Published : 1974Pages : 204
Overall Mark : 7/10
Jason Taverner is a Six, the product of top secret government experiments forty years earlier which produced a handful of unnaturally bright and beautiful people. He is also a TV star, the prime idol of millions... until, inexplicably, all record of him disappears from the data banks. Now he is a man with no identity, in a police state where everybody's records are monitored. Can he ever be rich and famous again... if, indeed, those memories are not illusions.
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
Although not one of his most memorable efforts, this riches to rags dystopian tale benefits from Dick's ability to create a world rich with plausablity and characters that are believable. Even when his concepts are far-fetched, which is most of the time, you can really feel yourself being drawn in to the tale and the trials that the characters are forced to face.
