A review by teal_axolotl
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 1: Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick
3.0
Best stories:
5/5 Colony.
A beautiful story about space colonisation. Starting with a "too good to be true" exposition that almost foreshadows the troubles to come, it presents us with a challange of survival against the unknown. The story is well-structured and has a clear arc: discovery, surprise -> disbelief, self-doubt -> acceptance, problem solving -> helplessness against a thing that's too alien for humans to understand.
And at the end the reader is faced with a haunting realization of what had happened.
A great piece of cosmic horror, reminds of John Carpenter's The Thing, which was based on [b:Who Goes There?|6468870|Who Goes There?|John W. Campbell Jr.|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347690698l/6468870._SY75_.jpg|19210812]
5/5 Nanny.
Hilarious story, driven by the absurdity of Human desire to have a better, bigger thing than his neighbor fuels the manufacturer's arms race.
The rest, rated on the scale of 1-5, many of them are worth checking out:
3 Stability
2 Roog
3 The Little Movement
4 Beyond Lies the Wub
2 The Gun
4 The Skull
4 The Defenders
1 Mr. Spaceship
3 Piper in the Woods
3 The Infinites
1 The Preserving Machine
2 Expendable
3 The Variable Man
2 The Indefatigable Frog
4 The Crystal Crypt
2 The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford
2 The Builder
4 Meddler
4 Paycheck
4 The Great C
2 Out in the Garden
2 The King of the Elves
3 Prize Ship
Overall I rate this volume 3/5. But understanding that it had been written in 1952-55, even before the launch of the first satellite in 1957, makes me appreciate the good stories even more.
5/5 Colony.
A beautiful story about space colonisation. Starting with a "too good to be true" exposition that almost foreshadows the troubles to come, it presents us with a challange of survival against the unknown. The story is well-structured and has a clear arc: discovery, surprise -> disbelief, self-doubt -> acceptance, problem solving -> helplessness against a thing that's too alien for humans to understand.
And at the end the reader is faced with a haunting realization of what had happened.
A great piece of cosmic horror, reminds of John Carpenter's The Thing, which was based on [b:Who Goes There?|6468870|Who Goes There?|John W. Campbell Jr.|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347690698l/6468870._SY75_.jpg|19210812]
5/5 Nanny.
Hilarious story, driven by the absurdity of
Spoiler
nanny-bots sneakily fighting behind their owners' backs, and then going full-Transformer style and battling in the public parks.The rest, rated on the scale of 1-5, many of them are worth checking out:
3 Stability
2 Roog
3 The Little Movement
4 Beyond Lies the Wub
2 The Gun
4 The Skull
4 The Defenders
1 Mr. Spaceship
3 Piper in the Woods
3 The Infinites
1 The Preserving Machine
2 Expendable
3 The Variable Man
2 The Indefatigable Frog
4 The Crystal Crypt
2 The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford
2 The Builder
4 Meddler
4 Paycheck
4 The Great C
2 Out in the Garden
2 The King of the Elves
3 Prize Ship
Overall I rate this volume 3/5. But understanding that it had been written in 1952-55, even before the launch of the first satellite in 1957, makes me appreciate the good stories even more.