Retrofitting Blade Runner

Author: Judith Kerman
Publisher: Popular Press
ISBN: 9780879725105
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
This book of essays looks at the multitude of texts and influences which converge in Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner, especially the film's relationship to its source novel, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The film's implications as a thought experiment provide a starting point for important thinking about the moral issues implicit in a hypertechnological society. Yet its importance in the history of science fiction and science fiction film rests equally on it mythically and psychologically resonant creation of compelling characters and an exciting story within a credible science fiction setting. These essays consider political, moral and technological issues raised by the film, as well as literary, filmic, technical and aesthetic questions. Contributors discuss the film's psychological and mythic patterns, important political issues and the roots of the film in Paradise Lost, Frankenstein, detective fiction, and previous science fiction cinema.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Author: Philip K. Dick
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781615233595
Category : Androids
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
By 2021, the Terminus War had driven mankind off-planet and entire species into extinction. Now only the rich can afford living creatures; others may buy amazingly realistic simulacrae: horses, cats, sheep ... Even humans. These artificial people are so advanced it's impossible to tell them from true men and women--except for their lack of empathy. Without empathy, androids can--and do--kill their owners and blend into society, so they're illegal on Earth. It's Rick Deckard's job to find these rogues and "retire" them. But "andys" tend to fight back--with deadly results.

Sworn to the Night

Author: Craig Schaefer (Fantasy fiction writer)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781944806095
Category : Imaginary places
Languages : en
Pages : 422

Book Description
"Marie Reinhart is an NYPD detective on the trail of a serial killer. When she sleeps, though, she dreams of other lives; she dreams of being a knight, in strange wars and strange worlds. On the other side of the city, Nessa Roth is a college professor trapped in a loveless marriage, an unwilling prop in a political dynasty. She's also a fledgling witch, weaving poppets and tiny spells behind closed doors. When Marie's case draws her into Nessa's path, sparks fly. What comes next is more than a furtive whirlwind affair; it's the first pebbles of an avalanche. Nessa and Marie are the victims of a curse that has pursued them across countless lifetimes; a doom designed to trap them in a twisted living fairy tale, with their romance fated to end in misery and death. They aren't going out without a fight. As they race to uncover the truth, forces are in motion across the country. In Las Vegas, a professional thief is sent on a deadly heist. In a Detroit back alley, witches gather under the guidance of a mysterious woman in red. Just outside New York, an abandoned zoo becomes the hunting-ground for servants of a savage and alien king. The occult underground is taking sides and forming lines of battle. Time is running out, and Nessa and Marie have one chance to save themselves, break the curse, and demand justice. This time, they're writing their own ending."--Back cover.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Author: Philip K. Dick
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345508556
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
A masterpiece ahead of its time, a prescient rendering of a dark future, and the inspiration for the blockbuster film Blade Runner By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They’ve even built humans. Immigrants to Mars receive androids so sophisticated they are indistinguishable from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans can wreak, the government bans them from Earth. Driven into hiding, unauthorized androids live among human beings, undetected. Rick Deckard, an officially sanctioned bounty hunter, is commissioned to find rogue androids and “retire” them. But when cornered, androids fight back—with lethal force. Praise for Philip K. Dick “The most consistently brilliant science fiction writer in the world.”—John Brunner “A kind of pulp-fiction Kafka, a prophet.”—The New York Times “[Philip K. Dick] sees all the sparkling—and terrifying—possibilities . . . that other authors shy away from.”—Rolling Stone

Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner

Author: Paul M. Sammon
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061053147
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 467

Book Description
The 1992 release of the "Director's Cut" only confirmed what the international film cognoscenti have know all along: Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick's brilliant and troubling SF novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, still rules as the most visually dense, thematically challenging, and influential SF film ever made. Future Noir is the story of that triumph. The making of Blade Runner was a seven-year odyssey that would test the stamina and the imagination of writers, producers, special effects wizards, and the most innovative art directors and set designers in the industry. A fascinating look at the ever-shifting interface between commerce and the art that is modern Hollywood, Future Noir is the intense, intimate, anything-but-glamerous inside account of how the work of SF's most uncompromising author was transformed into a critical sensation, a commercial success, and a cult classic.

