My favorite book by this author so far. ( )

Ted Barton decides on a whim to return and visit the town of his birth, Millgate. When he gets there he finds it it completely different to how he remembered it.Non of the streets have the same name, the shops are different, and no one remembers him. A little further investigation reveals that some one of his name died of scarlet fever around the time he left the town. It is all very strange, and when he tries to leave, he finds that he can't.

As he reluctantly stays in the town, he see ghostlike figures wandering past, and meets people who also seem to remember the town as it once was. As he learns more he realises that it is a focal point for two cosmological giants.

PKD has a way of taking a reality that you know and are familiar with and twisting it. In this book the twist is a full 180 degrees, as the reality he conjures up is familiar and utterly different. He manages to bring a touch of gothic horror into the book too. The writing is a little dated, but then it was published in 1957.

( )

A fully thrilling and worthwhile novel by the Sci-Fi master Philip K. Dick. This one touches on the regular themes, especially dealing with the distortion of space and time. The plot is action packed and full of twists and turns that keep the reader intrigued throughout its duration. The characters are strong here, as is the writing, and the villains are set with just the right tone. Overall, a great book.

4 stars- fully earned. ( )

It’s got that classic PKDian viewpoint, but it’s rather slight. Probably because it’s so short. ( )

One could do worse than read this as one's intro to Dick. It is short, relatively straightforward (after the obligatory wtf), and has some interesting ideas. I've not been entirely successful in my forays into Dick's catalog, but I'm persuaded by this to continue to try to read his more ambitious works. ( )