Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Ace Books (1977), Paperback
Description
In Our Friends from Frolix 8, the world is run by an elite few. And what determines whether one is part of the elite isn't wealth or privilege, but brains. As children, every citizen of Earth is tested; some are found to be super-smart New Men and some are Unusuals with various psychic powers. The vast majority are Undermen, performing menial jobs in an overpopulated world. Nick Appleton is an Underman, content to eke out an existence as a tire regroover. But after his son is classified as an Underman, Appleton begins to question the hierarchy. Strengthening his resolve, and energizing the resistance movement, is news that the great resistance leader Thors Provoni is returning from a trip to the farthest reaches of space. And he's brought help: a giant, indestructible alien.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
3 if you're a Dick fan, 2.5 if you're not. This is mid-level PKD. It has most of his favorite themes, which to me doesn't mean "what is real," but rather who can you trust, broken marriages, depression, drug cocktails, an imminent all-powerful alien intrusion, and, of course, tire re-grooving. Tire
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re-grooving was his most excellent choice of the worst possible job in the world in his 1959 non-SF Confessions of a Crap Artist. Since that book wasn't publishable at the time, he brought it back for this novel. The setting is reminiscent Minority Report, except here the world is being run by two competing groups: the telepathic Unusual Men and the intellectually superior New Men. Old Men, i.e., the rest of us, get along as best we can, and one of the recurring discussions in the book is how personal security and maybe love is all that really matters to most people, not the global or galactic politics. The imminent intrusion is one human who went to the stars and is coming back with the eponymous friend from Frolix 8, with the power to change to all, and perhaps only good intentions. PKD's plots are shakey at best. This one moves along OK. Unlike much SF of the period, PKD usually knew how to finish his books. I feel the last 6 pages of the book make the rest the novel worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member RandyStafford
My reactions to reading this novel in 1990. Spoilers follow.
I seemed to recall reading interviews with Dick stating this book represented a time of extreme creative fatigue in Dick's life and that he regarded this book as totally lacking merit. It's largely true this book reads as if Dick is trying
The book's plot holds together better than Dick's other bad book, The Simulcra but is much more boring. There are occassional flashes of Dick's traditional humor, wit, and power in the poignancy of the novel's end, the short, whimsical discussion of cats, and the oh-so-Dickian character of Charlotte Boyer, a neurotic, insightful, passionate, damaged girl of the kind that often shows up in Dick's work and, it seems, he was attracted to in life. But Boyer is not as well-realized a version of the "Dark-Haired Girld" as say Pris Frauenzimmer of We Can Build You. (It is interesting to note that Dick, here, postulates an early life of abuse as an explanation for girls like Boyer. They can't form relationships, are neurotic, and have a core of emptiness while desperately wanting love.)
Gone are reality shifts and perceptual questions. Dick gives us a pale tale of political intrigue in which he half-heartedly poses moral questions of revolution and revenge. He doesn't even use the tension of the question of Frolixian motives to good effect.
I seemed to recall reading interviews with Dick stating this book represented a time of extreme creative fatigue in Dick's life and that he regarded this book as totally lacking merit. It's largely true this book reads as if Dick is trying
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to just fill up white space with something, as if it's an attempt to meet alimony payments. This book makes Dick seem very tired at the time. The book's plot holds together better than Dick's other bad book, The Simulcra but is much more boring. There are occassional flashes of Dick's traditional humor, wit, and power in the poignancy of the novel's end, the short, whimsical discussion of cats, and the oh-so-Dickian character of Charlotte Boyer, a neurotic, insightful, passionate, damaged girl of the kind that often shows up in Dick's work and, it seems, he was attracted to in life. But Boyer is not as well-realized a version of the "Dark-Haired Girld" as say Pris Frauenzimmer of We Can Build You. (It is interesting to note that Dick, here, postulates an early life of abuse as an explanation for girls like Boyer. They can't form relationships, are neurotic, and have a core of emptiness while desperately wanting love.)
Gone are reality shifts and perceptual questions. Dick gives us a pale tale of political intrigue in which he half-heartedly poses moral questions of revolution and revenge. He doesn't even use the tension of the question of Frolixian motives to good effect.
