An incredible exploration of theology and morality in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world. Even coming close to exploring the multitude of complex nuanced themes that this book tackles is an incredible achievement. This deserves to be a classic and it’s hard to believe this was written in the 60s, Dick was far ahead of his time. It’s a shame that the films almost completely leave out Mercerism and the Christ-like figure as it’s fundamentally important to the struggle of sacrifice vs acceptance and artificiality vs nature that pervades this book. A fantastic read that I would recommend to anyone and I’ll end my review with my most thought-provoking quote from the book:

‘Is the sky painted?’ Isidore asked. ‘Are there really brushstrokes that show up under magnification?’ ‘Yes,’ Mercer said. ‘I can’t see them.’ ‘You’re too close,’ Mercer said. ‘You have to be a long way off, the way the androids are. They have better perspective.’