by

Philip K. Dick

7 out of 10

Writing reviews on Philip Dick's works is unsettling and leaves one open for all sorts of criticism. He was a great writer of science fiction and futuristic thought. He considered notions and concepts that most authors would kill to be able to have as original thought let alone be able to put them into the public thought pool as worthwhile and interesting fiction.

'The World Jones Made' is a story based around a simple and fascinating premise. A human is born who can live a year ahead of the rest of us mere mortals. In other words, what we experience today he already knows. There is catch, of course. A year is not necessarily all that predictive of outcomes that take many years to develop. You can get it wrong though with interesting consequences, as our character discovers.

The central character is Floyd Jones. We are taken along his life's journey and the impact his future sense has on society and the future. Dick weaves this journey into a future society with notions of an Orwellian 'big brother' gone politically correct or as Dick calls it 'Relativism'.

This is not a book for space opera fans but one for the long suffering traditionalist who wants to ponder some concepts that will leave him wondering 'why didn't I think of that?'

Somehow Dick gets to include in the story - themes of space travel, alien cultures, genetic modification and a raft of other traditional sci-fi concepts. There is no doubt that Dick is a true speculative genius and many a reader will sit quietly contemplating his words and ideas long after the book is finished. Dick just does that to people!

 © David K. Evans (2004)