The cult classic “Blade Runner,” directed by Ridley Scott (1982), is an excellent film.

The novel that inspired it, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” written by Phillip K. Dick (1968), trumps its film adaption in every respect. Like most movies, “Blade Runner” doesn’t do its source material justice.

“Blade Runner” is entertaining and it pays homage to its source material endearingly. Sadly, it lacks the complexity of the novel that inspired it. This is surprising because, even in its brevity (a mere 210 pages), Dick showcases a novel that reads like Neo-Noir pulp fiction while containing the same thematic depth as a work of literature.

Ask yourself this question: What makes humans human? Dick, via “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” seeks to answer this question and in the process, he poses many more: What is Reality? What impact does Religion have on humanity? Can empathy be misplaced? The setting and plot of the book hold the key to these answers.

In an undisclosed future, nuclear war has ravaged most of the planet and has left life-threatening, radioactive dust behind. The small portion of humanity that hasn’t migrated to Mars was left on Earth, a planet dominated by shady corporations and shallow entertainment.

Further, the fallout from the war has made most of Earth’s animal population extinct; procuring a live animal is a symbol of high social status, yet many on Earth can’t afford the real thing so they settle for robotic replacements.

To escape the dark reality of post-apocalyptic earth, Humanity finds comfort by prescribing to Mercerism, a religion in which participants literally fuse, via technology, to the suffering character of William Mercer in order to gain a greater sense of collective empathy.

Technology too has advanced — androids (also known as “Andys”) exist. Emotions can be altered and dialed via mood machines. Hover cars litter dystopian cities and it’s in one them–San Francisco, California– that the plot of  the novel unfolds.

Rick Deckard is a police sponsored bounty hunter. His job is simple: kill “Andys” who masquerade as humans for a paycheck. After starting the day with his depressed live-in wife in their apartment, Deckard arrives at police headquarters to serious news.

Dave Holden, the department’s senior bounty hunter, has been hospitalized. Holden’s work, retiring the six remaining Nexus-6 Androids — a dangerous, new model — falls to Deckard. Armed with the Voigt-Kampff empathy test, which distinguishes human from android, the day and the experiences that follow ultimately change Deckard; testing his perceptions of himself, reality and the complex emotion that is empathy.

Reality, specifically, is something that Dick masterfully manipulates for both audiences and characters.

Deckard’s interaction with his peer, Phil Resch, forces him to question his and his partner’s identity. Even more jarring and surreal are parts which feature Wilbur Mercer, as it’s unclear to either readers of characters if he’s exists at all or if he’s just a hallucinatory figment of their imagination.

There is so much more richness within this book. Dick’s writing is easily understood, moves at a brisk pace and above all is highly entertaining.

If you have even a passing interest in Science-Fiction, then check out “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.” You won’t regret it.

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