Book Review: The Maze of Death - Philip K Dick

I picked up The Maze of Death from a second hand book shop. It’s included in the SF Masterworks though, so it may still be available in shops! For those of you that aren’t clued in on the SF Masterworks is a series of Sci-Fi classics that are being reprinted based on their merit by Gollancz, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group.



The Maze of Death is one of the lesser known Philip K Dick novels (probably because it’s one of the few that hasn’t been adapted to the screen) and was written in the middle of his career. If you have a look at the SF Masterworks list you will see that Dick nominates the classics. What is truly a shame is that his genius didn’t get recognized by a mass audience until Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner in 1982 (the year of Dick’s death). Philip K Dick spent the majority of his writing period living in poverty, struggling to live off the salary of a novelist.

The Maze of Death can easily be identified as being written in the middle of Dick’s career. It has the 1970’s paranoia trip that bleeding into his work as he experimented with methamphetamines and LSD. This being said, the novel also has a beautifully classic feel about it that is lost with his more popular novels.
In The Maze of Death fourteen people are selected and placed on a supposedly ‘uninhabited’ world for reasons they think will be explained when the last colonist arrives. The purpose of the mission is to be beamed from an orbiting satellite (their only communication and link to the outside universe). Unfortunately, or deliberately, the satellite breaks when they try to retrieve the message leaving them on the mysterious Delmak-O stranded with no escape and no purpose.

Things get bleaker when members of the group start being killed off and the books takes on a psychological twist leaving the reader and the colonists wondering if the whole situation is some sort of disturbing psychological experiment. This is strengthened by the fact that each of the 14 members of the new society appear to be dysfunctional and the rejects of the universe; from alcoholics and pill poppers to sex addicts.

The novel keeps you guessing and I doubt anyone has predicted the end. It’s the kind of resolution you are either going to love of hate. I would have hated this ending if it wasn’t for it’s pure bleakness. There is something about the thought of this ending which is truly terrifying… Even more so than an inescapable world of unhinged strangers… But I won’t give it away! More so, it complements the theme of the novel – perceived reality.

The other interesting part of this novel is Dick’s exploration of Religion (some might argue another perceived reality). The foreword of the story states:

It stems from an attempt by William Sarill and myself to develop an abstract, logical system of religious thought, based on the arbitrary postulate that God exists.

In this world, Dick has seemed to throw together all religions into a scientific blender to make sense of the rhetoric and put the biblical into layman’s terms. The world’s bible is dubbed Specktowsky's How I Rose From The Dead In My Spare Time And So Can You. In this reality prayers can be relayed through futuristic post and answered accordingly. Religious figures include the Intercessor, Mentufacturer and Form Destroyer who control, monitor and create the universe, occasionally appearing to mortals. The Walker-on-Earth is a prophet of sorts who destiny is to appear to mortals and help them in hours of need. In a novel where Dick explores perception and reality, this philosophical meander gives the deepest meaning to the novel. Where each character has a different perception about their purpose or the true identity of Delmak-O , they also have different perceptions through their religious upbringings. A good example of this is when Seth claims the Walker on Earth who tells him not to go to Delmak-O. The group questions him on how he knew this man was the Walker on Earth. Was it just his perception of an irrelevant comment? Also, how does this relate to their fate? It the Gods tried to intervene but Seth ignored the message. This is also true of Tallchief who was selected for the mission by answer to his prayer. Perhaps this is punishment? Is Delmak-O hell? It almost seems such...

The Maze of Death is really more of a short story that a true novel which means it lacks any character development and plot progression that could of made the story stronger. But it’s a very enjoyable read and you can't get annoyed at a book that is short and sweet!