Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? & A Scanner Darkly
Philip K. Dick
Illustrated by Andrew Archer and Chris Skinner
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and A Scanner Darkly are two of Philip K. Dick’s most celebrated novels. In this celebrated Folio Society collector’s edition, these classics of dystopian science fiction are presented in a mind-bending format – two illustrators, two covers, one spectacular book.
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It is difficult to measure the impact of Philip K. Dick’s work. Not only did his stories and novels win awards and influence an entire generation of science-fiction writers, many of his works have been adapted into film and continue to inspire directors to this day. Alongside Ridley Scott’s genre-changing Blade Runner, inspired by Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the films Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly and the recent television series The Man in the High Castle all owe their existence to his imagination. For this special Folio edition we have brought together two classic titles in an appropriately mind-bending format: read one, then turn the book upside down to enter the altered reality of the next.
Production details
Quarter-bound in blocked cloth with paper sides Set in Mentor with Neptune display 488 pages 12 full-page colour integrated illustrations and one double-page-spread colour illustration by both artists Plain slipcase 10˝ x 6¾˝
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the Earth has been poisoned by war, populated only by those doomed by contamination or too poor to move to Mars. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter tasked with ‘retiring’ illegal andys – androids so indistinguishable from humans that only an empathy test can root them out. When a gang of Nexus-6 models escapes their colony and hides on Earth, Deckard must track them down before they retire him, while his own understanding of what is real and what is fake is thrown into question.
A Scanner Darkly
Published over a decade later, psychedelic cult favourite A Scanner Darkly follows narcotics cop Fred as he goes undercover to bring down the dealers of a lethal new drug called Substance D. It’s dangerous work, requiring Fred to become a user himself, but with his high-tech ‘scramble suit’ his identity is safe – not even his colleagues know who he really is. As the drug does its insidious work, Fred is caught in an increasingly complex web of paranoia, multiple identities and double crosses, made all the more nightmarish by a series of reality-shattering illusions. Who are his friends? Who are his enemies? And who, ultimately, is Fred?
Science fiction mastery
Both novels, written with Dick’s trademark energy and prescience, explore many of the author’s personal obsessions. His twin sister died when only a few weeks old, and his characters often find themselves at odds with ‘phantom twins’ and multiple identities, while his habitual drug use inspired A Scanner Darkly. As he writes in the poignant foreword, included with this edition: ‘I am not a character in this novel; I am the novel.’ In a nod to the tête-bêche binding style popular with early pulp publishers, the two titles are bound upside down relative to each other, and each features a different illustrator. For Androids, Chris Skinner has summoned the seedy neon-drenched noir of Dick’s original vision. Andrew Archer’s images for A Scanner Darkly are appropriately hallucinatory, offering a glimpse of the horrors and the wonders of a bad trip. A unique collaborative double-page illustration at the centre of the book brings these visionary worlds together, creating the ultimate collector’s edition of two science-fiction classics.
About Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928. At around the age of 12, Dick read his first science-fiction magazine, which led to a lifelong engagement with the genre. After a brief stint at the University of Berkeley in 1949, he worked in a record store, Art Music Company. He wrote full-time from 1951, when he sold his first short story, and went on to produce 44 novels and five collections of short stories. Dick struggled to achieve mainstream success – his non-science-fiction novels being returned by his agent in 1963 – but received enormous acclaim in the science-fiction world for his works exploring metaphysics, theology and politics. His best-known novels include The Man in the High Castle (1962; Folio Society, 2015), which won the Hugo Award in 1963; Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968; Folio Society, 2017); and Ubik (1969; Folio Society, 2019). Folio's collections of his short stories include The Complete Short Stories (Folio Society, 2021) and Selected Short Stories (Folio Society, 2022). Married five times, Dick died in 1982.
About Chris Skinner
Chris Skinner is an illustrator and motion-graphics artist based in the UK. Taking inspiration from artistic movements such as Art Deco and Film Noir, he uses a mixture of techniques in his illustration including traditional media, 2D digital, 3D modelling, and digital sculpting to create artwork based on popular film and graphic novels. He has been commissioned by Marvel, DC Comics, 20th Century Fox, Universal, and the BBC.
About Andrew Archer
Andrew Archer is a New Zealand-born illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. Originally a graphic designer, Archer now focusses solely on illustration. Since 2006 he has worked for clients such as Wired, Penguin Books, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Vogue. Inspired by surrealism, wood-block prints, the Edo period of Japanese art, ideograms, and his time spent in Asia, his work is a mix of hallucinogenic colour and rhythmic line.
Reviews Powered By
Average Score for 100 Review(s)
Great book and brought out befittingly
Review by
Harsha Bellur
on 24th October 2024
The product was bought as a special gift; it certainly fits that remit.
Review by
Julie
on 20th August 2024
Wonderfully bound.
Review by
MR BRENDEN ORMANDY
on 13th April 2024
This was a gift for my dad and it really hit the mark.
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