"The most consistently brilliant science fiction writer in the world".
--John Brunner
THE INSPIRATION FOR BLADERUNNER. . .
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published in 1968. Grim and
foreboding, even today it is a masterpiece ahead of its time.
By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into
extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted
any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies
built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . .
They even built humans.
Emigrees to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to
tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial
humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when
androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in.
Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to
find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended
to fight back, with deadly results.
"[Dick] sees all the sparkling and terrifying possibilities. . . that
other authors shy away from".
--Paul Williams
Rolling Stone