Now Wait for Last Year

Name: Now Wait for Last Year
ISBN: 9781857987010

by Philip K. Dick · first published 1966

8mentions

3recommended by

8HN commenters

2015–2025first – last mentioned

38% recommend50% neutral13% critical

Science Fiction Fiction & Literature

Now Wait for Last Year is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It is set in 2055, when Earth is caught between two galactic powers in an interstellar conflict. Dr. Eric Sweetscent and his wife Kathy get addicted to a powerful drug that appears to cause time travel. The doctor's patient is the world leader, UN Secretary General. Of the twenty-eight novels Dick published in the 1960s and 1970s, this novel is one of the five chosen to represent this period of his career in The Library of America series, Volume Two. Dr. Eric Sweetscent has problems. His planet is enme

BuyBookshop.org Amazon

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

View on Open Library ISBN 9781857987010

Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

BruceEel · May 21, 2023 · Recommends

…particular the story Knight of Shallows) - The Star Wolf series by David Gerrold And a few easily overlooked ones by Philip K. Dick: - Clans of the Alphane Moon - The Game-Players of Titan - Now Wait for Last Year.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗
jacquesm · Nov 26, 2023 · Recommends

…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 Time-Slip (1964) Philip K. Dick - Now Wait for Last Year (1966) Philip K. Dick - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965) Philip K. Dick - The Unteleported Man (1966) Philip K. Dick - Ubik (1969). Philip K. Dick - VALIS (1981) Richard Brautigan…
on “New Wave Sci-Fi: 75 Best Novels of 1964–1983” ↗
servytor · Dec 13, 2021 · Recommends

Unrelated, but one of my favorite quotes from PKD is this one from Now Wait for Last Year: --- “All right," Eric agreed. "If you were me, and your wife were sick, desperately so, with no hope of recovery, would you leave her? Or would you stay with her, even if you had traveled ten years…
on “Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start” ↗
pmoriarty · May 29, 2021 · Mentions

…of Our Fathers I didn't really like A Scanner Darkly, nor Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep and would consider them of minor import had not movies been made of them. Other books in this category are Now Wait for Last Year (made in to Total Recall) and Time Out of Joint (made in to The Truman Show.. though the book is much darker). The movie Minority Report was based on another minor short story of his, as The Terminator…
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)” ↗
sbf501 · Oct 30, 2022 · Critical

…bent and distorted psychologically (VALIS, Palmer Eldritch, Martian Time Slip, ...). There's a big blob of boring books in the middle, in my opinion, like "We Can Build You", "The Crack in Space", and "Now Wait for Last Year". But what I've found most fascinating is watching his progression (descent) into darker and darker work. It was also a weird experience reading so much from one author, because after 5 books you start…
on “The Essential Philip K. Dick” ↗
icebraining · Dec 5, 2015 · Mentions

There's also jj-180 in Now Wait For Last Year; beyond the futuristic effect it has on its users, the description of its withdrawal symptoms is very vivid (pages 78-82): https://books.google.pt/books?id=58BWIwBDPJgC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA...
on “Soma, Spice and Substance D: A History of Drugs in Science Fiction” ↗
bookofjoe · Apr 13, 2025 · Mentions

…later and will likely do so for the foreseeable future: Time Out of Joint The Man in the High Castle Martian Time-Slip The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Clans of the Alphane Moon The Simulacra Now Wait for Last Year Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)/Blade Runner (1982) Ubik We Can Build You Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said A Scanner Darkly The Transmigration of Timothy Archer Radio Free Albemuth
on “Philip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem Is a Communist Committee (2015)” ↗
shervinafshar · Apr 14, 2025 · Mentions

…denotes PKD title, O denotes otherwise: X Time Out of Joint X The Man in the High Castle O Martian Time-Slip X The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch X Clans of the Alphane Moon X The Simulacra X Now Wait for Last Year O Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)/Blade Runner (1982) O Ubik O We Can Build You X Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said X A Scanner Darkly O The Transmigration of Timothy Archer O Radio…
on “Philip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem Is a Communist Committee (2015)” ↗