Beyond Lies the Wub, by Philip K Dick, 1952

Beyond Lies the Wub, by Philip K Dick, 1952

Beyond Lies the Wub is about an alien that gets aboard a human starship while resupplying at Mars.

The alien called a Wub, resembles a 400 pound pig and is clearly intelligent with unique abilities such as telepathy and mind control.

As the crew of the human starship grow a sort of report with the intelligent pig-like alien, the captain becomes intent in cooking it as there is a shortage of food despite the resupply at Mars.

Although, in the end the alien is cooked, the story's plot twist allows the Wub to continue beyond.

Running through the story are themes of immortality and intolerance. The author, Dick, presents humanity as intractable while the slovenly pig-like alien exhibits a deeper humanity.

Notwithstanding the short length, the story is packed with detail and information. Enjoyable all around.

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars)

Link to the free eBook

“Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb”, by Philip K. Dick, 1963

“Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb”, by Philip K. Dick, 1963

Wow. What a weird story full of strange characters in an even stranger and disturbing post-nuclear-holocaust world. The novel starts with scenes of life and society rebuilding itself after a nuclear detonation/fallout. Societies regroup and form small local communities.  The story moves at a fairly quick pace and manages to develop very interesting characters along the way- - like the black salesman who simply wants to live a good life, a beautiful and promiscuous woman (who indulges in some panic sex during the second fallout), her small daughter with her own brother growing inside her (a mutation due to the nuclear bombs going off), the phocomelus with special abilities who wants to become world famous, the sinister, paranoid and mad scientist with seemingly magical powers and the elderly space traveler who was on his way to mars but is now stuck in orbit due to the nuclear explosions and becomes a disc jockey for the survivors of the apocalypse.

Hoppy Harrington, the phocomelus, and Bill, a homunculus that was once a fetus in fetu living in his twin Edie are the main characters in this book who, for me, moved the story along. Others may say Dr. Bluthgeld (Bluthgeld translated from German to English means Bloodmoney) the mad scientist, Walt Dangerfield the space traveler turned disc jockey, or McConchie the salesman were just as central to the story, and they might be right, but I can definitely say aren’t the most interesting.

Through the actions of the characters and unusual interactions between them, Dick touches upon themes like the corrupting nature of power, nostalgia, evil, rural life versus city life and the human spirit. Unlike some other post-apocalyptic novels there is no government or some kind of higher authority watching over and controlling the people's lives in Dr. Bloodmoney. But there is self-regulation in most of the small communities with the prominent citizens willing to commit murder to maintain law and order.

Dick wrote this novel in 1963 and won the Nebula award for best novel in 1965.

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars)

“Piper in the Woods” by Philip K. Dick, 1953

“Piper in the Woods” by Philip K. Dick, 1953

Henry Harris, an army doctor on Earth, receive a patient who, after returning from a mission on asteroid Y-3, claims to be a plant. Harris’ diagnosis of post-traumatic stress syndrome was dispelled when a several more soldiers returning from asteroid Y-3 exhibit the same symptoms—the soldiers claim they are plants, they sit in basking in the sun during daylight hours, remain in a catatonic state at nighttime hours, and refuse to perform any kind of work.

Harris travels to asteroid Y-3 and investigates for a cause of the soldier’s conditions and learns from the soldiers of an indigenous people living in the woods called “Pipers”, and that it was the “Pipers” who made the soldiers realize they were plants.

Harris ventures out to the woods and meets an indigene woman. The woman seems gracefully beautiful yet mysterious. She leads him deeper into the wood with promise of a meeting with the Piper.

Harris returns to earth and decides that the “Pipers” were created by the soldiers to cope with their high-pressured military jobs; allowing them to simply “tune out” and relax by turning into plants. Harris contemplates all the work that lies ahead of him as he unpacks his suitcases, which, rather than contain clothes, contain soil from Asteroid Y-3. Harris spreads the soil on the floor, sat squarely in the middle like a plant, and goes to sleep.

This science fiction short story seems fairly straight forward. The characters were relatively well developed given the number of pages. I can see this story as a basis of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits television episode. I surely would recommend adding this to your reading list of short stories.

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars)

Here is a link to the full story:http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Piper_in_the_Woods