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alekspredator.bsky.social · @alekspredator.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Second Variety 10/10

The second model is the beginning of the end for humanity<br/><br/>Post-apocalyptic has always been an interesting topic for fans of fiction to read and no less interesting for writers to explore, who come up with more and more new plots that plunged our world into a terrible war that destroyed most of humanity. The remnants of the survivors are somehow trying to exist, finding themselves in a new world of ruins.<br/>Philip Kindred Dick's "Second Model" is remembered for the extraordinary third force that intervened in the confrontation of armies of people. And this force is robots, which over time turned out to be much more dangerous than their creators. When you read the story, you vividly realize how scary it is to live in the world presented by the author, where machines can evolve. And reading this work already in the 21st century (when a lot of various fantastic plots had already been explored), you understand how fresh the idea of developing cars was back in 1953, when the "Second Model" just saw the light.<br/>It seems to me that such a development of events was unlikely simply because the "claws" robots needed something more than the drawings that they had in their memory, but the main idea of the author is very relevant today, perhaps even more important than almost 70 years ago. This is the idea of Artificial Intelligence. Intelligent machines. And their awareness of themselves as the dominant force. Many subsequent works developed this idea. At least remember "Terminator" or "Matrix". But one of the first people to ask about AI, in my opinion, was Philip K. Dick.<br/>Despite the many questions that arise in the process of reading, all this fades into the background. You just enjoy the author's style and follow the events he suggests. It is interesting to find out how the USSR and the USA unleashed a nuclear war, the government went all the way to the moon to continue its existence, and remnants of people and the most dangerous combat robots roam the ruins of the planet, which somewhere deep underground continue their development, evolving from model to model. At some point, you realize that you are more interested in finding out who will turn out to be the next "traitor" in the camp of people.<br/>The author also poses an important question for readers and, probably, for himself, which concerns that boundary, that boundary when an essentially intelligent robot can be indistinguishable from a human, have its own views on the world. At such a moment, can he be considered a person? Everyone will find the answer for themselves.<br/>The characters' moods are perfectly conveyed. I noticed this from the author a long time ago. Dick puts his characters in a certain world, and they are perfectly shown in this world, their motivation and characters are very subtly noticed. They react quite plausibly to the world that surrounds them. Here, for example, each of the heroes is tired of the seemingly useless war, which has grown from a confrontation between people into a struggle for survival with artificial mechanisms whose task is to eliminate people. Hopelessness is felt on every page of the work, and the story only benefits from this, driving the reader into depression. At the moment when you get distracted, you realize that this is only a book, and the real world is once again full of colors of life. Isn't this an indicator of the quality of the work?<br/>Philip K. Dick's work has even been filmed. The famous "Screamers" at the time were well received, and the world of post-apocalyptic time was perfectly conveyed on the screen, with all due respect transferred from the pages of the book to the screens.<br/>"The second Model" is a good and high—quality story by an eminent science fiction writer, which is definitely suitable for reading by anyone who is ready to immerse themselves in the world of horror of the desert lands of the planet.<br/>9 out of 10

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Published 2019-10-31 23:00 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere