The Secret History of the Book That Inspired Blade Runner

You may think of it primarily as that book Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was based on, but Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has a rich life all its own. Before you see Blade Runner 2049, grab your Penfield mood organ and dial up some intrigue with these insights into the book that inspired a classic film—which just might be a classic in its own right. (If your interest strays more to the movies, there’s plenty more about adapting Dick’s dark visions in Future Noir, a newly updated edition of Paul M. Sammon’s exhaustive book about the making of the film.)
It Could Have Been Replaced with a Blade Runner Novelization
Leading up to the 1982 release of Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick was asked to write a novelization of the movie suitable for 12 year olds. Enormous amounts of money were on the table—upwards of $400,000. The catch was that the original book would be taken off store shelves to ensure sales of the new version. It was a classic case of “el cheapo” Hollywood knockoffs versus artistic integrity, which is probably why Dick declined the offer.
Dick Didn’t like Blade Runner at First
Philip K. Dick hated the first version of the Blade Runner script. It wasn’t until he saw portions of the pre-release film and read an updated draft that he made peace with the production. “It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly.” he later said in an interview. Dick died just months before the movie was released, but at least we know it carried his stamp of approval.

It Subtly Critiques the Eugenics Movement
One of the hallmarks of Dick’s writing is that he rarely hammers a point so hard that you yell, “All right already, I get it!” Themes are subtle and sparse, playing out in the space of a few paragraphs or a few lines across multiple chapters. There’s a lot of room for discussion, which is how this eugenics theory came to be: early chapters of Electric Sheep mention the need to gain permission to have children, reproductive tolerances, and forced emigration—all features associated with the perfect gene pool sought after by eugenics. J.R. Isidore, a simple-minded character mocked as a “chickenhead,” also touches on the topic when he mentions not being allowed to reproduce or leave Earth. In a book about human empathy, what does it say that we sterilize the less intelligent and force them to stay on a poisoned planet? We’re not as heartless as androids, but we don’t even treat members of our own species as real people.
The Author’s Estate Almost Sued Google
Androids in the Electric Sheep universe were created in model sets known as Nexus-1, Nexus-2, and so on. In 2010, Google announced its flagship Android device would be called Nexus. What a fun coincidence! The Philip K. Dick estate thought so, too. They sent a cease and desist letter to Google promising legal action would follow if the name wasn’t changed. Google insisted the word was used in its original sense, and not as a reference to the book. The estate never trademarked the name, so the legal threats fizzled out in the months that followed.

Philip K. Dick Wrote a Prequel… Kind Of
Dick never revisited the world in his own works, but according to his editor Gregg Rickman, an earlier title is close enough to serve as a prequel: We Can Build You, written years before Electric Sheep, follows a character who works for a company that builds androids from scratch. There’s even a character named Pris, just like in Electric Sheep. Close enough for me!
While Blade Runner was the first piece of media to peel off of the Electric Sheep franchise. The movie would go on to spawn sequels (three in print, written by author K.W. Jeter, most famous for his work in steampunk; plus the forthcoming film) and two video games. The book was adapted as a comic and given an eight-issue graphic novel prequel.
Kipple Is More Important Than You Think
Dick uses “kipple” as a word for useless objects—things like junk mail or match folders after you use the last match. The substance has a life of its own in Electric Sheep. It’s known to reproduce while you’re away, driving off non-kipple items unless you fight to keep them relevant. While this seems like an innocent case of inventing words to boost that sci-fi feeling, kipple is actually one of the more poignant themes of the book. Kipple signals a loss of meaning, the transformation of items into worthless husks that aren’t attached to a person or their sphere of influence.

It’s not garbage—garbage has a purpose and a destination. This is just loose stuff floating around in the world, forgotten and uncared for. The less physical side of kipple manifests in people ordering complex emotions from a mood device or watching the same dull television show over and over again each day. Some of the characters fit the definition of kipple themselves—perhaps even the protagonists. And speaking of objects with no meaning, isn’t that what androids are? Human beings with simulated core experiences? Kipple is everywhere, and it’s never going away.
It’s Not Really About Androids—It’s About Zombies
Philosophical zombies, that is—those delightful hypothetical creatures that are indistinguishable from humans but lack conscious experiences. Though the book doesn’t fight with the reality of their sentience, androids are shown to mimic human emotions without the associated experiences. Deckard sniffs out androids using the Voigt-Kampff test, which poses situations to a subject and analyzes their reactions. An android may say “Oh that’s sad,” if you tell them their puppy died, but they’re only saying that because that’s what a human would say. It’s a manufactured response with no underlying meaning, making them just as much zombie as they are android.
The Answer Is No
Androids don’t dream of electric sheep. Aren’t you glad that’s settled?