Ubik

Need to write a book review? Ubik can help. One tablespoon of Ubik before you start will get the words rolling right off of your tongue. Taken as directed, Ubik is completely safe for short term use.


In a future where telepathic ability makes businesses insecure, the need for a counter telepathy group is born. Glen Runciter owns a company that runs such a group. When his number 1 scanner, Joe Chip, brings in Pat Connely and takes a large job on mars, everything changes.

In the rollercoaster follows the plot seemingly asks more questions than it answers as Phillip K. Dick lures the audience along to find out what is really happening to Joe Chip and Glen Runciter. Who betrayed them, what is going on, and what is Ubik.


This book was a lightening quick read and possibly takes you into the matrix for the first time. It will challenge your perceptions about life, death, time, space, and reality itself. PKD does all of this while weaving you into a story and making you feel for the characters, even though you don’t really get to know some of them very well. It is a race against time in this book as you rush to figure out what is going on before the book explains it. But, who are we kidding? This is PKD; he isn’t going to tie everything up with a pretty pink bow. If you pay attention there are some easter eggs in there as well.

This book is probably not for lighter readers. It can get quite heady at times, but you don’t need a science fiction pedigree to understand it. Most readers don’t mind thinking about what they read, though. This book will be for the more mature readers just based on some content and the complexity of the story. I would really recommend this book for reading groups and book clubs as it is sure to spark discussion.