Just as much that lies in the category of Art > Modern Art > British can be summarised in just a few words ("dead shark in liquid"), so much in the way of Fiction > Science Fiction > Alternate Worlds/Realities can be described in a similarly short way. In the case of The Man in the High Castle, it would be "WW2 ended the other way round". But just as we might like also to know what liquid, how the shark is portrayed, the dimensions of the tank, etc, we would also like to know what that initial premise entails for our future exploration. And so, in this case, it would be the following. Japan and The Nazis managed to win the second ...  Read the complete review

Philip K Dick’s science fiction classic is set in an alternative world. Here, the Axis powers won the Second World War, and for a generation have divided the USA between them. Japan controls the West, based in Dick’s home California, and is relatively benign. The Nazis control the Eastern US, Europe, and have plans to turn on their former allies. In this disturbing world, Dick uses his usual device of showing normal people, trying to live normal lives. He combines the extremes of enemy invasion and global power-struggles with relationships and earning a living. At one point, the Japanese consul sees our version of the American city, and is shocked by ...  Read the complete review

This kind of thing's been done several times to varying effect - Robert Harris's Fatherland a memorable take on the theme. What if the Allies had lost the Second World War? In Phillip K Dick's The Man in the High Castle, the story unfolds in Japanese-controlled San Francisco; the USA having been carved up between Japan and Nazi Germany. This isn't the kind of thriller you might expect from the genre; rather it's about the daily life of three characters - Frank and Julia Frink, an estranged couple with their own personal quests, and Nobusuke Tagomi, a businessman who comes to question the accepted rules of society. It's in many ways a low-key book; in keeping ...  Read the complete review

This is amongst author Philip K Dick's finest work, detailing an alternate history in which the Allies lost the Second World War. The Nazis have occupied the East Coast of the United States, and the Japanese control California. In the neutral area between the two states, an underground author writes his own vision of reality, "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy", an alternate world in which the Allies won the Second World War… In the Japanese zone, the characters' lives are heavily guided by the I-Ching, and it's said that Philip K Dick himself consulted the I-Ching to guide the book's plotline. There's a strong feeling ...  Read the complete review

The concept of this book is brilliant - a world where the Axis powers won the war, Africa is wiped out and North America is divided between Germany and Japan. However, as much as I wanted to like this book and this 'legendary' sci-fi writer, this book was just...dull. Another example of a classic people rave about that just isn't a good read. I tried to battle on with this book only leave it lying in my parent's car not bothering to retrieve it. I may return to it one day as I am one of those stubborn people that hates beginning a book without ending it and I do hope for a colourful ending. It is intriguing in parts and as a history student it brings up a ...  Read the complete review