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The Artificial Man
Madness--or Reality?
It's the Year of the State, 2016. But in Bewdy, it's the Year of our Lord, 1966.
Something is wrong--something monstrous and unnatural--and Alan Fraser, whoever he is--whatever he is--finds himself right in the middle of it.
Karen Summer tries to help Alan discover the truth about what's happening. But she sets off a chain of events more frightening--more horrible--than anyone can imagine.
(Descriptive text quoted from back cover of book.)
It's the Year of the State, 2016. But in Bewdy, it's the Year of our Lord, 1966.
Something is wrong--something monstrous and unnatural--and Alan Fraser, whoever he is--whatever he is--finds himself right in the middle of it.
Karen Summer tries to help Alan discover the truth about what's happening. But she sets off a chain of events more frightening--more horrible--than anyone can imagine.
(Descriptive text quoted from back cover of book.)
- GenresScience FictionFiction
188 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
About the author
Leslie Purnell Davies
34 books15 followersPseudonyms: Leslie Vardre, L.P. Davies, Leo Barne, Robert Blake, R. Bridgeman, Morgan Evans, Ian Jefferson, Lawrence Peters, Thomas Phillips, G.K. Thomas and Rowland Welch.
Leslie Purnell Davies was a British novelist whose works typically combine elements of horror, science fiction and mystery. He also wrote many short stories under several pseudonyms.
Davies' books deal with the defects, evolution or manipulation of human consciousness, and in some ways are comparable to the works of Philip K. Dick. His protagonists frequently suffer from amnesia or other loss of identity, and their quest to find out who they really are drives the plot.
(adapted from Wikipedia)
Leslie Purnell Davies was a British novelist whose works typically combine elements of horror, science fiction and mystery. He also wrote many short stories under several pseudonyms.
Davies' books deal with the defects, evolution or manipulation of human consciousness, and in some ways are comparable to the works of Philip K. Dick. His protagonists frequently suffer from amnesia or other loss of identity, and their quest to find out who they really are drives the plot.
(adapted from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 24, 2012
In The Artificial Man", Davies took an interesting trope (how a flawed man can be artificially "evolved" into the Übermensch), set it 50 years into his future (2016, only 4 years from this reader's vantage), and wrote a page-turner that ended in disappointment.
Reading more as a mystery than science fiction, ultimately I thought Davies waited too long to change the perspective of the narrative from protagonist Fraser/Arnold to the supporting cast for the reader to comfortably switch their allegiance; I just didn't know Karen & Gallea long enough to care about them, to say nothing of how ridiculous their instant googly-eyed romance was.
The Artificial Man is reminiscent of my most recent read, Zelazny's Today We Choose Faces, wherein an anachronistic/amnesiac warrior-"hero" is thrust through time to become a better copy of himself; Zelazny's version was more subtly wrought, albeit even less successful in a broader sense. Davies' treatment of this subject has even compared to Philip K. Dick's Time Out of Joint, which I greatly preferred, with each rendering his own iteration of human consciousness evolution. I probably won't pursue more of Davies' work; I'd rather just read PKD.
Reading more as a mystery than science fiction, ultimately I thought Davies waited too long to change the perspective of the narrative from protagonist Fraser/Arnold to the supporting cast for the reader to comfortably switch their allegiance; I just didn't know Karen & Gallea long enough to care about them, to say nothing of how ridiculous their instant googly-eyed romance was.
The Artificial Man is reminiscent of my most recent read, Zelazny's Today We Choose Faces, wherein an anachronistic/amnesiac warrior-"hero" is thrust through time to become a better copy of himself; Zelazny's version was more subtly wrought, albeit even less successful in a broader sense. Davies' treatment of this subject has even compared to Philip K. Dick's Time Out of Joint, which I greatly preferred, with each rendering his own iteration of human consciousness evolution. I probably won't pursue more of Davies' work; I'd rather just read PKD.
April 14, 2023
L.P. used to specialise in putting characters in places or situations they are unfamiliar with. Often this starts off with someone exhibiting signs of amnesia until the truth gradually unfurls itself. Some brilliant ideas from a cruelly under-rated genius of speculative fiction.
October 11, 2023
It's 1966 in a small village in the English countryside. Alan Fraser is a science fiction writer who has lived here all his life and is recovering from an accident under the care of a housekeeper and his chummy next door neighbor, along with frequent visits from the town doctor. Every day has a strict routine that is barely hidden behind casual "coincidences" surrounding the movement of the very small population of townspeople. And then things start to crack. Alan answers the phone and a strange man says a very familiar name to him, but he doesn't know where he heard the name before. He hears the doctor arrive like he does every day, but when he peeks out the window, the car is facing in the wrong direction. And then he goes for a very long walk in the countryside and runs into a young woman named Karen who he has never seen before. And she notices some very odd things about his village that just don't add up. She is drawn to him and wants to help, and not just because he gives her a real tobacco cigarette -- the kind you can't get anymore in 2016 (!!). This is a very fun science fiction novel with a heavy dose of spycraft, and just when you think you've figured out what is behind everything, the ground shifts a bit with a new twist. Bought this one for the cover and it ended up being an extremely fun read!
February 22, 2024
I found this book at a library book sale years ago and never got around to reading it until now. What a cracking great read! The concept of a regular guy discovering that he's really a secret agent who has been robbed of his memories has become a genre trope, but this may be the first time that other characters are given just as much, if not more, to do, creating a constant hum of activity, distractions and revelations, rather than simply let the "hero" get all the credit for "solving" the case. It sounds cliche to say it, but I honestly couldn't put this book down. I'll be looking for more from L.P. Davies, the next time I hit up a book sale.
