Ubik

Author: Philip K. Dick

What is a best science fiction list without the inclusion of one of the greatest science fiction writers ever? Yes, I'm talking about Philip K. Dick, a man ignored in his time but now Hollywood's golden boy when it comes to drumming up new science fiction films that star A list actors. The typical entry on a top list would be Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, a seminal science fiction short story that has influenced pop culture like few others. Blade Runner, for one, was based closely on the short story. And we all know how much that film influenced future films. Pretty much every new science fiction film that features an urban city rips out the dirty, vertical urban city sprawl depicted in Blade Runner. While Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was a seminal influence on the genre, Dick's best work is actually a much lesser known work known as Ubik. Ubik features the classic Dick themes of questioning the meaning of reality, gallows humor in the face of a reality that's unraveling, and an everyman protagonist you can identify with. Ubik was a major influence on the Matrix films. The story centers on the idea that a few unique humans have psychic powers. These are not lauded as heroes by the public, but rather feared by the public as a potential source of privacy invasion. Then come in another group of special humans, a sort of counter-psychic group who block the powers of the first group. A group of anti-physics embark on a mission that goes horribly wrong, barely escaping with their lives. They find on their return, however, that things are starting to go wrong â€“ reality is wrong; coffee is stale, phone directories are out of date, etc. It's an exciting read that makes you question the nature of reality. This is one of those books that will have you thinking about it long after you turn the final page.

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For sure, other Dick reads that deal with similar themes of reality coming undone: Minority Report, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, A Scanner Darkly, and Total Recall.