Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick · first published 1968
34% recommend61% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Sci-fi novel about androids and what separates humans from machines, with a vision of organic life becoming a status symbol. Suits readers curious about AI and consciousness, and a good entry point into PKD's work.
Common criticism: Some find it a letdown next to the Blade Runner film
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill. Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignment--find them and then..."retire" them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found!
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…craft/mold for film. A great recent example is Jeff Vandermeer's Annilation. Great book, totally different movie that is unique and stands on its own though I much prefer the original book. Philip K Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is another great example; the book and movie are vastly different, yet both stand on there own and one could argue are great for different reasons. I'd be hardpressed to pick which I love more. I do…
on “Apple is making a show based on Isaac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ books” ↗Consider the lobster - David f. Wallace (good) Brief Interview with Hideous Men - David f Wallace (better) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep -Philip K. Dick (better than I expected) A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick (even better) The Goal, It's Not Luck, Critical Chain - Goldratt (OK, easy read) The Phoenix Project - (bad prose, not inspired)…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…types presented in a book for the masses. I would not read it again; watching a presentation online should be enough to get the point across. 16. Mécanique (Landau, Lifchitz) - refresh of mechanics 17. Do androids dream of electric sheep (Philip K. Dick) - enjoyable and entertaining! I'm surprised how different the feel of the book is compared to the Blade runner films. In the book androids are purely rational beings, whereas the film…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle is definitely worth a read. Valis [or is it VALIS?] is also an interesting read...in the psychotropic sense of "interesting". I found Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep worth a read for the way in which it differs from the movie...the importance as status symbols of synthetic animals in the novella and its implications in regard to synthetic human lives a more compelling…
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick I, Robot - Isaac Asimov The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick 2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite sci-fi book?” ↗Interesting. I always found his book Do Androids dream of electric sheep, which Blade Runner is based on, so much better than the movie.
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)” ↗Some of my faves in this vein: Stranger In A Strange Land Solaris The Fall Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Seveneves (a bit silly but definitely fun and will set you to thinking)
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗I adore Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but for Philip K Dick at his most mind-bending, I’d instead go for Valis
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗…Rat series (Harrison - a bit juvenile, but fun) Dune (Herbert) The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Heinlein) Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein) Starship Troopers (Heinlein) A Scanner Darkly (Dick) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Dick) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Adams) Childhood's End (Clarke) Robot series (Asimov) Bicentennial Man (Asimov) Brave New World (Huxley)
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗…awareness of self and environment. Programming it for servitude would be tricky, to say the least. Also, why do so many people expect any strong AI to resemble human intelligence? Give Philip K Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" a whirl if you're interested in the implications. Isaac Asimov also spent a lot of time writing about robotic intelligence. Hit up Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun and Robots of Dawn if this floats your…
on “Anyone know who is behind perfect-woman.com?” ↗…Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land / Starship Troopers / The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Alfred Bester - The Demolished Man / The Stars My Destination Jack Vance - The Dying Earth Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep / The Man in the High Castle Larry Niven - Ringworld etc. etc. A list of Hugo Award winners[1] might come in helpful. Another advantage of having read "the greats" is that if some critic says that…
on “Ask HN: What sci-fi books are you reading?” ↗Hardwired Water John Williams Proto /early CP Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep - Philip K Dick Babel 17 - Delany Fury - Kutner/More Tiger! Tiger! (The stars my destination) - Bester And Arguably Gravity's Rainbow
on “Neuromancer, 30 years old this month” ↗…describes an important type of social dystopia. Honestly, I think 1984 is just as over-done, but the ideas are more significant (and relevant) than the stories or characters. There's nothing wrong with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. You're probably right that it receives outsized attention because of the movie, but it's a fine book in its own right. It's probably one of the easier PKD books to get into if you're not used to him…
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗…Leonardo da Vinci, a beautiful and interesting book, https://www.amazon.com/Leonardo-Vinci-Walter-Isaacson/dp/150... - one to my collegue, one to my former colleague. A stunningly beautiful edition of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? & A Scanner Darkly" by Philip K. Dick http://www.foliosociety.com/book/PKD/scanner-androids - to a friend of mine, a big PKD fun. I love giving great books as a gift :)
on “Ask HN: What books have you given as a present in 2017?” ↗The one book is probably actually three books that were read more or less at the same time: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick, Little, Big by John Crowley, and Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe. These books led to a change of reading habits in way that led eventually to working in publishing.
on “Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?” ↗