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June 9, 2019I have the german edition: Der Mann aus der Zukunft
June 8, 2020
An excellent Philip K. Dick-esque thriller about identity and freedom.
April 10, 2025
An enjoyable British science-ficiton thriller.
August 9, 2016
This book was the basis of a favorite science fiction film of mine called Project X. That was what made me interested in reading the book. Project X tells an interesting story with a very limited budget.
While the character names and some of the premise is similar, the book is quite different from the movie.
In the movie Hagen Arnold is a secret agent sent to Sino Asia to learn about their advances in genetics. He escapes from that country after sending the message "The West will be destroyed in fouteen days, repeat fourteen days!" When he returns to the U.S. he has no memory, the result of a drug that destroys memory in secret agents who are tortured, in order to prevent the enemy from learning their secrets. The scientist Doctor Crowther must find a way to recover those memories so they can figure out the meaning of Arnold's last message while there is still time. Crowther tries to do this by convincing Arnold he is a bank robber in the 1960's.
The book is, again, very different. The story takes place in England, and the hero thinks he is a science fiction author living in the 1960's in a small village. We soon discover that the year is in fact 2016 and Britain is a dictatorship with food rationing and government mandated birth control, etc. Hagen Arnold is a secret agent who has lost his memory, and the village is a way to try and learn what those memories are, just like in Project X, but the difference is that nobody is in any particular hurry to find out what those memories are, and the whole false identity being given to Arnold may have a motive besides getting those memories.
So with the movie the premise is used for suspense, whereas the book goes more for mystery. Unfortunately, the solution to the mystery is disappointing.
I regret to say that the movie is much more interesting than the book.
While the character names and some of the premise is similar, the book is quite different from the movie.
In the movie Hagen Arnold is a secret agent sent to Sino Asia to learn about their advances in genetics. He escapes from that country after sending the message "The West will be destroyed in fouteen days, repeat fourteen days!" When he returns to the U.S. he has no memory, the result of a drug that destroys memory in secret agents who are tortured, in order to prevent the enemy from learning their secrets. The scientist Doctor Crowther must find a way to recover those memories so they can figure out the meaning of Arnold's last message while there is still time. Crowther tries to do this by convincing Arnold he is a bank robber in the 1960's.
The book is, again, very different. The story takes place in England, and the hero thinks he is a science fiction author living in the 1960's in a small village. We soon discover that the year is in fact 2016 and Britain is a dictatorship with food rationing and government mandated birth control, etc. Hagen Arnold is a secret agent who has lost his memory, and the village is a way to try and learn what those memories are, just like in Project X, but the difference is that nobody is in any particular hurry to find out what those memories are, and the whole false identity being given to Arnold may have a motive besides getting those memories.
So with the movie the premise is used for suspense, whereas the book goes more for mystery. Unfortunately, the solution to the mystery is disappointing.
I regret to say that the movie is much more interesting than the book.
January 5, 2017
Davies is a British author whose novels bear similarities to those of American author Philip K. Dick in that they frequently deal with consciousness and reality. This novel is the story of Alan Fraser, a man who lives in a small English village in the year 1966. Fraser is a writer working on a science fiction novel set in the year 2016. The handful of others who live in the tiny village interact with him and often offer suggestions to help with his novel. Fraser begins to believe something is wrong with his reality. His friends seems to pop in and out of life as though their actions were scripted, the ideas they suggest to help him with his writing seem a bit too good. One day, while walking alone in the woods, he meets a girl from outside the village and both realize that something very strange is going on. She believes the year is 2016. Together they set out to discover whether Fraser’s world is real or an artificial construct. The book has a surprising number of similarities to the British Television series called "The Prisoner". While I was less than satisfied with the ending, the book is well written, very readable, and overall, enjoyable. Recommended.
September 1, 2016
It was a genuine pleasure to read this after the Campbell *Islands of Space*, for it is genuinely *written*, and very well so. It's also so terribly English, with its central character a novelist who chats with the lawn-obsessed neighbor, and visits with his friendly postmaster, neighborhood ex-military major, and so no.
Of course, this is all fabricated (literally) and the underlying premise goes almost surreal in its quest for the dystopic goodness so prevalent in '60s SciFi. There's a sudden shift of characters, too, as well as some twists-and-turns you might not see coming. I did not expect the ending at all. Well, maybe the "stinger"—but not how it gets there.
And despite the change of main character(s) and viewpoint switches Davies keeps you interested in all of them.
Amusingly, this book, written in 1966, takes place 50 years in the future, and posits (naturally) an overpopulated world, totalitarian governments everywhere, and makes the global conflict between England and China. Heh. Oh, and of course, we ran out of food. (I always thought SF writers were supposed to be on the cutting edge of technology.)
Nonetheless, it's a good yarn.
Of course, this is all fabricated (literally) and the underlying premise goes almost surreal in its quest for the dystopic goodness so prevalent in '60s SciFi. There's a sudden shift of characters, too, as well as some twists-and-turns you might not see coming. I did not expect the ending at all. Well, maybe the "stinger"—but not how it gets there.
And despite the change of main character(s) and viewpoint switches Davies keeps you interested in all of them.
Amusingly, this book, written in 1966, takes place 50 years in the future, and posits (naturally) an overpopulated world, totalitarian governments everywhere, and makes the global conflict between England and China. Heh. Oh, and of course, we ran out of food. (I always thought SF writers were supposed to be on the cutting edge of technology.)
Nonetheless, it's a good yarn.
March 31, 2016
One of my favorite books as a teen. The first 2/3 are a gripping and fascinating "who am I?" puzzle. Unfortunately, if you enjoy the beginning you'll almost certainly be disappointed by the rather bizarre finale.
October 10, 2009
A good and thoughtful book. I was a little disappointed in the ending.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews