Dr. Futurity

by Philip K. Dick

Born in '80, Dr Jim Parsons undergoes abrupt involuntary time travel from 2012 to 2405 to find his profession treated disdainfully. Population is static, with no natural births. Only death allows an embryo's formation. The society's ambivalent about death. Eugenics ensures successive generations better benefit the species. By killing the weak, poverty & disease are eliminated & survival is optimized. A single race derived from African- & Native Americans controls this world. Caucasians were wiped out or integrated centuries earlier.
Parsons cures a woman, not knowing this is a crime. Chancellor Al Stenog exiles him to Mars. The spaceship is intercepted & Parsons is returned to a deserted far future Earth. On finding a marker with instructions on operating the spaceship's time travel controls, he's directed to an Amerind tribal lodge, where he must perform surgery to save the life of a wounded time traveller, Corith, after the latter had died from an arrow wound. Parsons extracts it. It later mysteriously rematerializes in Corith's body.
To resolve the situation, Parsons & Corith's relatives travel back to Corith's previous assignment in 1579 on N. America's west coast, where Corith was to kill Francis Drake to alter history & preserve Amerind lifeways against European subjugation. Observing the assassination attempt, Parsons realizes Drake is actually Stenog, lying in wait for Corith. Parsons tries warning Corith. Corith discovers Parsons is white & attacks him. Struggling, Parsons inadvertently stabs Corith's heart with an arrow meant for Drake.
In retribution, Parsons is left stranded by Corith's relatives in 1597, by which time the Europeans had departed. Parsons is rescued by Loris, Corith's daughter, when she learns she'll have Parson's child in the future. Briefly back in 2405, Parsons realizes the reason the arrow mysteriously reappeared in Corith's chest was because he'd murdered him for a 2nd time to cover his tracks. If Corith recovered, he'd have revealed it was Parsons who killed him & an unwitting Parsons from slightly earlier would've been helpless at the hands Corith's relatives. As he stands over Corith, ready to kill him a 2nd time, he decides against it & tries fleeing. Before doing so, two people appear in the room from the future & kill Corith with the 2nd arrow. Parsons realizes the murderers are children he'd had with Loris, traveling back to 2405 from a more distant future.
His children take Parsons forward in time to meet with Loris again. He struggles with the decision to return to 2012. Eventually he returns to the same day he'd left & to the doting wife who saw him off that morning. He sets about his old life, a new task at hand. The novel ends with him placing the stone marker that'll save his life on a desolate future Earth.

Genres: Science Fiction, Pulp

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Philip Kindred Dick was a prolific American science fiction author whose work has had a lasting impact on literature, cinema, and popular culture. Known for his imaginative narratives and profound philosophical themes, Dick explored the nature of reality, the boundaries of human identity, and the impact of technology and authoritarianism on society. His stories often blurred the line between the real and the artificial, challenging readers to question their perceptions and beliefs.
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a

Reviews

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Futurity is, from my understanding, PKD’s second science fiction novel (written in 1953, published in 1960). It is the sort of time travel story I like best; the focus on the mechanics and play with time travel rather than it being a ploy for a history lesson. With this novel, the young PKD plays with the possibilities of time travel, as RAH did with his classic story, “By His Bootstraps”. This was a time travel novel with all the I’s meticulously dotted and the T’s... and written only the way that PKD could write it.

It is a time travel story that goes to the farthest future and the past before white men stumbled upon the shores of America, with a short trip to Mars thrown in (just for the hell-ovit). Typical for PKD even at such an early date, it includes fun and interesting dialogue between great characters and a loopy unpredictable plot-line.

A great early effort by one who would soon become a master of the genre.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have this as part of an ACE Double along with DR. FUTURITY by Philip K. Dick. SLAVERS OF SPACE is a short novel that follows a space shipping heir named Derry Horn into a vast conspiracy that involves blue androids. It was published in 1960 and is a perfectly fine pulp sci-fi story. There are robots, androids, conspiracy and murder. Perhaps my quibble with the novel is that it lacks a menace, or danger, in Derry Horn's investigation into the murder of an android and man on the run. It shouldn't, but it did. It's a minor criticism however, because the story does pickup about 2/3rds into it. And then the resolution is collapsed into a narrative summary to a happy resolution. It's popcorn reading. It's ACE Double Sci-Fi reading, it's heroes and robots. So there you go. Eventually I'll flip the book over and read the Philip K. Dick story.