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LibraryThing member scottcholstad
Our Friends From Frolix 8 is a pretty good story, although far from perfect. Surprisingly, it's a fairly linear sci fi story from Dick, without his alternate worlds and universes he wrote so much about. And this was published in 1970, while Dick was pretty much at his height of alternate worlds.
The
Nick takes his son for a mandatory civil service exam, which he thinks his son will pass and which will lead him to a better life than Nick has. However, the exam is rigged and his son fails, disillusioning Nick.
Nick finds himself at work conversing with his boss about things. Big things are happening. A revolutionary leader who has been jailed, but who has written numerous illegal pamphlets and booklets is about to be executed. The primary revolutionary, Thors Provino, took off in a space ship 10 years ago, but is apparently headed back to Earth with help, presumably from an alien or aliens. Like I said, big stuff. Nick's boss talks him into sharing an illegal beer with him and discusses the illegal literature, before taking Nick to a dealer of this literature. There Nick meets a 16 year old girl named Charley, the dealer's girlfriend, and he is smitten. I know, I know -- Dick and his adolescent girls. He had problems, what can I say?
The dealer goes crazy and attacks Charley, and Nick and Charley take off for safety. And he takes her home to his wife and son. Crazy, right? Well, his wife is generally okay with things until she finds an illegal pamphlet in Charley's coat and insists she leaves. To her consternation, Nick leaves with her. They take shelter at a big printing place, where the illegal pamphlets are printed. Meanwhile, Council Chairman Willis Gram, the world dictator who lies around in his pajamas all day, is panicking about the thought of Thors returning with an alien to take over. He orders the prison camps to be opened and everyone released as a good will gesture, but at the same time, orders an attack against the printing plant. There, Nick and Charley are captured. Gram falls for Charley (how does she have this hold over men?) and releases Nick, but Charley escapes Gram's clutches and takes off. Gram realizes she's probably going to go back to Nick, so he puts out a warrant for Nick which they find out about at the dealer's apartment when the cops (pissers) show up. The dealer, Denny, is killed and Charley and Nick take off.
What's happening with Thors? Well, he IS returning with an alien, from Frolix 8. He's lived millions of years and is a 90 ton gelatinous slime blob. He encompasses the ship, protecting it from missiles the army is sending up against the space ship. He feeds on things and grows. They announce they're landing in Times Square and Gram ships a huge laser up from Baltimore to incinerate Thors upon landing. They land eight hours early, but the laser is ready and they fire, only to find the alien devouring the beam and growing larger.
At some point, Charley and Nick find themselves in Central Park, where they make love and Nick recites a Yeats poem. Gotta get the statutory rape in there, don'tcha Phil? They take off in their squib, followed closely by two pissers and Charley crashes and dies violently. That seemed unnecessary, but I guess that's the only way Dick knew to close things. The alien starts telepathically lobotomizing the New Men, rendering them useless and Nick confronts Gram, where things basically end. The last few pages are pretty interesting, but I won't go into more detail here -- I've already shared enough.
In this book, there are drug bars, where people can legally get high and in this book, too, everyone is a walking pharmacist. It's bizarre to think that your average person would know so much about drugs. Dick also brings Biblical themes into play, as well as race, divorce, and futuristic gadgets, all themes and things he wrote so much about. This isn't one of his better known works, and there are some textual inconsistencies (with dates especially) and the dialogue is often somewhat clunky, but it's a fun story and it's pretty action packed, so I suspect many Dick fans will like this book, as will many other readers. I can't give it five stars because it's not his best, but it's a solid four star effort and as such, it's recommended.
The
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plot is about Nick Appleton, a tire "regroover," who lives in a futuristic world (about 200 years from now) governed by large headed New Men (with large IQs) and Unusuals, who possess telepathic abilities. The rest of the seven billion humans are Old Men or Under Men, who are fighting a silent revolution to one day overthrow the system.Nick takes his son for a mandatory civil service exam, which he thinks his son will pass and which will lead him to a better life than Nick has. However, the exam is rigged and his son fails, disillusioning Nick.
