The Game-players of Titan (Voyager Classics)

Pages missing and out of order

The book sucked. Pages were missing or out of order. I returned one and the replacement was the same way. I just gave up after that.

A Little Twisted, a Little Dark, and a Little Hurried

It appears that there is consensus on this Amazon forum -- and in most other forums -- that TGPoT doesn't fall within the realm of PKD's greatest works. But it's still a worthwhile read for the following reasons...
1) PDK employs some tricks, that he's finely honed, to make the reader feel as disconnected from reality as the characters are. He is so good at this that I actually felt off balance at times -- it's as if he were able to translate his mental illness, through the main character, right onto the pages of this book
2) In addition to his mental illness, PKD also instills the book's protagonist, Pete Garden, with the other troubles from which PKD suffered: alcohol and drug dependency and a patheticaly poor ability to manage relationships. I believe the very personal nature of PKD's experiences with the problems of the main character are what make the book so well paced and delivered
3) More than any other Sci-Fi writer, PKD is willing to have his soul reflected onto every page he writes; and true to his nature, in TGPoT, PKD provides us with yet another window into his very distrubed and talented mind -- for me, this title slams home the fact that PKD is truly the Van Gogh of Sci-Fi
4) In TGPoT, PKD empowers his characters with novel and unique precognitive and telekenetic powers that enables him drive the pace of the book.

I took away 1 star because...
1) True to the pulp nature of his writing style, you can literally feel PKD furiously typing to get to the end of the book so that he can, in a mad rush, sprint to his publisher to, just under the wire, fling the manuscript onto his harried publishers desk, then with a quick but poorly executed pivot, tear away with his ridiculously small check, only to barely make the close of his bank in a hastening effort to convert it to cash, so that he can jump in his old peice of $%&^ car and speed to the nearest bar to plunge into a bottle of rot gut and eventually drink and whore away his money, so that he is forced to start the cycle all over again with his next flash of brilliance
2) The game itself is probably the most uninspired concept I have seen PKD put to page. He does though, use it as an effective tool for railing against capitalism (another common theme of PKD's works).

Net/net: if you like sci-fi, read it!

Typical 60s PKD--and that's a good thing

In criticial estimation, The Game Players of Titan suffers by comparison with Dick's masterpieces The Man in the High Castle, Martian Time-Slip, and Dr. Bloodmoney, also written in the early 1960s, because it does not have their serious themes or strong sociological dimension. Nevertheless, this book partakes of the brilliance of the overall concept that runs through Dick's work in this period. What's more, it is a very funny novel. The vugs, whose natural form is that of amorphous, gelatinous blobs, have occupied Earth after winning a war in which humanity nearly managed to sterilize itself through radiation exposure. Vugs have the capability of controlling humans' minds or simulating their form, behavior, and memories, often taking names such as U. S. Cummings and E. B. Black. The plot revolves around the game of Bluff, which is somewhat akin to Monopoly, which is used to decide mates and property rights. The plot culminates with an interspecies game of Bluff between the humans and vugs, who have the advantage of psychokinetic powers, which they use to change the values of the cards as they play. There are mind-altering drugs, psychosis, talking cars, and crazy humor. In short, a feast for the Dick fan.

Mostly great

The Earth has been taken over by the Vugs and humanity is reduced to gambling for money, property, and marriages. Players who are good at the Game (which is some wierd combination of poker and monopoly) get the chance to reproduce and live in the lap of luxury. The story follows the usual PKD lines (if the word usual can ever truly be applied to him!). We have paranoia, astral teleportation, strange aliens, pre-cogs -trying to cheat in the Game- and a whole lot of sarcastic humour.

There are also the usual PKD failings, lack of characterization and long bits of non-plot-related ramblings. Of course, anyone who is familiar with his work will know that these are not reasons to avoid the book. He more than makes up for any deficiency by sheer genius and imagination.

But the main reason to read this book comes toward the end (so I won't spoil it by telling you all about it) where you, the reader, can see how the vugs view the humans. I think this is the best piece of Dick's writing that I have ever read. These few pages are worth the book's price alone.

This is early PKD, and I recommend it to any fans out there. It is a fast read, and it gives you plenty to think about. If you are new to this brilliant author, I would start somewhere else, though. Perhaps with some of his more accessible works, like Ubik or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

Wonderful Premise Handled With Great Skill

I cannot claim to know much about Philip K. Dick as this is, thus far, the only one of his novels I have read. But based on a reading of The Game-Players of Titan, it will not be the last. The premise of the inhabitants of Earth playing the game, Bluff, for spouses and land is wonderful and the story only grows weirder and more original with each passing chapter. The only small quibble is the ending is somewhat anti-climatic after the strongly built, witty, creatively heightened build up but this book is about the journey and one could have no better guide than the author for this unique trip.