Elliot Kessler

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book with a concept that had never been done before said book was released. Or, at least, it had not been done the way this book did. But “Ubik” took an original concept and leaned into it hard. This book had me confused, relieved, and then confused again. I seldom knew what was happening, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Story

The story is an interesting one. It’s set in a world where people that die are plugged into a virtual reality where they can live out their final days in peace and occasionally talk with their loved ones. While investigating claims of corporate espionage on another planet, a group of employees fall into a trap and are bombed by a rival company. When they return to Earth, things start to get weird, and the employees begin to wonder who died in the bomb blast and who is living in a virtual world.

This theme of questioning what is real appears in many of Philip K. Dick’s works. Like, almost all of it. He finds many exciting ways to explore the theme and gives it many perspectives. But his books generally have a plodding pace and are challenging to get through. His short stories are a completely different situation, but this is not a short story.

I found myself putting this book down a few times before returning to it days or weeks later. It was not a page-turner. But the concept was exciting enough that I had to finish it.

Writing

As I said, Dick’s works aren’t usually super thrilling. Even “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” a book about a bounty hunter searching for androids posing as humans, is slow. But his ideas and the themes they explore are captivating enough to keep going.

The language Dick uses isn’t as lucid or vivid as someone like Ray Bradbury, but it gets the story across. The book isn’t oriented to the sense of sight. It isn’t oriented to any senses. It does just enough to give the reader the story that provokes their thoughts and makes them think about reality.

Characters

The characters of “Ubik” aren’t the focal point here. Like Isacc Asimov’s books, the story’s purpose is the concept and the themes, not the characters, which is unfortunate. There are a lot of characters that we never get to know. Apparently, one of them was a love interest for the main character at the beginning of the book, but their relationship isn’t ever explored or even hinted at.

I can’t even remember half the names of the main characters. One character introduced early on was a fascinating concept, but the concept only came up a few times later in the book. I didn’t care about any of the characters. Even the main character was flat. I only finished reading the book for the concept, which I believe is a testament to how unique and exciting the concept is.

Verdict

While this novel is strange and has a lot of room for growth in the character department, the concept and ideas it explores are interesting enough to carry a reader through the whole book. It’s slow, which can hinder many readers’ experiences, but I think this book is still worth the read.

If you’re interested in this story, buy the book here!

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.