112 pages, Paperback
Published November, 1995 by Penguin Books
Full review on the way...
Monday, March 23, 2026
Book Review: The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
Book Review: Dead But Still Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay
“Without getting too ontological on your ass how do you know anything is real?”
During a conversation with Paul at Stokercon in 2024, which was with Jim Ruland about our favorite Bad Religion songs, I mentioned that we needed to talk about his favorite PKD at some point. I forgot to come back to that, assuming someday I would get him on the podcast. When this title was announced, everyone was very curious about my opinion. I mean, I do a PKD podcast and have multiple books in progress that are Phil-related. I am also a big fan of Paul Tremblay, who has yet to disappoint me with any of his novels. I believe that Pallbearer’s club is underrated.
Because of his massive and well-deserved mainstream success, Paul can experiment with form as he did in Horror Movie, and he carried that over into this novel. It seems to me this novel is a reaction to the AI- theft case (of which Paul was a true hero of all writers) as he served as plaintiff. AI is not just stealing our fiction; it is creeping into many aspects of our lives. I certainly am glad Paul is going for something on the topic.
As for the influence, I am a tough customer on what makes a piece of fiction “Phil-Dickian,” just as my brother Cody Goodfellow is with Lovecraft. So I admit I was a bit nervous. The marketing of this book also set a high bar: “Philip K. Dick meets the Coen Brothers.” I admit I bristled at that because I think the marketing was avoiding the reality that PKD is almost always hilarious, and felt the publisher was trying to say weird but also funny. This book certainly has dark humor, and made this reader laugh. Now, let's get into the story.
“You want me to remote control this dead dude across the country.”
Julia is a gamer who doesn’t know what to do after graduating from college, living with her uncle, no skills except playing games. She is offered a job by her estranged mother, who is working for a massive tech company. They want her to use her gamer skills; she has to transport a patient in a vegetative state using a game controller across the country to end up in a right-to-die state. The tech company using human beings to test experimental technology becomes a fantastic vehicle for this exploration of reality and the growing exploitation of people that the tech companies are getting away with. This is one author’s attempt to tackle the AI issue in real time. Back to Julia.
She is an old school movie fan, it is part of what makes her character, and she has watched The Big Lebowski enough times to recite it, and it makes perfect sense that she sees this gig as a bit of “Weekend at Bernie's,” and thus calls her traveler Bernie. When the mission comes down, she is rightly uncomfortable about it. Yes, Tremblay is setting up the darkest possible road trip buddy movie ever.
She doesn’t like it when they compare the trip to being just like jump-starting a car.
“And didn’t you say you were transporting him to the East Coast? That’s hardly a short distance.”
“I acknowledge the metaphor falls apart at the end, which is a shame. Anyway, the implanted tech will enable and facilitate electric communication between the man’s remaining healthy brain cells. Again, the man will not be conscious or aware of any of this. The man is gone. There is no him left of him. Only the machine of his body. And the tech allows a remote user—” Brady points at Julia, and her insides turn to liquid “—to regulate and control his large muscle groups.” Brady smiles, chuckles softly to himself, and relaxes his posture. “We have achieved context.”
Only the machine of his body remains. This is, of course, a science fictional concept, but the story comes with the appropriate darkness. The idea that the “machine” of our body is kept alive is a technological nightmare. Tremblay really does a fantastic job of making this process creepy. Brady, in this, says the man is gone, but as the novel progresses, we know that is not true.
“They inserted arrays of wireless power-sourcing electrodes between the patient's skin and his skull, even smaller electrodes within brain blood vessels. They also scattered what they're calling neural dust directly onto targeted brain areas, specifically the known sections of control motor function. The dust is comprised of microscopic electrodes that send signals as well as collect data, along with their first generation, the protein-based nanobots. The nanobots have the ability to temporarily bridge electrical gaps between live and dead neurons, as well as being able to produce and replicate more bots using proteins from dead neurons if the AI-enhanced software detects the need.”
It is a subtle thing, but the fact that nonobots are carried on dust, which is an entropic source of doom in Dick’s Electric Sheep, is a great easter egg (intentional or not). The technology is changing, and I find it scary to think about it changing our biology.
I don’t think it is a spoiler to say that the company behind this technology is full of shit; much of the book's most powerful moments are in Bernie’s dying brain battles with the technology trying to control him. The enemy he calls the clicks. Much of this is text is in boxes, and changing sizes all over the place.
Or the chapter’s called You (as opposed to Julia). These are written in second person, odd as that makes two books I’ve read in a row, major science fiction releases due out in June that use this technique.
“Your right foot lands on the shadow bridge, the bridge she made with her shadow body, her shadow body spanning across a void, one of many voids.
Within your right foot and leg there is a sensation of contact, similar to but not the same as having pressed against the pavement or the wooden footbridge. The shadow bridge is indeed solid, but it's not rigid….”
These chapters are when Tremblay reaches moments of Dickian flavor; the chapters with Julia are very solidly written. Julia is a solid, fully realized character. Her Uncle is only in the narrative for a short amount of time, but he is vivid in a natural way. The YOU chapters were wild and untethered in a Dickian way. The weird design is one thing, but the text itself feels wonderfully and disturbingly unhinged. But as strange as they were, those chapters got deep at the same time.