[Kaiju Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slavers of Space is a simple tale that follows a currently still very relevant privileged white guy that sees behind the curtain for a second when he discovers a murder. Down the rabbit hole and out into the cosmos he goes, uncovering a plot that will sound familiar to anyone with an inkling of colonial history. The trick here is that Derry Horn, the protagonist, does indeed have an arc, albeit a simple one, and is supported by a cast of interesting characters and exotic and fun locations. I had a good time reading it.

Speaking of colonialism, Dr. Futurity is an earlier Philip K. Dick novel but was as wheels-off as one would expect from the author. I guess after reading Vulcan's Hammer I was expecting another more by-the-numbers tale, but DF isn't that. Without going too much into the plot, I'll say that DF has multiple characters masquerading as multiple different races, a sort of ultra-modern eugenic death cult, free love, revisionist history, and a healthy dose of heaving bosoms. The end result is an extremely entertaining mix of political themes still present today and sensibilities (those heaving bosoms) that have elapsed.

I highly recommend Dr. Futurity as an example of early Dick craziness.

The Brunner is harder to recommend as it doesn't stand out as much but served for a fun couple of evenings. If you happen to have the Ace Double, I'd read it. If not... no need to seek out.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rare and early foray into the subject of Time Travel from Dick, although the timeslip element is used initially merely as a device to move an objective viewpoint to a far future and therefore alien society.
Although one of the novels in which Dick was still finding his literary feet, it shows signs of the depths of his ideas and the themes which would come to dominate his work.
Dr Jim Parsons is snatched from the US of Nineteen Ninety Eight and deposited in the year Two Thousand, Four Hundred and Five. Interestingly, the US that Dick envisaged in his own near future is one in which large corporations have been nationalised and society seems to be run by the professional classes (Doctors, lawyers, etc.). American politics and society is often something at which Dick takes a sideswipe, often as part of the background to the main narrative.
Parsons arrives in a post-nuclear world where the human race has become homogenised and the birth rate is strictly controlled (as is female rights).
Children are produced by a process of controlled natural selection whereby competitive ‘tribes’ engage in various mental and physical challenges; the number of points they win determining who contributes their zygotes to ‘The Soul Cube’, which is essentially a vast bank of reproductive material.
Death is welcomed, as when a tribe member dies, a replacement is automatically fertilised within the cube.
Being a Doctor, and somewhat politically liberal, Parsons is confused and appalled when he is arrested for saving the life of a young woman who subsequently makes a complaint against him for denying her the right to die.
Structurally, the novel follows the mythic structure in that the hero – unwillingly in this case – is taken from his world of familiarity and his happy marriage (unusually for Dick, whose heroes tend to suffer from broken or dysfunctional relationships) to an alien world of seemingly bizarre behaviour and barbaric cultural beliefs.
Dick was once quoted as having been influenced by AE Van Vogt, and if it shows anywhere, it shows in this novel which, if a little less obscure and rambling than some of Van Vogt’s work, displays some of his trademarks such as ‘the dark city of spires’, the super race, the peculiar machines, the convoluted plot and the trip to Mars. These are Van Vogt clichés which can be seen at their best in Slan (1940) and ‘The World of Null-A’ (1948).
It’s obviously hastily written, although the time-travel loops and paradoxes are well-thought out and all the ends neatly tied up, although Dick skimps on some areas where the motives of the characters are confusing. For instance, believing himself to have murdered someone by utilising time-travel equipment Parsons goes out of his way to try and ensure that he has actually done so. At that point, however, he has no motive for carrying out the murder, and has been shown earlier to be – he is a Doctor after all – someone who is dedicated to preserving life.

[Felix Zilich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Хирург Джим Парсонс, став жертвой автомобильной аварии, оказывается перенесен из родного 2005 года на 300 лет в будущее. Наивная уверенность доктора в том, что люди его профессии востребованы в любую эпоху, терпит сокрушительное фиаско. Но для людей из 2305 года все целители - преступники, ведь они лишают человека права на выбор смерти. В этом постъядерном обществе каждый уверен, что живет и работает во благо будущих поколений. И что существование больного либо просто калеки может негативно отразиться на генофонде всей нации, поэтому любой нормальный гражданин обязательно предпочтет смерть.

Парсонс узнает, что был специально вытащен в это время местными революционерами. Они гораздо терпимее к вопросам человеческой жизни, но при этом больны совершенно иной манией. Они хотят при помощи машины времени ликвидировать конкистадоров и стереть из истории века владычества белой расы….

Роман решен в необычной для Дика, но хрестоматийной для классического НФ форме “временного парадокса”. Здесь все очень правильно и гладко, но при этом и довольно стандартно. Подобных книг мы вволю накушались еще во времена андерсоновского “Патруля времени”. Тем более, что для нас, как исследователей творчества Филиппа Дика, особенно интересно, что, даже находясь в рамках классической схемы, маэстро смог раскрыть полный набор своих обычных фишек. То бишь, у нас в наличии:
1\ герой, чей мир изменился на 180 градусов, как всегда не подозревает, что источник всех его проблем – это он сам
2\ альтернативное будущее, которое обязательно является более худшим чем наше настоящее

Прошу обратить внимание на второе. Лично для меня Дик фактически размазал по стенке сторонников “краснокожего” пути развития цивилизации. (2005.03.23)

[Illusive · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slavers of Space by John Brunner, gelesen als Bürger der Galaxis

Der Sternfahrer wußte zuviel – er wurde ermordet. Derry Horn verfolgte die Mörder und stieß auf ein schreckliches Geheimnis – die Herstellung der blauen Androiden.

Eine interessante Geschichte um das Geheimnis der blauen Androiden, hat mir gefallen.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankly, I only remember the covers of this Ace Double (the other being Dick's Dr. Futurity). Later, upon reading Stand on Zanzibar, I came to like Brunner very much.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early short novels by two big names. The Brunner is decent enough but undistinguished. Its conceit, that the trade in androids (recognizable by their blue skin) is really a trade in humans, kidnapped as children, sterilized, and dyed blue to be passed off as constructions, is an unsubtle and not particularly successful attempt to use SF to comment on racism. It would have worked better, I think, if there really wereandroids in the story. Brunner relies heavily on coincidence and luck to get his hero through his travails, as well, which is also a weakness, in my opinion. His author's bio is rather amusing in its defence of writing merely to entertain, rather than aiming for "literary" qualities, especially in light of Brunner's very conscious shift, within a decade, to a deliberately literary style. The Dick is also somewhat pulpy and creaky (nobody can accuse Dick of being a great stylist, and in this early work, he is even less facile than in his later stuff), but is conceptually much more rich. Doctor Jim Parsons finds himself thrown into the future by means unknown, where his skills as a doctor (medicine is outlawed in this world) are needed by a faction to restore life tot heir resistance leader. The novel leans lightly in the direction of utopian satire in its depiction of a culture in which illness and injury are never cured, so that the weak and infirm die out, as part of an ongoing eugenic program of constant improvement. That this is a post0-Caucasian world adds some spice to the idea, especially when the novel leans more heavily into time travel as a potential means of erasing colonial history specifically by preventing the domination of European culture linked to English, Spanish, etc. colonialism. Of course, questions of the plasticity of reality and of existential crisis emerge, as is inevitable in Dick. It's early and hesitant work, but very obviously Dickian, and a reasonably meaty read for an old Ace pulp SF novel.

[John JJJJJJJJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review only for "Slavers of Space", by John Brunner

A kind of space thriller. I discovered this book by chance. After being disappointed by The Shockwave Rider, I decided to rediscover this author through this novel, before reading his major works. This novel is uninteresting. But the advantage, because there is one, is that it's short.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of those Ace Doubles picked up at Knack's Drugstore on Lake Street in downtown Bridgman, Michigan--the old downtown by the railroad tracks, not the commercial area on the Red Arrow Highway. The other novella was John Brunner's The Slavers of Space.

Based on Dick's 1954 short story, "Time Pawn," Dr. Futurity has the characteristic irony and identity confusion of so many of his novels, but lacks the ontological and epistemological seriousness of his later works.

Being pretty young when I read the thing, I recall finding it rather confusing.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Futurity - four stars http://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2018/01...
Slavers of Space - two stars https://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2018/1...