Review: Vulcan's Hammer by Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick has made quite a name for himself in the realm of science fiction literature. Going into Vulcan's Hammer, each of us had read at least one of this other novels and we all felt the same way about him as a writer. The man comes up with some truly brilliant ideas. He creates incredibly detailed and fully realized worlds for his characters to walk around in.

The problem though, is that Dick spends very little time with the characters themselves. All the characters are relate-able and their motivations make total sense but outside of going through the motions that the plot provides for them, these people are simply bloodless.

But wait, I'm getting off on the wrong foot. Despite all that complaining I just did it really is a very enjoyable story. The plot is interesting with a couple of nice surprises in store and it moves along at a brisk pace. But above all its incredibly short. The novel tops out at around 180 pages. Dick knew his concept was good but he didn't want to beat it to death. Instead he serves up a full story in less than 200 pages and at that length and with a really interesting concept behind it, it ends up being quite an enjoyable read.