Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

A classic SF novel by Philip K. Dick, and it was the inspiration of the film Blade Runner. The story is written in the style of 40's / 50's noir detective novel, although it delves much deeper in the personal and inner world of the main character. Set in a near future, crumbling, dystopian world, it tells the story of Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who takes on the job of hunting down and "retiring" a group of the most advanced androids who have escaped to the earth after murdering their "masters" on Mars. I won't retell or summarize the story as you can read that elsewhere, but the novel follows Deckard as he wrestles with the important questions of what it really means to be human.

My first surprise was that this was not Blade Runner. Although the movie was loosely based on the story, but there are very many differences in the characters and the overall world setting. I guess that this is a problem with reading this book in a "post Blade Runner world". After realizing this, I changed my approach to the novel, and found that I really did enjoy the story. In a linear style, PKD uses action and dialogue to describe the world and advance the plot. It also forces the character (and the reader) to wrestle with deep questions of humanity and the future. No long overly wordy descriptions, which personally I enjoy.

As I have read very little of Philip K. Dick, I realize that I have missed a lot. Not a very long novel and a Highly Recommended must read.