A Maze of Death
First British paperback, 1973
A Maze of Death (1970) is a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick in which fourteen colonists on a remote planet encounter unexplained deaths and shifting realities. This is the first British paperback edition, published by Pan Books.
Softcover. First British Paperback Edition, First Printing. Pan 23769 (35p). Cover art by Ian Miller. London: Pan Books, 1973. Levack 26i. Wintz & Hyde SF1.8. ISBN: 0330237691. #11012.
Fine.
Softcover. First British Paperback Edition, First Printing. Pan 23769 (35p). Cover art by Ian Miller. London: Pan Books, 1973. Levack 26i. Wintz & Hyde SF1.8. ISBN: 0330237691. #11012.
Fine.
Additional Details
A Maze of Death (1970) is a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick that blends mystery, psychology, and speculative theology. Fourteen colonists arrive on the remote planet Delmak-O to participate in a government assignment, but their instructions, meant to be transmitted by satellite, never arrive. Cut off from the outside world, the group attempts to understand both their purpose and the strange environment around them.
Delmak-O appears to contain a mix of artificial constructs and enigmatic life-forms, including gelatinous cube-like “tenches” that can duplicate objects and deliver cryptic, divine messages. Several colonists report encountering a shifting “Building” whose appearance and purpose change according to whoever perceives it. As the group searches for meaning, tensions rise, and members begin to die, some under mysterious circumstances, others by apparent suicide, heightening the sense that something about their world is profoundly off.
As the narrative deepens, it becomes clear that Delmak-O is not what it seems. The colonists’ experiences are revealed to be part of a computer-generated reality designed to sustain them during long-term dormancy aboard a stranded starship. They have already endured multiple cycles of this simulation, each one deteriorating further as both the system and their own psychological stability begin to crack. The appearance of a figure known as the Intercessor blurs the boundary between programmed illusion and possible transcendence.
A Maze of Death stands among Dick’s darkest novels, probing mental illness, belief systems, and the ever-shifting ground between perception and reality.
Delmak-O appears to contain a mix of artificial constructs and enigmatic life-forms, including gelatinous cube-like “tenches” that can duplicate objects and deliver cryptic, divine messages. Several colonists report encountering a shifting “Building” whose appearance and purpose change according to whoever perceives it. As the group searches for meaning, tensions rise, and members begin to die, some under mysterious circumstances, others by apparent suicide, heightening the sense that something about their world is profoundly off.
As the narrative deepens, it becomes clear that Delmak-O is not what it seems. The colonists’ experiences are revealed to be part of a computer-generated reality designed to sustain them during long-term dormancy aboard a stranded starship. They have already endured multiple cycles of this simulation, each one deteriorating further as both the system and their own psychological stability begin to crack. The appearance of a figure known as the Intercessor blurs the boundary between programmed illusion and possible transcendence.
A Maze of Death stands among Dick’s darkest novels, probing mental illness, belief systems, and the ever-shifting ground between perception and reality.
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