The Game-Players of Titan - Philip K. Dick Book Review

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Review Summary

After wars between China and the US wiped out all but several million on Earth, the inhabitants of Titan -- known familiarly as "vugs" -- found it easy to take over. For some reason, though humans have found the key to long life, they also experience great difficulty reproducing, and the vug administration has imposed the Game on earthlings as a method of keeping them occupied. Pete Garden, 150 years old, has been married 18 times (hardly out of the ordinary), but he's been having trouble with alcohol and drugs and as a consequence has just lost Berkeley and his latest wife in the Game. Assigned a new wife, he aches to get Berkeley back, and his team eventually finds themselves going up against a vug team that can read minds and even change the denominations on the playing cards! How can he possibly win? This 1963 Dick novel is comparatively conventional, and reads quite smoothly.
David Loftus, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of The Game-Players of Titan

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

Tone of book - cynical or dry-wit
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Romance Yes
Romance plotlets: - two lovers coping with tough mission
Repressive society story Yes
Repressive because: - has game where people are hunted
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Culture clash- - one culture tries to impose its culture on another group

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - gambler
Age: - 40's-50's
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an entire race
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - mind reading
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant

Setting
Earth setting: - medium future 22-24th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Not Earth, in Solar System? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to The Game-Players of Titan
Logan's Run by William F. Nolan
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The Long Walk by Richard Bachman
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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