Ubik
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Cover of first edition (hardcover)
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| Author | Philip K. Dick |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Genre |
Science fiction Philosophical fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
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Publication date
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1969 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 202 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 67871286 |
Ubik (/ˈjuːbᵻk/ EW-bik) is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It is one of Dick's most acclaimed novels. It was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 greatest novels since 1923. In his review for Time, critic Lev Grossman described it as "a deeply unsettling existential horror story, a nightmare you'll never be sure you've woken up from."
The novel is set in the year 1992, by which humanity has colonized the Moon and psychic powers are common. The protagonist, Joe Chip, is a debt-ridden technician working for Runciter Associates, a "prudence organization" which employs "inertials", people with the ability to negate the powers of telepaths and "precogs", to enforce privacy of clients. The company is run by Glenn Runciter, assisted by his deceased wife Ella, who is kept in a state of "half-life", a form of cryonic suspension that allows the deceased limited consciousness and ability to communicate. While consulting with Ella, Runciter discovers that her consciousness is being invaded by another half-lifer, Jory Miller.
When business magnate Stanton Mick hires Runciter Associates to secure his lunar facilities from alleged psychic intrusion, Runciter assembles a team of 11 of his best inertials, including Pat Conley, a mysterious girl with the unique psychic ability to undo events by changing the past who has just been hired by the company. Runciter and Chip travel with the group to Mick's Moon base, where they discover that the assignment is a trap, presumably set by the company's main adversary, Ray Hollis, who leads an organization of psychics. A bomb blast apparently kills Runciter without significantly harming the others. They rush back to Earth to place him into half-life, but they cannot establish contact with him and his body is set to be buried.
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