Vulcan's Hammer Paperback – October 23, 2012

Disclaimer: I am a PKD fanatic, but do not have a problem giving fair reviews of his work. I hadn't picked this one up for some time after browsing mediocre reviews of the novel online. To me, this ended up being extremely enjoyable and far ahead of its time. Exploration of the faults and cold calculations of a supercomputer running a world governing body, in addition to the complexities and contradictions of AI in such a position bring this world to life. While others seem to regard Vulcan's Hammer as a quick read that lacks originality or sufficient detail, I found to it be spectacularly engaging and could not put it down even once! Although not his best work, I would recommend this novel to anyone who has read and enjoyed a single PKD creation.

The novel has the elements that make PKD a great narrator an novelist, but it fall short in comparison with Ubik.

You asked me to rate my purchase. Checking 5 stars is not enuf. I have to write something. I am not using profanity now but enjoy this review cos it's my last.

This is kind of my favorite type of Dick novel: a story where he’s so ahead of his time, but also hilariously dated. In this book a super computer controls the world, basically pre-dating any concept of Artificial Intelligence. But at the same time, this all powerful computer gets its data from people manually entering in punch cards. It physically exists. So while this book is very modern in one sense, could easily hold its own with contemporary sci-fi, in an other it’s almost laughable how different it would be if it had our modern technology.What made me consider this, and why I read the book when I did, is because it was just announced they’re turning this into a movie. If anything the plot has probably already been done a million times (although I will say the twist here is particularly unique) but it really begs the question on how they’ll handle what the computer is made of - because it’s very vital to the plot. Without spoiling anything, a modern super computer intelligence wouldn’t really “exist” in a central spot, or certainly it would eventually find its way to be just within the internet itself. It would be able to take over phones, connected home devices, auto driving cars, etc. This Vulcan 3 has none of that.Now I’m not expecting Dick to have predicted the internet, it’s honestly it’s a little odd he didn’t. It’s like he’s so close here. And if he had, it would change this book completely.But is this book really about a super computer that controls the world? Of course not. It’s about people and power and what a post war world would be like if man all agreed that this little experiment we’ve called society and government is a failure. You know, timeless stuff.

My husband knew Philip Dick back in the 50s when they both worked at Art Music in Berkeley.This was the only book he hadn't read, so he was tickled pink to get it.

Another of PKD's great stories that envision a world in the future from when this was written! And yet it contains some insights that are quite accurate.

Decent early PKD.

My year of Dick continues with this wild version of the 1960s sf trope of the all-powerful computer overlord that started out as a tool to help humans govern without bias. Lots of twists along the usual phildickian lines of paranoia, rampant militarism, and criss-crossing loyalties. Very fun but not as deep as I like from PKD.