“There are bigger questions to be asked, including, but not limited to; Is Bernie alive? Is he feeling pain? Is he experiencing everything as a prisoner looking through bars of his own body? Has his consciousness been winnowed to A metaphysical keyhole where does consciousness begin or end? How is consciousness defined? Julia is a morosely thoughtful person in the way all thoughtful people are morose, will later ponder and weigh these questions and more.”
The novel is very much inspired by the battles over AI slop, and nothing makes this more clear than an interlude when Tremblay talks directly to the audience in a section that might be more Vonnegut than anyone. It ends up being one of the best turns in the story and happens in a section called “From a brief interlude on page 110: “writing a novel is difficult. That isn't to say it's more difficult than any other endeavors that require anyone from six months to two years, on average to complete, That average refers to human written work that did not rely on or imply the idea algorithms and bots that you used to write in separate emails and to complete other tests, short sightedly greasing the skids for your eventual replacement within the workforce. This shouldn't be a controversial statement, but writing requires experience, not writing experience, though that of course helps, but the living, existing, everyday kind of experience writing is not computation and is not pattern recognition, as some narcissistic adults claim, otherwise more mathematicians would be writing books, and who the hell wants that? Nobody, so, sorry, but not everyone has a book in them, any more than everyone has a house they can frame, wire, and roof in them….”
Speaking for many writers in the wake of the Shy Girl drama, writing a novel is hard work. The pain and the struggle is part of the process, and if you don't like the hard parts, maybe you just were not meant to be a writer. I was so happy to see Paul come out and say not everyone has a book in them. It may seem like this is a on the nose attempt to shortcut the message, but it is a smart way to play with the reader, and I loved the feel I got at the end of the interlude.
“And what is the purpose of this interlude, you ask? Without spelling it out, underlining, and going all caps on your ass, a few questions for you to ponder: Have you, to this point in the novel, wondered who the narrator is? Who is telling and relaying the story? And Why?”
Of course, I can’t speak to what the answers are, if any, because you have to read the book. The fact is, this interlude was next-level fourth-wall breaking, and I loved it.
“Are you fucking serious?” Her terror at having her background and past ten hours described in detail is now matched by a burgeoning technophobia. She doesn't believe the simulation talk, not really; she still wants Lisa to reach into her brain and take back everything she said.”
How PKD is the final product? Paul Tremblay is almost too smart and talented to write a book that is totally Dickian to obsessive like me. I like how Phil’s books feel like a dude yelling on the street corner wearing a tinfoil hat. I study PKD way to closely, and have experimented in writing in his style, so I am not objective on this topic. The parts in Bernie’s brain have that dangerous quality, and they are very Dickian, and made it is sacrilege to say, but Paul Tremblay is ALMOST too good for this.
What I can say very clearly is that Dead, But Still Dreaming of Electric Sheep is a treat for Philip K. Dick fans. It is a great feeling seeing his themes and fears handled with such quality; it makes for a high-tech nightmare that will have you pondering what it all means long after you finish it.
Book Review: Day of the Oprichik by Vladimir Sorokin
Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin
191 pages, Hardcover
Published March, 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
This is my second reading of a Sorokin novel after his work was put on my radar by my homey Nikita, who teaches Soviet science fiction. Day of the Oprichnik is a near-future (now, although far away when it was composed) dystopia that feels like a satire Putinś Russia. Which, of course, I absolutely respect. Sorokin as an author living in a repressive country, didn't seem afraid to push buttons. Did he predict the future? Did he nail Putin much like PKD did Trump in Radio Free Albemuth (I know he was writing about Nixon, but come on…)
Set in 2028 Russia, we follow one of the tsar's most trusted advisors, Andrei. The old Russian Tsarist ways have returned, but now we have weird new bubbles that float around delivering the news, mind-fucking drugs only available to the elite, and genetically modified animals. All these things are normal for Andrei, including being part of brutal government crackdowns.
My biggest problem with reading Sorokin is that I can sense his genius at work, but it is over my head. I can tell he is using prose and form common to Russian classics; how much of that can be translated into English, and even then, how much do I understand? Not as much as I think a proper reading of this novel needs.
Sorokin seems to be commenting on how the Russian tradition of strong arms and enforcement seems insane in the light and attention of the modern world. I don’t live there, so I can't comment on how it is aging. Is Sorokin as predictive as Brunner or PKD? Someone in Russia would have to say, and who knows if they would feel comfortable doing so.
I liked this better than Blue Lard, but again, I feel much of this is lost on me.
Friday, February 27, 2026
Book Review: Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
368 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication: June 2, 2026
Of the most anticipated science fiction novels of the year, this debut is on many radars. This novel didn’t have the standard struggles of a debut. Isabell J. Kim, for one, has won the Nebula, Locus, BSFA, and the Shirley Jackson Awards, and she has a well-earned reputation for really good short fiction, including several you can read for free over at Clarkesworld, including the story that was expanded into this novel. The novel went to Tor in a bidding war and has already sold TV rights to Universal. All amazing things, but there is only one downside.
