THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE

Classic science fiction writer Philip K. Dick became a legendary writer because of visionary ideas that broke genre boundaries and offered fresh new stories of bleak and harrowing futures. This story is the one that put him on the map, as Dick paints a bleak portrait of a post-World War II America that is jointly occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan. The very notion is downright scary, and narrator Tom Weiner delivers a classic performance that captures the Orwellian atmosphere that abounds in this tale while giving a nod to radio announcers from the 1940s. His voice is somewhat robotic and rigid, but it serves the plot all the more as his characters are incredibly rich and perfectly realized. One of the best and most complex readings this year! L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2008]