Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams

By: Philip K. Dick

Narrated by: Tanya Eby, Luke Daniels, Peter Berkrot, Jeff Cummings, Patrick Lawlor

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

The Stories Behind the Series

Though perhaps most famous as a novelist, Philip K. Dick wrote more than 100 short stories over the course of his career, each as mind-bending and genre-defining as his longer works. Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams collects 10 of the best. In "Autofac," Dick shows us one of the earliest examples (and warnings) in science fiction of self-replicating machines. "Exhibit Piece" and "The Commuter" feature Dick exploring one of his favorite themes: the shifting nature of reality and whether it is even possible to perceive the world as it truly exists. And "The Hanging Stranger" provides a thrilling, dark political allegory as relevant today as it was when Dick wrote it at the height of the Cold War.

Strange, funny, and powerful, the stories in this collection highlight a master at work, encapsulating his boundless imagination and deep understanding of the human condition.

©2017 Philip K. Dick (P)2017 Brilliance Audio, Inc, all rights reserved

PKDick's original stories Better than the TV Show

PK Dick's original stories are better than the TV Show. While it is nice to see the stories on screen and nice to hear how the adapters enjoyed the stories before reworking them into screen plays. Some adapters changed more than others, the ones that were changed the least I enjoyed more... some were changed drastically so not much of the original story remained. However at least one of the adapters stated after saying that not much of the original remained... we kept the "feeling" of the original story (I do not know what that means since "feelings" are only quantifiable to the person). So if we are putting Philip K. Dick's name on it... then keep to the original as much as possible since if you want to do your own thing... then do it but keep his name off of it.

I enjoyed all of the stories in their original form unlike TV Show, which may or may not be coming back. I also liked hearing the adapter and their reasons for changing things.

Stories and Hosts

Each story in this collection is introduced by a celebrity writer, some are movie and TV screenwriters, some are other sci-fi authors. Each of them have selected a story and modified it slightly to make it relevant to today. This recording was made in 2017, right after the beginning of Trumpism, and some stories makes references to the plagues of the ensuing insanity.

Uneven entertainment

I am a huge fan of Philip K Dick’s stories. Like any short story collection, some stories were more intriguing than others. The women in the story reflect the stereotypes of the time so there is a lot of masculine stories. The science was intriguing as well as the moral/ethical issues raised in the stories. The introductions were excellent commentary and context. But the stories do not make me want to buy a streaming service to watch the online series.

a great Philip K dick collection of stories

I am a huge fan of Philip k. dick, you think you see the world in one way, and then you read a PKD story, and you see the world... Just a little bit differently. even though these short stories were adapted and slightly updated, the story still holds true to the original work and the message that he was trying to get across. highly recommend this to anybody who's a fan of PKD..

Twilight Zone with Technology

This was an alright compilation of twilight zone short stories. This kind of reminded me of a lesser through tour “Black Mirror” type genre of storied. I would recommend it to people that enjoy those types of stories with a technological bleakness.

Good Fiction, little science.

Engrossing stories but more of a terror feel than a science fiction feel. More like Twilight Zone.

amazing

easily one I never knew i needed to read. reads this series of short stories

Essential PK Dick, great selection

I really enjoyed this short story collection of some of PK Dick's finest and weirdest or short stories. Of course, as we all know, he was a genius and predicted the anxiety and reality confusion of the modern world like no one else! Etc. etc., you've heard it all before. 

What is unique about this anthology is that it ties into the Amazon television series. Now, it is true that this series has it's highlights but it's frankly not as good as Black Mirror. But it's still solid science fiction, which should always be embraced, and it's most interesting to watch the adaptation with all their choices in rewrites, and then go to the original source material to read what else could be. 

At the same time, PK Dick's prose was sloppy here and there but that's not the point. The powerful ideas are incredible enough that these stories are worth the legendary hype of this important author. 

I particularly got a lot out of Human Is, a love story about how the alien that possesses a woman's husband is actually the good guy, and Sales Pitch which with its obsessive salesrobot is probably one of the most biting satire of consumerism you'll ever read. 

I imagine these stories will resonate for decades, if not centuries, to come. Nothing as timeless as the great Philip K. Dick!

I Enjoy P K

But this presentation, eck. The 1st 3 stories met and exceeded my expectations. After that downhill as the stories were/seemed bastardized renditions. Maybe better read than listened to.

Inspired by the series on AmazonPrime

I enjoyed the series and loved these stories. I highly recommend both. PKD is prophetic.