Week 7: SF I

What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of SF?


Brown (2001) clearly holds Philip K. Dick in very high esteem. In the article, he seems to focus alot on Dick and his ideas and themes throughout his SF novels.

Dick had very specific elements that he liked to focus on in his SF novels. He liked to often put a very ordinary character in extraordinary circumstances (possibly referring to him, having lived a very hectic life).

"Dick used SF to explore his obsession with meta-physics, the nature of perceived reality, good and evil, and the abuse of power. He obsessed with the idea that the universe was only apparently real, an illusion behind which the truth might dwell."

"Another of his concerns was what constitutes a true human being, as opposed to a fake - a question he explored in the novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' (1968), among others."
This novel was considered to be one of his greatest novels, having been made into the film ‘Blade Runner’. However, his best was considered to be ‘The Man in the High Castle'.

Dick did not just stick to his own unique themes in his novels however. He also conformed to alot of wider generic features of SF, but would do it in his own sort of style.

"At first glance, Dick's novels conformed to type: he used the popular leitmotifs of SF - alien worlds, precognition, ray-guns - but employed them to his own agenda."


Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p.v-xii). London: Penguin.