Published : 1965Pages : 304
Overall Mark : 7/10
Seven years after the day of the bombs, Point Reyes was luckier than most places. Its people were reasonably normal - except for the girl with her twin brother growing inside her, and talking to her. Their barter economy was working. Their resident genius could fix almost anything that broke down. But they didn't know they were harbouring the one man who almost everyone alive wanted killed.
PHILIP K. DICK (1928-1982)
'One of the two or three most important figures in 20th century US SF' (The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction). Born one of twins - his sister died in infancy - he lived most of his life in California, and wrote more than fifty books in a career of prodigious productivity and achievement. The films Blade Runner and Total Recall are both based on his stories.
VERDICT
This is simple tale of a community trying to cope after a nuclear disaster and the strange effects the fallout has had on them. As usual the strength in this tale lies in the characterisations Dick works so well into the narrative, and the details of mutations both physical and mental make these strange characters all the more interesting.
