The Gun

By Philip K. Dick

From the legendary mind of Philip K. Dick, the author who inspired blockbuster films like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, comes The Gun,a gripping science fiction short story filled with riveting thrills, psychological depth, dark humor, and a touch of intentional chaos.

Embark on a high-stakes voyage into the depths of space as our intrepid explorers seek connection with intelligent life among the stars. But when a mysterious bright light leads them to crash land on an eerie and desolate planet, this expedition becomes a dangerous game of survival. Our protagonists face lingering despair as they uncover the harrowing truth behind the planet's inhabitants and their ultimate demise. With their ship crippled by a deadly and persistent weapon, they brace for the challenge of outsmarting an enemy they cannot see.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Jan 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473379428

Philip K. Dick

Over a writing career that spanned three decades, PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned to deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film, notably Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly, as well as television's The Man in the High Castle. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, including the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards, Dick was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, and between 2007 and 2009, the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

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THE GUN

By

PHILIP K. DICK

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

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Philip K. Dick

Philip Kindred Dick was born on December 16 1928, in Chicago, Illinois. The death of his twin sister, Jane, six weeks after their birth profoundly affected the writer in later life and is said to account for the recurring theme of the ‘phantom twin’ in many of his works.  

Dick and his family moved to the Bay Area of San Francisco when he was young, and later on to Washington DC following his parents divorce. Dick attended Elementary school and then a Quaker school before the family moved back to California. It was around this time that Dick began to take an active interest in the science fiction genre, reading his first magazine ‘Stirring Science Stories’, at age twelve.

Dick attended High School in Berkeley, California, where he and fellow science fiction author Ursula K.Le Guin were members of the same graduating class (1947) but were unknown to each other at the time. After graduation, he briefly attended the University of California in Berkeley, taking classes in History, Psychology, Philosophy, and Zoology. Through his studies in Philosophy, he came to