Blade Runner 2

Author: K. W. Jeter
Publisher: Spectra
ISBN: 0553762672
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
In 1982 the brilliant science fiction movie Blade Runner was released, and a phenomenon was born. Set in the steel-and-microchip jungle of twenty-first century Los Angeles, this masterpiece re-created our vision of the future, telling the story of Rick Deckard, a ‘blade runner’ who tracks down and executes renegade androids. Now, for the millions of fans of the movie, as well as those coming to the saga for the first time, K. W. Jeter’s stylish and sophisticated new novel reenters that seedy, high-tech world and opens a new chapter of thrilling, nonstop, futuristic suspense. This time Deckard himself becomes both hunter and hunted in a race to prove his own humanity by tracking down the most elusive and dangerous android of all . . .

The Doom Brigade

Author: Don Perrin
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
ISBN: 0786962011
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
War can get a fellow killed. The fearless draconians of the War of the Lance have retired from the field of battle to a pleasant valley in the Kharolis Mountains. Well, it would be pleasant, if it weren't for some dwarves, whose irritating feuding prevents the draconians from realizing their greatest hope -- the ability to continue their doomed race. When the dwarves discover a map leading to a fortune buried in the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin, the draconians are swept up in a feverish race for treasure. Little do both sides realize that they are part of the strange and terrible destiny descending upon Krynn during the Summer of Flame. A desinty that includes the children of Chaos . . . the fire dragons! The Doom Brigade is the first installment in The Chaos War series, stories set during the war of the Dragons of Summer Flame, the New York Times best-selling novel co-authored by Margaret Weis.

Los Angeles 2019

Author: Oliver Carmi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 126

Book Description
Blade Runner is more than a film, it is a universe. From a distance, the city appears to be a living hell, forever sprawling in the dark horizon. As in a Dantesque vision, slowly rising up towards the heights of the sky, the spaces become purer, cleaner, emptier, in what seems a heavenly ascent. However, only after a closer look, in the crevices of the textured reality that Los Angeles 2019 really is, do we realize that everything is upside down. An architectural and social analysis of the spaces of the city of Blade Runner.

Bayesian Essentials with R

Author: Jean-Michel Marin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461486874
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
This Bayesian modeling book provides a self-contained entry to computational Bayesian statistics. Focusing on the most standard statistical models and backed up by real datasets and an all-inclusive R (CRAN) package called bayess, the book provides an operational methodology for conducting Bayesian inference, rather than focusing on its theoretical and philosophical justifications. Readers are empowered to participate in the real-life data analysis situations depicted here from the beginning. Special attention is paid to the derivation of prior distributions in each case and specific reference solutions are given for each of the models. Similarly, computational details are worked out to lead the reader towards an effective programming of the methods given in the book. In particular, all R codes are discussed with enough detail to make them readily understandable and expandable. Bayesian Essentials with R can be used as a textbook at both undergraduate and graduate levels. It is particularly useful with students in professional degree programs and scientists to analyze data the Bayesian way. The text will also enhance introductory courses on Bayesian statistics. Prerequisites for the book are an undergraduate background in probability and statistics, if not in Bayesian statistics.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep: Dust to Dust Vol 2

Author: Chris Roberson
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
ISBN: 9781608866182
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Who hunted androids before Rick Deckard? A GLOBAL SCIENCE FICTION PUBLISHING EVENT! John W. Campbell Award-nominee Chris Roberson writes the prequel to John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winner Philip K. Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, one of the greatest science fiction novels ever published! THE PREQUEL TO ONE OF THE GREATEST SCIENCE-FICTION NOVELS EVER PUBLISHED! Volume 2 of John W. Campbell Award-nominee Chris Roberson’s prequel to John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winner Philip K. Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?. Who hunted androids before Rick Deckard? Taking place immediately after World War Terminus ends, the problems with artificial life -- androids – become apparent. The government decides they must become targets, hunted down, but who will do the dirty work? Two men are assigned: Malcolm Reed, a "special" human with the power to feel others' emotions, and Charlie Victor who's the perfect man for the job... or is he? What secret does Victor hide? Meanwhile Samantha Wu, a Stanford biologist, fights to save the last of the living animals. Don't miss this science fiction milestone that fleshes out Philip K. Dick's world and DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?'s mythology.