Book Review: Time Out of Joint

So I bet many of you are wondering what this book is. It's not exactly a well known book. The author, Philip K. Dick, may not be that well known to all of you either. Well, not exactly. Philip K. Dick is the author behind such movies as Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report and Screamers. He has written some great Science Fiction books (it was actually the release of another movie based on his books - one point in the problem of the day for anyone who emails me the name of that movie - that got me interested in him again) and I've read a few of them.

Time Out of Joint follows the story of Ragle Gumm. He lives an ordinary life in 1959 (the year the book was written). He is a longstanding winner of a newspaper contest and lives with his sister, his brother-in-law and his nephew. But something's not quite right. The book traces Gumm as he tries to figure out what exactly is going on.

So how good is the story? Well, I thought it was well written and kept me wanting to come back for more. Dick doesn't focus on big details. He writes as if from the perspective of the regular people and explains things in ways that makes sense to them. About halfway through the book we start to get clues as to what is going on (I won't give it away in this review, so don't worry).
These clues give us just enough information to keep us wanting more.

As far as being a Science Fiction book this one is great (though keep in mind, I'm not talking Star Wars or Star Trek Sci-Fi, but real Sci-Fi, like Dark City). I give this book a 3.5/4. There are some things that could change, but is a believable story and tells the tale of a chilling situation. If you like Sci-Fi books, I definitely recommend this (and other Dick stories, which will no doubt be reviewed in the future in this place).