Review: A Maze of Death

A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Having read Valis and getting totally lost in that story, I was going to write A Maze of Death off as being another PKD tale that I just didn't get. And through a large way through, that assumption was coming true. This was a far cry from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which I felt was a straight-forward narrative that I could actually enjoy. But the more I heard about PKD, the more I heard about how obfuscating and infuriating his work could be. A Maze of Death could have been that. But then, it wasn't, and it's all because of how the book ended.

I hear that a lot of his work has a similar theme and direction, but I wouldn't know because this is only the third book that I've ever read by him. That could detract from the ending, which I thought was a original and (way) ahead of its time. But when I finished the book, and it all made sense. A whole new meaning came to me about both the title and the plot. It makes all the difference in the world.

Now, I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. There are some very hard sci-fi moments in here that aren't really for the casual reader like say, a Bradbury or an Asimov story would be. Some elements of it left me confused and gave me a muddled picture in my head. But if you like winding stories with mysteries at every turn, then this is a grand, albeit, short tale, and you'll probably love it.

The Unteleported Man is next for me. I bought a whole bunch of PKD books at a sci-fi convention, a after A Maze of Death, I won't be so wary of reading it. This book was great.



View all my reviews