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Now that I've read a few of Dick's books, I've started to pick up on a formula. First, they start out a bit confusing until you begin to get immersed in the world that's been built. Second, the plot is established and the book starts to get good. And I mean really good. And third, the plot devolves into an ending that leaves some things unresolved and other things ambiguous. This formula actually worked wonders in A Scanner Darkly, and was great in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but in Ubik things get unfortunately messy.
It's hard to summarize the plot of this book, but what I'll say is that once you grasp it, it sucks you in. There are memorable characters, an interesting world, and the promise of some great action. As the novel progresses, many characters disappear, the plot becomes a head-scratcher, and things end up surprisingly quietly.
3 stars might be a little harsh, but this book is so acclaimed that it can afford some criticism. It would have at least hit the 4 star mark for me if it wasn't for the loads of expository dialogue. I understand that this is classic sci-fi, and we should expect lots of explanations for what's going on, but there are quite a few moments in here where characters make outlandish assumptions that are treated as fact for the rest of the book. If these rationalizations were gone and the novel just stayed hallucinatory until the end, it might have been better.
One mediocre book out of three isn't bad, and this was still very entertaining to read, so PKD still has my seal of approval.
It's hard to summarize the plot of this book, but what I'll say is that once you grasp it, it sucks you in. There are memorable characters, an interesting world, and the promise of some great action. As the novel progresses, many characters disappear, the plot becomes a head-scratcher, and things end up surprisingly quietly.
3 stars might be a little harsh, but this book is so acclaimed that it can afford some criticism. It would have at least hit the 4 star mark for me if it wasn't for the loads of expository dialogue. I understand that this is classic sci-fi, and we should expect lots of explanations for what's going on, but there are quite a few moments in here where characters make outlandish assumptions that are treated as fact for the rest of the book. If these rationalizations were gone and the novel just stayed hallucinatory until the end, it might have been better.
One mediocre book out of three isn't bad, and this was still very entertaining to read, so PKD still has my seal of approval.