Saturday 7 April 2012

Do androids dream of electric sheep?

Just finished this book by Philip K. Dick. It's a story set on a post World War Terminus Earth, almost deserted. Most humans have emigrated to other worlds such as Mars and have been helped in the accomodation process by skillfully built androids. Back on Earth, only few people still live, mostly endangered by the radioactivty left over after the war. A new kind of religion has come into being, Mercerism, which plays upon humans' empathy capability. From time to time, thanks to so-called empathy boxes, humans can fusion together, sharing feelings and merging with Wilbur Mercer himself. Mercerism teaches love for animals among other things, especially since most animals are now extinct. The story focuses around Rick Deckard, a SF bounty hunter, whose job is to track down and retire escaped androids. During one of his most difficult missions he starts questioning the morality of his job and undergoes a strong spiritual crysis.

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