Clans of the Alphane Moon

By: Philip K. Dick

Narrated by: David de Vries

For years, the third moon in the Alphane system was used as a psychiatric hospital. But when war broke out between Earth and the Alphanes, the hospital was left unguarded and the inmates set up their own society, made up of competing factions based on their particular mental illnesses. When Earth sends a delegation to take back the colony, they find enclaves of depressives, schizophrenics, paranoiacs, and others uniting to repel what they see as a foreign invasion. Meanwhile, back on Earth, CIA agent Chuck Rittersdorf and his wife, Mary, go through a bitter divorce, and Chuck loses everything. But when he is assigned to clandestinely control an android accompanying Mary to the Alphane moon, he sees an opportunity to get revenge.

©1964 Philip K. Dick (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

great novel

I love Phillip k Dick and this book did not disappoint. He's such a witty writer. This story makes fun of the CIA a lot, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

PKD top 3

This is an excellent story, must read for any PKD fan. Great narration as well.

Not PK's best. Not disorganized, just written.

This feels like Dick was being pushed to 'finish the damn thing already'. One might hope for more science or fiction or characters about whom one might care.

Expanded short!

I love when Philip K. Dick does novellas based on his short stories. Some of them even combine two or three short stories into one.

Classic Dick, great characters, plot and the craziest of all the ex wives that he wrote can be found here!

In Shell Game the original short story they were survivors of a crashed medical ship, not patients in a colonial hospital that got isolated. The distinction being that in Shell Game all the doctors died in the crash, or the ship was fully automated, In Clans they overthrow the hospital destroying it and killing some staff in the process.

Great story makes me appreciate my happy marriage even more!

One of my favorite

This is one of my favorite PKD books. Is was my favorite for a number of years. I always wish I could go back and experience the humor for the first time. I’ve read it a few times. I think my response is different at different times because there is no surprises in the humor.

Other favorites have been Flow my Tears the Policeman Said that I found to be offensive the last time I read it. The Martian Time-Slip was a solid favorite until fairly recently. This fluidity in tastes causes me to think identifying my favorites might not be that meaningful.

With that said, some are always at the top of my lists, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and The Man in the High Castle remain top favorites over time.

crazy story of moon settlement

Based on types of mental instabilities communities on a moon organize. protagonist fights his wife and his own mental processes in the humorous romp through space.

ok

an entertaining story but I expected more. a fun listen and good sci-fi but not Dick's best work.

Timeless Phillip K. Dick Novel

What about David de Vries’s performance did you like?

Great voices for all characters, including mechanical voices! Bravo!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Interesting premise, Fun story and superbly narrated!

Entertaining

If you like Phillip K Dick you’ll probably like this. Like a lot of Dicks work it kind of jumps the shark with quirky storytelling, but it’s a fun listen.

Classic Sci-Fi

Philip K. Dick's books are slightly dated with their view of the near to distant future, but the story is engaging and keeps you interested throughout. The narrator does a very good job as well.