The Collected Works of Philip K. Dick: 11 Science Fiction Stories

By: Philip K. Dick

Narrated by: Kevin Killavey

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The Collected Works of Philip K. Dick is a collection of 11 science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. Included in this audiobook:

• 1. "Beyond Lies the Wub"
• 2. "Beyond the Door"
• 3. "Mr. Spaceship"
• 4. "Piper in the Woods"
• 5. "Second Variety"
• 6. "The Crystal Crypt"
• 7. "The Defenders"
• 8. "The Eyes Have It"
• 9. "The Gun"
• 10. "The Skull"
• 11. "The Variable Man"

©2012 BookDar Publishing (P)2012 BookDar Publishing

Good Stories...well read.

Where does The Collected Works of Philip K. Dick: 11 Science Fiction Stories rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Wow. Hard to believe one reviewer and I were listening to the same book. I thought the stories were excellent and the reader did a very good job. One of the best audiobooks I've heard.

What did you like best about this story?

The variety of stories.

What about Kevin Killavey’s performance did you like?

Great job with the many voices.

Any additional comments?

To each his own I guess but hard to see how someone could pan a book like this.

Good enough tales, hard to listen to.

Serms to me that Phillip K Dick does better work on longer stories. Some of his characters made me cringe with how stupid they were. However, as a fan of the author and genre, you should read these stories.

And I do mean read. My main issue with this product is the reader. During most of the book I was instinctively sniffing. The reader sounds so stuffed up during some sections that I hoped he would stop and blow his nose. Overall an unpleasant thing to listen to.

It's PKD what's not to love

a bunch of short stories from PKD. Well worth a credit. It's easy to have a few favorites in this compilation.

MON-OHtone

Great writing distressed by the muted nasal passages of the reader. The effect is such that one story bleeds into the other and you lose track of where one ends and the other begins. listen for no more than One half hour at a time.

Not His Best Work But Worthy

These short stories were fun to listen to as well as being solidly in the realm of good SyFy. Anyone listening to them will enjoy most, if not all, of them. Normally, I'm prepared to experience either mediocre or the worst when I purchase either Collected Works or multiple author short stories packages. I'm pleased to say that was not one of those times.

Not worth your time

What disappointed you about The Collected Works of Philip K. Dick: 11 Science Fiction Stories?

There are few positive things to be said about this audio book.

First, the narrator says everything in the same rushed tone. The different voices he uses are laughably bad. There is very little silence between books (to be fair, I believe that's more of the producers' fault than anything). You may be listening to the end of one story and in the next breath he's on to the next.

Second, the stories are just terrible. Very little actual storytelling, very little "visuals" or descriptions, and everything has a twist ending that you can see coming a mile off. The stories are a bad combination of 50's science fiction schlock and poorly thought-out Twilight Zone episodes.

Third, the audio quality is terrible. There is a high pitched squeal throughout and even other noises (beeping? voices?). I would expect this sort of poor quality from something ripped from cassette and posted on a bittorrent site, not from Audible.

All in all, I didn't finish "reading" this book. In fact, I gave up about 5 hours in. I'll be returning it to Audible.

Would you ever listen to anything by Philip K. Dick again?

Yes, but not these stories.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kevin Killavey’s performances?

Probably not.

Great stories, marginal reading

The stories were interesting and strangely appropriate with the war in Ukraine. Voice acting, not so great, mispronounced words, inconsistent character voices, female characters all sounded whiney.

Not to Par with Dick's later works

Would you listen to another book narrated by Kevin Killavey?

Killavey needs to step up his game if he is serious about a career in narration. He lacks the gravitas of someone like Tom Weiner whose narrated several of Dick's book. There were minor inconsistencies in the different voices he used. The overall audio quality was below standard as well. The audio all sounded like it had a dull reverb on it or maybe that it was a copy of a copy.

Any additional comments?

There were a couple of gems in this collection. Mainly the first and last of the 11 stories approached the level of some of his better known works. Hearing the collection gives you some insight as to his obsession with certain themes like space exploration and post-apocalyptic Earth. I would give recommend this collection only to die-hard Dick-heads who have already went through all his better known works.

I Love Philip K. Dick's Writing But...

I'm not sure whether or not it's the stories or the narration, but every one of the stories is so predictable, that I know the ending way before it happens. I do think the narrator does not help in some cases in that his reading gives things away way too early.

Last story was so captivating!

All the stories were entertaining and thought provoking; some more than others. Some were a bit predictable but enjoyable all the same. Sometimes the readers accents got a bit mixed up but he had so many to do he can’t really be blamed The last story was spellbinding to the point were I truly couldn’t stop listening though I had other things I really needed to do :)

Cracking little stories

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Definitely. Some of the stories were better than others but there was plenty of stories and some of them were pretty short so definitely got your money's worth.

Would you be willing to try another book from Philip K. Dick? Why or why not?

Yes, he's written some of the best sci-fi stories ever.

Enthraling scifi storys about the human condition

Enthraling scifi storys about the human condition.
very enjoyable. Most likely the inspiration for coltless sci fi works produces in the last 30 years.