Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? is the novel that inspired Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner film. It was surprising how much it follows the film given how different they’re supposed to be. The basic plot and many of the characters are the same. Some of the names have been changed, but Rick Deckard is the same, as is Rachael, J.R. Sebastian (J.R. Isidore in the book), and Pris.

Roy Baty is described as being Mongolian, but is not Deckard’s main nemesis. His nemesis is himself as he wrestles with being an android killer. There are some characters in the book we never see in the movie, and the story unfolds differently, but it’s still about a bounty hunter hunting down rogue androids.

A big theme of the story is empathy, how empathy relates to being human, and how empathy separates the humans from the androids no matter how human-like the androids become. It’s not preachy, but it makes you think, as all great science-fiction does.

Philip K. Dick is a fantastic writer. His style is easy to read and the pages, and the time, melted away. I wasn’t expecting to be absorbed in this book as much as I was and I’m looking forward to reading more of his content.