Month: January 2016

Philip K. Dick Award Nominations For 2016

Posted on by Michael Fisher

Six paperback originals published in 2015 were selected for the final ballot of the 2016 Philip K. Dick Award.

The Nominees

Edge of Dark

Brenda Cooper 		After the Saucers Landed

Douglas Lain 		(R)evolution

PJ Manney
Apex

Ramez Naam 		Windswept

Adam Rakunas 		Archangel

Marguerite Reed

The final results will be announced on Friday, March 25, 2016.

For more information, visit The Official Philip K. Dick Awards Page.

Note: If you don’t see the covers and titles above, most likely your ad blocking software/browser extension is not allowing the content from Amazon.com style= to appear.

The Passing Of David Bowie And Philip K. Dick

Posted on by Michael Fisher

David Bowie passed away Sunday (January 10, 2016) at the age of 69. I’m not sure how well known David Bowie’s link to Philip K. Dick is and the importance of Bowie to the novel VALIS.

Minor Spoilers Follow

David Bowie's LowThe movie that the characters view at roughly the halfway point of the strongly autobiographical novel was titled VALIS, but the incident is based on Philip K. Dick viewing the film The Man Who Fell To Earth starring David Bowie (who is fictionalized in the novel VALIS as Eric Lampton A.K.A. Mother Goose). Dick found the film to be provocative and beautifully textured and relevant to the experiences he had been having originating on 2-3-74.

David Bowie's Station To StationBowie strongly identified with the character he portrayed in the film, Thomas Jerome Newton. Two of his album covers, Station to Station and Low, are imagery that is associated with the film. I think that Philip K. Dick also strongly identified with Thomas Jerome Newton and with the religious and messianic themes of the film. I believe that Dick saw parallels with his own experiences after and including his Pink Beam Experience on February 20, 1974.

I have always been attracted to music (mostly Rock Music) that expresses themes or ideas from Science Fiction especially Progressive Rock and Space Rock. I’ve enjoyed David Bowie’s work because he toys with concepts that are easily associated with Science Fiction and also concepts that seem to sit within other genres but with a bending or tendency towards Science Fiction. He wrote music and lyrics that weren’t solely about romantic relationships. David Bowie also has acted in films that are Fantasy or Science Fiction and has created personas that have these same elements.

Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, The Thin White Duke, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Mother Goose. David Bowie will definitely be missed and he left an incredible legacy of music, image and film.

The Man Who Fell To Earth

References

/literary-criticism/interviews/horselover-fat-and-the-new-messiah/

/literary-criticism/frank-views-archive/philip-k-dicks-final-interview/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Fell_to_Earth

http://flavorwire.com/377128/a-journey-through-the-12-ages-of-david-bowie

David Bowie’s Low (33 1/3)

Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick