A maze of death

Name: A maze of death
ISBN: 9780006482895

by Philip K. Dick · first published 1970

5mentions

3recommended by

4HN commenters

2020–2023first – last mentioned

75% recommend25% critical

Why HN recommends it

Often suggested as a starter Philip K. Dick novel, with an alien planet exploration plot, a deteriorating world, and ideas close to Ubik; readers mention its dated technology as part of its charm.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Science Fiction Fiction & Literature

A Maze of Death is a 1970 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. Like many of Dick's novels, it portrays what appears to be a drab and harsh off-world human colony and explores the difference between reality and perception. It is, however, one of his few to examine the human death instinct and capacity for murder and is one of his darkest novels.

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View on Open Library ISBN 9780006482895

Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

iainmerrick · May 12, 2020 · Recommends

All good picks! I was thinking of mentioning Ubik myself. I’d add A Maze of Death also. Thinking about it, yeah, Valis is probably best saved for much later. That’s the same order I read Dick, and knowing a bit of his background and having seen his recurring tropes in fictional form,…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗
Maelcum · May 21, 2023 · Recommends

Many of Philip K. Dick books and short stories, but Ubik and A Maze of Death are my favorites. William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive) Douglas N. Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Frank Herbert's Dune books Theodore Sturgeon's…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗
jacquesm · Nov 26, 2023 · Recommends

…John Harrison - The Pastel City (1971) Moebius-s Le Garage Hermétique (The Airtight Garage, 1976–1979) Octavia E. Butler-s Kindred (1979) Octavia E. Butler - Wild Seed (1980) Philip K. Dick - A Maze of Death (1970) Philip K. Dick - A Scanner Darkly (1977) Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) Philip K. Dick - Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974). Philip K. Dick - Martian…
on “New Wave Sci-Fi: 75 Best Novels of 1964–1983” ↗
pmoriarty · Jun 12, 2020 · Mentions

…book. 1st rank - Ubik, The Three Stigmata, A Martian Time Slip, Faith of Our Fathers 2nd rank - (The Divine Invasion or The Galactic Pot Healer ... don't remember which now... it's been a long time), A Maze of Death 3rd rank - VALIS, Eye in the Sky Honorable mention: the middle of Lies, Inc -- it has a weak start and ending, but the middle is up there with the best PKD has ever written. I found The Transmigration…
on “How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later, Philip K. Dick” ↗
pmoriarty · May 29, 2021 · Critical

…savor a Dick book, so maybe I was in the wrong mood that time. The other first-tier PKD book for me is Martian Time-Slip. Second-tier PKD books for me are VALIS and Galactic Pot Healer. Third-tier are Maze of Death, Eye in the Sky, and Divine Invasion (the 2nd in the VALIS trilogy.. didn't like the 3rd in the series, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer at all). Many of his other books, like Lies, Inc, also have…
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)” ↗