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The Defenders and Three Others book cover
The Defenders and Three Others
1950
First Published
3.52
Average Rating
66
Number of Pages
In a 1978 interview, Philip K. Dick said 'I've always had this funny feeling about reality. It just seems very feeble to me sometimes. It doesn't seem to have the substantiality that it's suppose to have.' Fortunately for us, Dick translated his feelings about reality into some of the greatest science fiction writing of all time. This collection features five stories from early in his career, when he found his voice as a writer. In 'The Gun,' a planet lies dead, destroyed by a devastating war. Only a powerful weapon remains as protection, but what's left to protect? In 'Beyond the Door,' a man buys 'a cuckoo clock for his wife—without knowing the price he would have to pay.' In 'The Crystal Crypt,' three earthlings attempt to gain advantage over the entire population of Mars, in order to advance Earth's commercial interests. In 'The Skull,' an imprisoned hunter is offered redemption, if he will agree to embark on the most unusual hunt of several lifetimes. Finally, in 'The Defenders,' a population of robots fights an Armageddon-like war, while humans live underground, feeding the war machine. But what does winning really mean? These five stories allow us an early glimpse into the mind of the Hugo Award winning author.
Avg Rating
3.52
Number of Ratings
202
5 STARS
12%
4 STARS
36%
3 STARS
45%
2 STARS
6%
1 STARS
1%
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Author

Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Author · 199 books

Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. In 1952, he began writing professionally and proceeded to write numerous novels and short-story collections. He won the Hugo Award for the best novel in 1962 for The Man in the High Castle and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel of the year in 1974 for Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Philip K. Dick died on March 2, 1982, in Santa Ana, California, of heart failure following a stroke. In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

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