Nick finds himself at work conversing with his boss about things. Big things are happening. A revolutionary leader who has been jailed, but who has written numerous illegal pamphlets and booklets is about to be executed. The primary revolutionary, Thors Provino, took off in a space ship 10 years ago, but is apparently headed back to Earth with help, presumably from an alien or aliens. Like I said, big stuff. Nick's boss talks him into sharing an illegal beer with him and discusses the illegal literature, before taking Nick to a dealer of this literature. There Nick meets a 16 year old girl named Charley, the dealer's girlfriend, and he is smitten. I know, I know -- Dick and his adolescent girls. He had problems, what can I say?
The dealer goes crazy and attacks Charley, and Nick and Charley take off for safety. And he takes her home to his wife and son. Crazy, right? Well, his wife is generally okay with things until she finds an illegal pamphlet in Charley's coat and insists she leaves. To her consternation, Nick leaves with her. They take shelter at a big printing place, where the illegal pamphlets are printed. Meanwhile, Council Chairman Willis Gram, the world dictator who lies around in his pajamas all day, is panicking about the thought of Thors returning with an alien to take over. He orders the prison camps to be opened and everyone released as a good will gesture, but at the same time, orders an attack against the printing plant. There, Nick and Charley are captured. Gram falls for Charley (how does she have this hold over men?) and releases Nick, but Charley escapes Gram's clutches and takes off. Gram realizes she's probably going to go back to Nick, so he puts out a warrant for Nick which they find out about at the dealer's apartment when the cops (pissers) show up. The dealer, Denny, is killed and Charley and Nick take off.
What's happening with Thors? Well, he IS returning with an alien, from Frolix 8. He's lived millions of years and is a 90 ton gelatinous slime blob. He encompasses the ship, protecting it from missiles the army is sending up against the space ship. He feeds on things and grows. They announce they're landing in Times Square and Gram ships a huge laser up from Baltimore to incinerate Thors upon landing. They land eight hours early, but the laser is ready and they fire, only to find the alien devouring the beam and growing larger.
At some point, Charley and Nick find themselves in Central Park, where they make love and Nick recites a Yeats poem. Gotta get the statutory rape in there, don'tcha Phil? They take off in their squib, followed closely by two pissers and Charley crashes and dies violently. That seemed unnecessary, but I guess that's the only way Dick knew to close things. The alien starts telepathically lobotomizing the New Men, rendering them useless and Nick confronts Gram, where things basically end. The last few pages are pretty interesting, but I won't go into more detail here -- I've already shared enough.
In this book, there are drug bars, where people can legally get high and in this book, too, everyone is a walking pharmacist. It's bizarre to think that your average person would know so much about drugs. Dick also brings Biblical themes into play, as well as race, divorce, and futuristic gadgets, all themes and things he wrote so much about. This isn't one of his better known works, and there are some textual inconsistencies (with dates especially) and the dialogue is often somewhat clunky, but it's a fun story and it's pretty action packed, so I suspect many Dick fans will like this book, as will many other readers. I can't give it five stars because it's not his best, but it's a solid four star effort and as such, it's recommended.
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LibraryThing member TheCrow2
If you like PKD you'll find almost all of your favourites here. Police state, precogs, drugs, strange aliens.... like a new cocktail of your favourite ingredients although a bit more linear and less mindfucked than most of his books.
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
Set in the 22nd century, Earth is controlled by genetic freaks who control ordinary humans because they possess powers of telepathy and precognition. One man, Thors Provoni, offers a possibility of escaping from their rule. He stole a spaceship and found a race of aliens who can help the human
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race. He returns to Earth with a representative from Frolix 8. Show Less
LibraryThing member DanielSTJ
This is a generally average PKD read. All the things that follow through his work: drugs, god, paranoia, government conspiracies, philosophy-- it all abounds here. The tale is a roundabout one that comes full circle, resulting in an easy and typical ending. While there was potential in this one, I
3 stars.
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found that I was not as attached to it as some of my other, favourite, PKD works. Nevertheless, it is still worth a read for PKD enthusiasts.3 stars.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1970-06
1970
Physical description
281 p.; 17.4 cm
ISBN
0441644015 / 9780441644018
Local notes
Omslag: David Ploude
Omslaget viser et stort rumskib set indefra. Gennem et vindue ses en planet
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Omslaget viser et stort rumskib set indefra. Gennem et vindue ses en planet
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
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Pages
281
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |