Solar Lottery
Encyclopedia
Solar Lottery is a 1955 science fiction
novel by American writer Philip K. Dick
. It was his first published novel and contains many of the themes present in his later work. It was also published in altered form in the UK as World of Chance.
(part of game theory
), the head of world government is chosen through a sophisticated, computerized lottery. This element of randomization in the society serves as a form of social control since nobody, in theory at least, has any more of an advantage over anybody else in becoming the next Quizmaster.
Society is further entertained by a televised selection process in which an assassin is also allegedly chosen at random. By countering and putting down these threats to his life (using telepathic bodyguards as defense), the leader gains the respect of the people. If he loses his life a new Quizmaster, as well as another assassin, are again randomly selected. Quizmasters have historically held office for timespans ranging from a few minutes to several years. The average life expectancy is therefore on the order of a couple of weeks.
The plot follows the story of Ted Benteley, an idealistic young worker unhappy with his position in life. Benteley attempts to get a job in the prestigious office of Quizmaster Reese Verrick. Reese has just been forced out of office, however, and Benteley gets tricked into swearing an unbreakable oath of personal fealty to the once and former world leader. Verrick then makes it clear that his organization's mission is to assassinate the new Quizmaster, Leon Cartwright, in the world's most anticipated "competition".
In order to defeat the telepathic security web protecting Cartwright, Verrick and his team invent an android named Keith Pellig into which different volunteers' minds are alternately embedded for the purpose of breaking any kind of steady telepathic lock on the assassin. An action sequence centered on Pellig's assassination attempt proves to be the novel's most exciting and clever element. Cartwright ultimately kills Verrick, and Benteley, much to his own astonishment, becomes the next Quizmaster.
A second plotline concerns a team of Leon Cartwright's followers travelling to the far reaches of the solar system in search of a mysterious cult figure named John Preston, who, 150 years after his disappearance, is thought to somehow still be alive on the legendary tenth planet known as the "Flame Disc". Although this particular sub-plot seems to have only a marginal connection with the main storyline, the recorded voice of a long-deceased John Preston ends the novel on a positive note by exhorting his audience to "...spread out, reach areas, experiences, comprehend and live in an evolving fashion....", to "push aside routine and repetition, to break out of mindless monotony and thrust forward....", to "keep moving on...".
of Solar Lottery in March 1954; in December he completed a second draft at the request of Ace Books Editor Donald Wollheim, cutting six passages totalling as much as ten thousand words and adding perhaps seven thousand. In the meantime, however, the book was sold to a publisher in the UK, where it appeared as World of Chance; this version of the novel includes the cut passages. However, the entire text of this version was severely copy-edited, with wholesale eliminations of adjectives.
When Solar Lottery was first published as a novel by Ace Books as one half of Ace Double D-103 in May 1955, it was bound dos-à-dos
with The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett
. The Ace Double edition ran 131 pages. Ace published a standard-format edition of the novel in 1959, running 188 pages; its 1968 reissue, also running 188 pages, was labelled "Complete & Unabridged."
praised the novel as "built up with the detail of a Heinlein
and the satire of a Kornbluth
. Declaring that Dick had created "a strange and highly convincing and self-consistent future society," he faulted Solar Lottery only for "a tendency, in both its nicely contrasted plots, to dwindle away at the end."
Reviewing a 1977 reissue, Robert Silverberg
noted that the novel's final revelation "looks forward to the cynicism of the radicalized Dick of the 1960s."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel by American writer Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
. It was his first published novel and contains many of the themes present in his later work. It was also published in altered form in the UK as World of Chance.
Plot summary
Solar Lottery takes place in a world dominated by logic and numbers. Loosely based on a numerical military strategy employed by U.S. and Soviet intelligence called minimaxMinimax
Minimax is a decision rule used in decision theory, game theory, statistics and philosophy for minimizing the possible loss for a worst case scenario. Alternatively, it can be thought of as maximizing the minimum gain...
(part of game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
), the head of world government is chosen through a sophisticated, computerized lottery. This element of randomization in the society serves as a form of social control since nobody, in theory at least, has any more of an advantage over anybody else in becoming the next Quizmaster.
Society is further entertained by a televised selection process in which an assassin is also allegedly chosen at random. By countering and putting down these threats to his life (using telepathic bodyguards as defense), the leader gains the respect of the people. If he loses his life a new Quizmaster, as well as another assassin, are again randomly selected. Quizmasters have historically held office for timespans ranging from a few minutes to several years. The average life expectancy is therefore on the order of a couple of weeks.
The plot follows the story of Ted Benteley, an idealistic young worker unhappy with his position in life. Benteley attempts to get a job in the prestigious office of Quizmaster Reese Verrick. Reese has just been forced out of office, however, and Benteley gets tricked into swearing an unbreakable oath of personal fealty to the once and former world leader. Verrick then makes it clear that his organization's mission is to assassinate the new Quizmaster, Leon Cartwright, in the world's most anticipated "competition".
In order to defeat the telepathic security web protecting Cartwright, Verrick and his team invent an android named Keith Pellig into which different volunteers' minds are alternately embedded for the purpose of breaking any kind of steady telepathic lock on the assassin. An action sequence centered on Pellig's assassination attempt proves to be the novel's most exciting and clever element. Cartwright ultimately kills Verrick, and Benteley, much to his own astonishment, becomes the next Quizmaster.
A second plotline concerns a team of Leon Cartwright's followers travelling to the far reaches of the solar system in search of a mysterious cult figure named John Preston, who, 150 years after his disappearance, is thought to somehow still be alive on the legendary tenth planet known as the "Flame Disc". Although this particular sub-plot seems to have only a marginal connection with the main storyline, the recorded voice of a long-deceased John Preston ends the novel on a positive note by exhorting his audience to "...spread out, reach areas, experiences, comprehend and live in an evolving fashion....", to "push aside routine and repetition, to break out of mindless monotony and thrust forward....", to "keep moving on...".
Publishing history
Dick originally completed the manuscriptManuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
of Solar Lottery in March 1954; in December he completed a second draft at the request of Ace Books Editor Donald Wollheim, cutting six passages totalling as much as ten thousand words and adding perhaps seven thousand. In the meantime, however, the book was sold to a publisher in the UK, where it appeared as World of Chance; this version of the novel includes the cut passages. However, the entire text of this version was severely copy-edited, with wholesale eliminations of adjectives.
When Solar Lottery was first published as a novel by Ace Books as one half of Ace Double D-103 in May 1955, it was bound dos-à-dos
Dos-à-dos binding
In bookbinding, a dos-à-dos binding is a binding structure in which two separate books are bound together such that the fore edge of one is adjacent to the spine of the other, with a shared lower board between them serving as the back cover of both...
with The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett
Leigh Brackett
Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American author, particularly of science fiction. She was also a screenwriter, known for her work on famous films such as The Big Sleep , Rio Bravo , The Long Goodbye and The Empire Strikes Back .-Life:Leigh Brackett was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California...
. The Ace Double edition ran 131 pages. Ace published a standard-format edition of the novel in 1959, running 188 pages; its 1968 reissue, also running 188 pages, was labelled "Complete & Unabridged."
Reception
Reviewing the Ace Double release, Anthony BoucherAnthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
praised the novel as "built up with the detail of a Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
and the satire of a Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
. Declaring that Dick had created "a strange and highly convincing and self-consistent future society," he faulted Solar Lottery only for "a tendency, in both its nicely contrasted plots, to dwindle away at the end."
Reviewing a 1977 reissue, Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
noted that the novel's final revelation "looks forward to the cynicism of the radicalized Dick of the 1960s."
Sources
- Disch, Thomas, "Towards the Transcendent: An Introduction to Solar Lottery and other works" , Philip K. Dick, eds. Olander and Greenberg, New York: Taplinger, 1983, pp. 13-24.
- Gallo, Domenico. “La lotteria del sistema solare”, in Trasmigrazioni: I mondi di Philip K. Dick, a c. di V.M. De Angelis e U. Rossi. Firenze, Le Monnier, 2006, pp. 115-22.