''The Bladerunner'' (also published as ''The Blade Runner'') is a 1974

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by

Alan E. Nourse Alan Edward Nourse (August 11, 1928 – July 19, 1992) was an American science fiction writer and physician. He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works about medicine and science. His SF works sometimes focused ...

, about underground medical services and smuggling. It was the source for the title, but no major plot elements, of the 1982 film ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

'', adapted from the novel ''

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (retroactively retitled ''Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' in some later printings) is a dystopian science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968. Th ...

'' by Philip K. Dick, though elements of the Nourse novel recur in a pair of 2002 films also largely adapted from Dick's work, ''Impostor'' and ''Minority Report''.

Plot

The novel's protagonist is Billy Gimp, a man with a

club foot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

who runs "blades" for Doc (Doctor John Long) as part of an illegal

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

for medical services. The setting is a society where free, comprehensive medical treatment is available for anyone so long as they qualify for treatment under the

Eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

Laws. Preconditions for medical care include sterilization, and no legitimate medical care is available for anyone who does not qualify or does not wish to undergo the sterilization procedure (including children over the age of five). These conditions have created illegal medical services in which bladerunners supply black market medical supplies for underground practitioners, who generally go out at night to see patients and perform surgery. As an epidemic breaks out among the underclass, Billy must save his city from the plague.

Connection to the film ''Blade Runner''

In 1979

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

was commissioned to write a treatment for a possible film adaptation. This was published as ''

Blade Runner (a movie) ''Blade Runner (a movie)'' is a science fiction novella by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs, first published in 1979. The novella began as a story treatment for a proposed film adaptation of Alan E. Nourse's novel ''The Bladerunner''. ...

''. Burroughs acknowledged the Nourse novel as a source, and prominently set a mutated virus and right-wing politics in the year 1999. No film was produced from the Burroughs treatment, but

Hampton Fancher Hampton Lansden Fancher (born July 18, 1938) is an American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, best known for co-writing the 1982 neo-noir science fiction film ''Blade Runner'' and its 2017 sequel ''Blade Runner 2049,'' based on the novel ''Do ...

, a screenwriter for a film based on Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel ''

''), had a copy. He suggested "Blade Runner", as preferable to the earlier working titles "Android" and "Dangerous Days", for the Dick adaptation.Abraham Riesman (4 October 2017)
"Digging Into the Odd History of Blade Runner’s Title"
''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

''. Accessed 10 October 2017. In the film, released as ''

'' in 1982, the term is never explained, and the plot has no connection to the Nourse and Burroughs stories.

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

bought any rights to the title ''Blade Runner'' that might have arisen from either the Nourse novel or the Burroughs treatment. Two more of Dick's short stories, "

Impostor An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise. Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but also often for purposes ...

" and "

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 " p ...

", were adapted into 2002 films, ''

'' and ''

Minority Report Minority Report may refer to: * Minority report (Poor Law), published by the UK Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–09 * "Minority Report", a 1949 science fiction short story by Theodore Sturgeon * "The Minority Report ...

'', respectively; both films heavily feature underground medical smuggling and procedures among an underclass, as in Nourse's novel, even though these elements are not present in either of the Dick short stories.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bladerunner, The 1974 American novels American science fiction novels 1974 science fiction novels Dystopian novels Blade Runner (franchise) Sterilization in fiction Eugenics in fiction Medicine and health in fiction Infectious diseases in fiction