Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Vulcan's Hammer : A Novel by Philip K. Dick ISBN: 1-4000-3012-9 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 10 August, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: suspenseful and fun; perhaps not for Philip K. Dick fans
Comment: Vulcan's Hammer is a very conventional early science fiction story about the future of the world dominated by a computer. Naturally the humans catch on that this situation has drawbacks, and a rebellion is launched. But with Vulcan's Hammer the computer doesn't take kindly to any encroachment on its reign.
Unlike the author's later works there aren't any deep-rooted social commentary with Vulcan's Hammer. And this story is completely readable; I believe many Philip K. Dick fans enjoy deciphering his often unintelligible prose. Best of all the story reads as a suspense novel, with the author deftly placing in twists to keep the reader hooked .. and it worked for me.
Bottom line: a fun if somewhat unremarkable read. Recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: Man and machine
Comment: In the world of 'Vulcan's Hammer', humans have apparently given up on their political power. They are under the authority of Vulcan III, a massive underground computer that ended war, unemployment and poverty years ago. Two human factions are set against each other: the Union, led by many high-profile directors including William Barris, and the 'Healers', a rebellious group seemingly led by a mysterious figure named Father Fields. Many questions are submitted daily to Vulcan III, but the machine has not yet said a word about the group; people are quick to blame head-director Jason Dill, the only one allowed to submit such questions. In addition to the powerful Vulcan III, there's also the older Vulcan II, which is destroyed but still reveals crucial insights about the Healers and Vulcan III when some of its remains are reconstructed. The 'Union versus Healers' opposition can be multiplied by at least three, because there is some discord a) in the Union itself, b) in the Healers movement, and, most interestingly, c) between the machines. Both of the Vulcan computers play as big a role as the humans, and often seem just as 'alive' as they are. The entire work can be seen as an ongoing mind game, sometimes between men, sometimes between man and machine, sometimes between the machines themselves; it is a lot more substantial than its dismal reputation would lead the unsuspecting reader to believe.
Rating: 2
Summary: SF NOVELS OPUS EIGHT
Comment: The main ideas of VULCAN'S HAMMER, the second of the two Philip K. Dick books published in 1960 - the first one being the already forgotten DR. FUTURITY -, can be found in a 1956 novelette presented in Satellite n° 20. Such borrowings were then common, authors developing a novelette to the length of a novel even years after the first publication. A.E. Van Vogt and Isaac Isamov for instance used this innocent literary trick in numerous occasions.
VULCAN'S HAMMER reminded me of another PKD novel, also published in 1956, THE WORLD JONES MADE. In the two novels, the established government is threatened by a democratic revolution. Father Fields, the leader of the " Healers ", must fight not only the Nomenklatura of the sole ruling party but also the Vulcan computers to which a trusting world has left years before the entire responsibility in political matters. Soon Vulcan III will defend itself against those who want its death by producing little "hammers" that kill, observe and communicate with a Vulcan deeply hidden in the ground. One could consider these hammers as the first cellulars ever mentioned in a literary text.
Some of the novels Philip K. Dick has published in the late fifties-early sixties period stand very well the test of time thanks to the originality of the themes treated - as in EYE IN THE SKY - but others like VULCAN'S HAMMER are very dated. The idea of a fight between computers and humans for supremacy is not, in my opinion, the most original idea found in a sci-fi book.
Nevertheless, if you can find a copy of VULCAN'S HAMMER, don't hesitate to buy it because a book that is not read is a dead book and Philip K. Dick deserves to stay alive in our libraries.
A book for PKD ultra-fans only.
 |
Title: The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick ISBN: 0006482880 Publisher: Acacia Press, Inc. Pub. Date: 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: Dr. Futurity by Philip K. Dick ISBN: 0425071065 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: August, 1984 List Price(USD): $114.50 |
 |
Title: The Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick ISBN: 0727817817 Publisher: Books Britain Pub. Date: June, 1991 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: The Unteleported Man (aka Lies, Inc.) by Philip K. Dick ISBN: 042506252X Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: July, 1983 List Price(USD): $2.75 |
 |
Title: Now Wait for Last Year by Philip K. Dick ISBN: 0679742204 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 29 June, 1993 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
