En 2002 los Protocolos de Conversión sentaron las bases para la carrera armamentística de los grandes bloques de influencia de la Tierra. Lars Powderdry es el diseñador de moda armamentística más brillante del Bloque Oeste, capaz de inventar los artefactos más elaborados. Pero cuando unos satélites alienígenas hacen su aparición en la órbita terrestre y dejan claro que sus intenciones no son amistosas, el mundo necesitará potencia militar como nunca antes. Por eso, ambos bandos dejan a un lado sus diferencias y Lars tiene una reunión con Lilo Popchev, su homóloga del Bloque Este, con la esperanza de crear un arma capaz de salvar el mundo. No es una tarea sencilla, mucho menos cuando Lars se enamora de Lilo a pesar de que sabe que ella intenta matarlo...

Oldschool Dick but still a few years after The Man in the High Castle, this particular little novel is the most comic-book zany of all of his works. Pulp to the max.

I mean, that shouldn't be too surprising in the middle of the sixties when his output was insanely high, when he was dragging out a novel as fast as he could to attempt to make a living... and a poor living at that.

And yet, he still manages to write something quite akin to Dr. Strangelove. Half satire, half comic book wacky. Quirky enough to encompass idiot savants, time travel, shifting mazes, and a futuristic arms race that is a setup from the get-go. Everyone's in on the plot except for the normal joes.

Sound familiar?

Well, it's pretty okay for what it is. Slapdash and quick, there's plenty of odd females to go along with the odd guys, and together they discover that the whole world is not what it seems. In that case, it's pretty classic PKD... it just didn't strike my fancy all that much.

The other novels are a lot more polished, deep, and deeply strange rather than just surface strange. So, unfortunately, I must dub this novel the worst of PKD. It's a shame, really. It's still okay. lol ( )

Cold-War paranoia fueled with Dick's intensive drive of science fiction, eccentric characters, and webs of alliances and partnerships. This book was a delightful surprise. I enjoyed the rapid pace of the plot and the way Dick maneuvers his characters with his story-line, slowly revealing more and more to entice the reader to continue the tale. Additionally, the dialogue in this book rang more true and I enjoyed all the little science fiction devices that Dick invented, and detailed, in this novel. Overall, a solid effort.

3.25 stars: worth reading. ( )

A bit dated, but that's all right. I did picture Don Draper reading it. ( )

Weaponised empathy with all of the usual PKD bells and whistles. ( )