“The Man in the High Castle” (Amazon)

Another year, another adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. Dick’s oeuvre has proven to be a considerable source of fodder for Hollywood. Some of the biggest science fiction movies in history originated from Dick’s mind, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report (as well as a few bombs, like Screamers).

Even amongst this storied history, Amazon’s TV adaptation of Dick’s 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle is special. It’s not just a good sci-fi story, but an important one. I admit I haven’t read the book in decades (something I hope to rectify soon), so I can’t provide a detailed comparison of the book and the TV series, but the show manages to hit upon the core themes Dick explored in the novel. Of particular importance is the idea that humanity can become shockingly complacent to brutality given the right circumstances.

“The Man in the High Castle” TV show!

Wow, this one almost slipped by me. Amazon is releasing TV miniseries adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. The book is essentially an alternate history of America during the 1960s had World War II ended with an Axis victory. It won the Hugo Award for “Best Novel” in 1963 and is widely considered PKD’s best novel. If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch it here right now!

Amazon Black Friday sale!

Amazon has a Black Friday sale for Kindle books for as low as $1.99, including some of Philip K. Dick’s classics, Ubik and The Man in the High Castle. This is excellent timing as I’ve wanted to reread the latter for some time. Note that if you buy the Kindle version, you can add the audiobook for an additional $1.99. You can find the sale here.