Major hype puts more pressure on the novel. As I write this review, the official release is months away. I was a little worried that the novel would not live up to the buzz.
The good news is that, yes, the novel is fantastic. Another thing about the buzz, because of the timing and the marketing, which is constantly comparing this show to Severance, it might be easy to dismiss this novel as chasing Severance vibes. Let's keep in mind that Kim first explored this idea in this short story…
More than a year before Severance, you can’t blame Tor for going there, as the Apple TV show is great watercooler SF. That being said, Sublimation and Severance share some conceptual DNA, the tones are very different. Sublimation is not a mystery box; the concept makes it an alternate history in a way. I wish I didn’t have to compare them, but that is the fate of this novel when it is marketed as such.
The more natural comparison for me was last year’s top read, Luminous by Silvia Park, an SF novel by a Korean American author, whose work was shaped by both cultures. Luminous, of course, is a robot novel, but both novels are about immigration, although this one is much more direct.
Sublimation is high concept SF that skirts with Twilight Zone-ish off beat just barely fantasy vibe. I say this because the process of an “Instance” process is almost magically fantastic, but treated in the novel as just the natural way of the world. In the universe of this novel, immigrants who cross borders split into versions of themselves. One that stays home, and one that changes and grows, are separated in a new country. Much like PKD’s Counterclock World, it is more of a surrealist concept than SF, but Kim commits to world-building.
Soyoung Rose Kang became an instance when she traveled across the border. It is an interesting element of the theme that borders become essentially magical portals. Much like PKD’s Counterclock World, it doesn’t help to overthink it. This idea is excellent for exploring themes and not one for readers who nitpick or ask lots of questions.
Rose and her mother left Korea as children. When they crossed the border, they split into two copies, and the old Soyoung stayed behind, living a separate life. Did she become Rose in America, or was Soyoung created to stay in Korea? As Dickian, I love the questions about what is real, who is human, and who is not. Who is living a REAL life?
The story kicks off when Rose is asked to travel back to Korea for her Grandfather’s funeral. She hasn’t been back since she was ten. Rose has become American, but at ten, a version of herself continued to grow up in Korea. Her relationship with her Korean mother is very interesting; it looks and sounds like her mom, but of course, she is different. Rose has some memories of Korea, but America is a mystery to Soyoung. You might be able to guess where this is going.
One way to tell this story might have been to have a person at an agency overseeing multiple cases, but smartly, Kim tells a focused story based mostly on two experiences. It is enough to really highlight how immigration is a part of our fabric. “Instancing is written into America’s blood, into the story it tells itself. Here is where instances immigrate. Give us your tired, your poor, your hungry, give us your copies and let them be fruitful and multiply, let them homestead, let them become titans of industry, let them and their non-instanced children build cities, towns, and railroads.”
The surreal existence of the instance gives the novel a chance to explore with and play with themes that are part of the American experience, high concepting the issues doesn’t exactly bury the issue either. This novel has a point of view.
Much of the narrative tension comes from Soyoung/ Rose dealing with the weird ways their lives are forced into drama by the splitting of their lives. They were one person, now they are two, the same childhood and family but after ten years old two very different people. “It’s not clean,” she says. “I want the sort of clean, perfect separation like we pretend that these last months never happened, with all my memories sectioned off into the right person who needs them.”
It is on the back cover, so it is not a spoiler, but Soyong tries to steal Rose’s life. The parallel stories are much of the story's driving force. The POV shifts often, but it slips gently into second person in certain chapters.
We also get the story of an ambitious instance named Yujin, whose two separate halves work together with separate educations, with the intention of becoming one person later. Yujin’s story is the perfect parallel because Rose and her Instance want nothing to do with each other. Yujin explains his desire to be one, while Rose sees integration as theft.
“So, it’s like – I want to remember being home. Living at home. And Yujin wants to remember ten years of being here. And Yujin wants to skip military service, if he can. And I can’t go back without potentially getting flagged for my own military service. Or becoming him and having to do his- ours?- and this way we get everything. All of it.”
Soyoung nods. “Yujin wants your life. He wants your life, he wants your life. Soyoung wanted Rose’s life.”
Yujin however, was strategic.
“You had gotten the science degree, and Yj had gotten the business one. You agreed to this to maximize your abilities later, after you reintegrated.”
The novel explores plenty of corners presented by the concept. Enough to feed a TV show, but also enough to give the novel plenty of dynamic corners.
“Imagine a world without instances. A world where leaving is a perfect absence, where there is no ghost left behind. Imagine knowing the parallel, leaving the past in the past, a world where desire doesn’t matter, where there is knowledge of the implicit truth of the human heart.”
This is wonderfully opinionated science fiction. The Severance comparison negatively affect readers who are looking for a workplace satire, and since I am the PKD guy, I think Philip K. Dick fans will enjoy the concept. The prose is excellent, and Kim plays with tense and form in many interesting ways. The characters are well drawn and will pull you into the end world enough that you will just go with the more surreal elements. This is a great modern SF novel that deserves attention.
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