Rachel to fly down to meet him at a hotel, taking Resch’s advice to heart and says if she can help him he will give up on the three remaining androids and retire from bounty hunting for good and naturally she agrees.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Rick ends up going to be with Rachel and finding himself completely empathic towards the androids but he knows he has to retire the last three. However, as Pris looks just like Rachel he knows he could never kill her. On their way to the apartment building Rachel tells Rick he isn’t the first, in fact, he is the ninth, she has seduced nine bounty hunters before him to change them, make them unable to kill the androids anymore, except one Phil Resch continued his work after but the experience warped him. Rick proves he can’t kill Rachel because he does have some deeper feelings towards her but I think he might surprise her and finish his assignment in retiring the other three androids even if killing Pris is going to be difficult for him. Jumping back to John we learn that the androids are waiting for Buster’s announcement that he has been talking about for days. The announcement completely debunks the religion that the remaining humans have been followed, that the shared empathy they feel is a lie and it further debunks the test used on androids, however, they fail to realise as long as people like John believe, their religion will never die. Then Rick trips the alarm they have installed and push John to protect them but I have a feeling that he will let Rick retire them not because he doesn’t like them but because of the way the mutilated the spider he found, as we know John has a huge empathy for animals. Rick first comes face to face with John who does try to protect the androids but not as hard as I first thought, and like John, Rick has an experience with Mercer, who is a bit like their God who protects him from Pris, who he quickly retires. Pris was the hardest for Rick to retire because she looks so much like Rachel so it is much easier for him to retire the remaining two. With this assignment complete he goes home to learn that Rachel has killed his goat for killing the other androids and he isn’t that bothered by it as he has overcome the obstacle she put before in.
In the end Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was very different from Blade Runner, the messages and the execution are very different. While I like the movie for its action, the book is better as it really questions what it is to be human, what it means to feel and everything in between, the actual retiring of the androids is made redundant in the light of Rick’s thoughts and emotions. At less than 200 pages I’d highly recommend Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep as a quick and insightful read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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