books before I diary: Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick - The Variable Man
One of my favourite collections of stories ever. They are longish, 5 in 220 pages, and three are magnificent. The title story is about an odd-job man from 1913 being accidentally pulled into the midst of a 22nd Century interstellar war - and suddenly the computed stats and odds go wild. The next two have something in common: they were both fucked up as movies. 'Second Variety', filmed as Scanners, blew one of the great SF twist endings in favour of a fight scene. Minority Report blew even more brilliant twists in favour of action-adventure.
One of my favourite collections of stories ever. They are longish, 5 in 220 pages, and three are magnificent. The title story is about an odd-job man from 1913 being accidentally pulled into the midst of a 22nd Century interstellar war - and suddenly the computed stats and odds go wild. The next two have something in common: they were both fucked up as movies. 'Second Variety', filmed as Scanners, blew one of the great SF twist endings in favour of a fight scene. Minority Report blew even more brilliant twists in favour of action-adventure.