The best Philip K. Dick novels

Philip K. Dick (also know as PKD) was brilliantly creative science fiction writer.

All of his books are interesting and contain multiple ideas. Some are better than others but they are all pretty much worth reading. I would describe it as classic Sci Fi with creative ideas and philosophy thrown in. PKD is also very interested in dystopian futures, the role of the government, and how drug use reflects and conditions society. Reading PKD is a bit like listening to Schubert, there are always surprising new ideas and themes. He led some kind of crazy life. His output as a writer is impressive. Not every work is a “masterpiece” or “literary” but they are engaging and intriguing stories that ask interesting questions. The biggest question, “What will the future be like?” This is really what good Sci Fi is all about.

This is my list of the books that I have read by him. He wrote 45 novels and several short stories so this isn’t a complete list.

The best are:

A Scanner Darkly

Ubik

The World Jones Made

What is worth reading:

Flow My Tears the Policeman Said

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep

Dr. Futurity

Our Friends from Frolix 8

The Simulacra

Interesting but flawed:

Lies, Inc. (This is really an incomplete finished draft of a novel.)

Valis Trilogy (I have not yet gotten through it, there are some excellent ideas but it is a mess, maybe it picks up. However, some say it is one of his best series of novels. It is clearly heavily influenced by his own life experiences.

Image Philip K. Dick in 1962 or earlier. Photo by Arthur Knight. No indication that the copyright was renewed. Taken from the Philip K. Dick Wikipedia article. Image public domain.