Clans of the Alphane Moon - Philip K. Dick Book Review

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Review Summaries

"Some years before, aliens of the Alpha star system lost a war with Earth, which placed a hospital for the mentally ill on one of the Alpha moons. It's been five years since anyone's had contact with the place, and the "inmates" are governing themselves. Back on Earth, CIA agent Chuck Rittensdorf is separated from his wife Mary, who is a marriage counselor. She decides to join an expedition to the moon (Alpha III M2), three light-years away, to check out the conditions there. Rittensdorf signs on to operate a simulacrum (CIA robot) on the expedition to keep an eye on Mary, and perhaps to kill her. A further complication is the TV comic star Bunny Hentman, who has a history of friendliness with the Alphanes and hires Rittensdorf to moonlight as one of his scriptwriters. But does Hentman also have an interest in the inmates of the Alphane moon (some of whom regard the visiting expedition as invaders and prepare for war or enslavement)?"
David Loftus, Resident Philip K. Dick Scholar

"CLANS OF THE ALPHANE MOON was written by Philip K. Dick in 1964. After an interstellar war between Earth and the Alphans, one of the moons of the Alpha system that was a giant hospital for mentally ill people before the war is abandoned by the two belligerents. So a new society with strange class systems has grown on this planet. But 30 years later, Earth sends a delegation to Alpha III in order to take possession of this old colony now ruled by paranoia and psychosis. Highly recommended to Philip K. Dick fans. And others."
Daniel Staebler, Resident Philip K. Dick Scholar

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Overall Review

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

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Robots, Computers, VR Yes
Robot, PC, VR Plotlets: - good robot(s)
Inner Struggle Yes
Plotlet: - mental illness/nutsophrenia
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - engineer - computer programmer
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - business executive - artist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century - near future (later in 21st century)
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only - description of breasts
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog - significantly more descript than dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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