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The Variable Man (collection)
''The Variable Man'' is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Ace Books in 1957. The stories had originally appeared in the magazines ''Space Science Fiction'', ''Fantastic Universe'' and ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' Contents * "The Variable Man", 1953 * "Second Variety", 1953 * "The Minority Report", 1955 * "Autofac "Autofac" is a 1955 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick that features one of the earliest treatments of self-replicating machines (and Dick's second, after his 1953 short story ''Second Variety''). It appeared originally ...", 1955 * " A World of Talent", 1954 References * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Variable Man, The 1956 short story collections Short story collections by Philip K. Dick Ace Books books ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip K
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the name include kings of Macedonia and one of the apostles of early Christianity. ''Philip'' has many alternative spellings. One derivation often used as a surname is Phillips. It was also found during ancient Greek times with two Ps as Philippides and Philippos. It has many diminutive (or even hypocoristic) forms including Phil, Philly, Lip, Pip, Pep or Peps. There are also feminine forms such as Philippine and Philippa. Antiquity Kings of Macedon * Philip I of Macedon * Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great * Philip III of Macedon, half-brother of Alexander the Great * Philip IV of Macedon * Philip V of Macedon New Testament * Philip the Apostle * Philip the Evangelist Others * Philippus of Croton (c. 6th centur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ace Books
Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first science fiction title in 1953. This was successful, and science fiction titles outnumbered both mysteries and westerns within a few years. Other genres also made an appearance, including nonfiction, gothic novels, media tie-in novelizations, and romances. Ace became known for the ''tête-bêche'' binding format used for many of its early books, although it did not originate the format. Most of the early titles were published in this "Ace Double" format, and Ace continued to issue books in varied genres, bound ''tête-bêche'', until 1973. Ace, along with Ballantine Books, was one of the leading science fiction publishers for its first ten years of operation. The death of owner A. A. Wyn in 1967 set the stage for a later decline in the publishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Science Fiction
Between 1952 and 1954, John Raymond published four digest-size science fiction and fantasy magazines. Raymond was an American publisher of men's magazines who knew little about science fiction, but the field's rapid growth and a distributor's recommendation prompted him to pursue the genre. Raymond consulted and then hired Lester del Rey to edit the first magazine, ''Space Science Fiction'', which appeared in May 1952. Following a second distributor's suggestion that year, Raymond launched ''Science Fiction Adventures'', which del Rey again edited, but under an alias. In 1953, Raymond gave del Rey two more magazines to edit: ''Rocket Stories'', which targeted a younger audience, and ''Fantasy Magazine'', which published fantasy rather than science fiction. All four magazines were profitable, but Raymond did not reinvest the profits in improving the magazines and was late in paying contributors. Del Rey persuaded Raymond to invest some of the profits back into the magazi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantastic Universe
''Fantastic Universe'' was a U.S. science fiction magazine which began publishing in the 1950s. It ran for 69 issues, from June 1953 to March 1960, under two different publishers. It was part of the explosion of science fiction magazine publishing in the 1950s in the United States, and was moderately successful, outlasting almost all of its competitors. The main editors were Leo Margulies (1954–1956) and Hans Stefan Santesson (1956–1960); under Santesson's tenure the quality declined somewhat,Tuck comments that the magazine was at first "of quite reasonable standard" but "fell off considerably". See John Clute says "Some magazines never seem to ... publish much worthwhile material" and then adds "''Fantastic Universe'', which published second-rank work by many well-known writers, is one of these." See Brian Stableford refers to the magazine as "the poor man's F&SF". See and the magazine became known for printing much UFO-related material. A collection of stories from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galaxy Science Fiction
''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L. Gold, who rapidly made ''Galaxy'' the leading science fiction magazine of its time, focusing on stories about social issues rather than technology. Gold published many notable stories during his tenure, including Ray Bradbury's "The Fireman", later expanded as ''Fahrenheit 451''; Robert A. Heinlein's ''The Puppet Masters''; and Alfred Bester's ''The Demolished Man''. In 1952, the magazine was acquired by Robert Guinn, its printer. By the late 1950s, Frederik Pohl was helping Gold with most aspects of the magazine's production. When Gold's health worsened, Pohl took over as editor, starting officially at the end of 1961, though he had been doing the majority of the production work for some time. Under Pohl ''Gala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Variable Man
