The Zap Gun

Name: The Zap Gun
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Philip K. Dick
ISBN: 9798894864914

Author: Philip K. Dick

Narrator: Jefferson Mays

Unabridged: 7 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 02/20/2025

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction

Synopsis

In this biting satire, the Cold War may have ended, but the eastern and western governments never told their citizens. Instead they created an elaborate ruse, wherein each side comes up with increasingly outlandish doomsday weapons—weapons that don’t work. But when aliens invade, the top designers of both sides have to come together to make a real doomsday device—if they don’t kill each other first. With its combination of romance, espionage, and alien invasion, The Zap Gun skewers the military-industrial complex in a way that’s as relevant today as it was at the height of the Cold War.

About Philip K. Dick

Over a writing career that spanned three decades, PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned to deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film, notably Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly, as well as television's The Man in the High Castle. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, including the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards, Dick was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, and between 2007 and 2009, the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bradley on February 25, 2019

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 nov......more

Goodreads review by paper0r0ss0 on November 02, 2021

Ho letto quasi tutto di PKD e ho apprezzato parecchi suoi lavori. Ho imparato pero' ad aspettarmi di tutto cominciando a leggere un libro del nostro PKD. Ogni sua fatica nasconde un'insidia di fondo: trovarsi di fronte ad una cacchiata, magari di classe, ma pur sempre cacchiata. Temo di dover regist......more

Goodreads review by David on May 04, 2023

3.5 overall. My 16th PKD novel. Going into this project, I sort of figured that the focus might have its ups-and-downs. This one isn't exactly a 'down' - cause I admire its ambition. But, because of the way it's written, I didn't particularly love it. I struggled more than I ever like doing with a D......more

Goodreads review by Charles Dee on February 12, 2013

I was about fifty pages into The Zap Gun when it hit me. This PKD novel is a sustained satire on a focused topic. Each chapter did not introduce new characters with no discernible link to those I had already met. The plot had not yet splintered into blind alleys and drug-induced hallucinations. And......more

Goodreads review by Ensiform on March 31, 2013

This was like a lot of PKD books - many names; many characters, almost all with Dick's education and interests; some bad writing; some good writing; a demented, convoluted plot. This book was even more convoluted than most: (a) there are weapons designers for East and West, who get weapons from tran......more