Author: Phillip K. Dick The inspiration behind Ridley Scotts 1982 science-fiction film Blade Runner, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a post-apocalyptic novel set in a futuristic, dystopian San Francisco in which the quality of life has been greatly affected by a nuclear war. The plot itself revolves around two principle protagonist: Rick Deckard, a bounty-hunter tasked with the extermination of fugitive androids, and John Isidore, an outcast and genetically inferior loner with intentions of aiding the androids in their escape. Though Deckard is effective, and somewhat ruthless in regards to the completion of his task of retiring the Nexus-6 androids, he begins to develop certain ethical apprehensions, especially considering his new found love for the android Rachael. He even begins to empathise with the seemingly inhuman androids and their desires for freedom, eventually doubting his own claims to humanity in the process. Essentially, the novels concerned with the question of what makes us human, and though that question has been exhausted by other, less-remarkable authors and filmmakers over the years, its something thats rarely handled with the same degree of nuance or consideration as Phillip K. Dicks Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