"The Variable Man" is a science fiction novella by American writer Philip K. Dick, which he wrote and sold before he had an agent. It was first published in the British magazine ''Space Science Fiction'' (British version) Vol. 2 No. 2, July 1953, and in the American version on September 1953, with the US publication illustrated by Alex Ebel. Despite the magazine cover dates it is unclear whether the first publication was in the UK or in the United States where magazines tended to be published farther ahead of their cover dates than in the UK. ''The Variable Man'' can be found in several collections of Dick's short stories, including ''The Variable Man'' and ''The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford''. Copyright status "The Variable Man" is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1963 but copyright was not renewed with the United States Copyright Office within a year period beginning on Decem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Variety
"Second Variety" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in ''Space Science Fiction'' magazine, in May 1953. Set in a world where war between the Soviet Union and United Nations has reduced most of the world to a barren wasteland, the story concerns the discovery, by the few remaining soldiers left, that self-replicating robots originally built to assassinate Soviet agents have gained sentience and are now plotting against both sides. It is one of many stories by Dick to examine the implications of nuclear war, particularly after it has destroyed much or all of the planet. The story was adapted into the movie '' Screamers'' in 1995. The short story "Jon's World", written in 1954, serves as a sequel. Plot "Second Variety" occurs in the aftermath of an extensive nuclear war between the Soviet Union (sometimes referred to as Russia) and the United Nations. Early Soviet victories forced the North American government and production to fle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Minority Report
"The Minority Report" is a 1956 science fiction novella by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in ''Fantastic Universe''. In a future society, three mutants foresee all crime before it occurs. Plugged into a great machine, these " precogs" allow a division of the police called Precrime to arrest suspects before they can commit any actual crimes. When the head of Precrime, John Anderton, is himself predicted to murder a man whom he has never heard of, Anderton is convinced a great conspiracy is afoot. The story reflects many of Philip K. Dick's personal Cold War anxieties, particularly questioning the relationship between authoritarianism and individual autonomy. Like many stories dealing with knowledge of future events, "The Minority Report" questions the existence of free will. The title refers to the dissenting opinion of one of the precogs. In 2002, the story was adapted into a film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autofac
"Autofac" is a 1955 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick that features one of the earliest treatments of self-replicating machines (and Dick's second, after his 1953 short story ''Second Variety''). It appeared originally in ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' of November 1955, and was reprinted in several collections, including ''The Variable Man'' published in 1957, and ''Robots, Androids, and Mechanical Oddities'' published in 1984. The story was adapted by Travis Beacham for an episode of the 2017 TV series, '' Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams''. Plot summary Three men wait outside their settlement for an automated delivery truck. Five years earlier, during the Total Global Conflict, a network of hardened automatic factories ("autofacs") had been set up with cybernetic controls that determine what food and consumer goods to manufacture and deliver. Human input had been lost, and the men planned disruption to try to establish communication and take over contro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A World Of Talent
Plot summary The story is set on a separatist Earth colony where the society is becoming dominated by mutants with psionic abilities. The colony is protected from Earth by an enormously powerful but infantile mutant called Big Noodle. The central character is a precog, Curtis or Curt, who uncovers the existence of 'anti-psi's' - humans with the ability to cancel out or nullify the powers of the psionic mutants. He attempts to get the non-psychic or 'Norm'-led government to officially recognize the anti-psi's, knowing that this could balance out the corrupting power that the psi's would soon possess over the rest of humanity. He is thwarted, however, by the powerful psi Corps of mutants, who murder his anti-psi lover, Patricia Ann Connley or Pat. Curt has a young son, Tim, who, though seemingly a somewhat autistic, untalented 'norm', is actually the ultimate precog. This is due to both his ability to travel in time and his power to change the course of events as well. In the end ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
