The Edge of Human (Blade Runner, Book 2) [Paperback]

K.W. Jeter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1996

K.W. Jeter picks up the tale of Rick Deckard, the `blade runner' created by Phillip K. Dick and popularized by Ridley Scott's cult classic film.  Consistent with the sordid vision of 21st century Los Angeles crafted by Dick and Scott, Jeter creates a stylish piece of thrilling, futuristic suspense that finds Deckard not only in the role of hunter, but also hunted.  Again, Deckard is on the trail of an replicant, not knowing that it may be the most elusive and dangerous android of all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jeter's recent spate of tie-in novels (a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel, etc.)?his primary production since Wolf Flow (1992)?likely has reached its apex with this book, which notably is not a sequel to the late Philip K. Dick's classic Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but to the hit film based on it, Blade Runner. That movie, set in an apocalyptically dismal L.A. of the near future, became a cult classic, especially after the release of the director's cut, which raised ambiguities scarcely hinted at in the original version. Jeter trades on these uncertainties as the replicant-hunter Deckard returns from Northern California to search for an alleged sixth replicant. Several characters from the movie make appearances here, including a few believed to be dead. Most significant is Roy Batty, who claims to be the human upon whom one of the replicants was based; in his own search for the sixth replicant, Batty teams up with a medically enhanced Dave Holden, Deckard's former partner, who is at various times convinced that virtually everyone in the novel is a replicant. Like Dick, Jeter has a gift for limning believable conspiracies wherever a character turns. Featuring numerous questions of identity and twists of plot, as well as masterful depictions of a decaying L.A. reminiscent of Jeter's Madlands, this novel should fascinate even readers new to the Blade Runner universe.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Blade Runner, the ingenious movie version of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, has been widely acclaimed as one of the best sf films. With Dick long gone, Jeter undertakes the further adventures of twenty-first-century L.A. detective Deckard, whose recent narrow victory over a violent android "replicant" prompted a retreat to the wilderness with his replicant lover Rachel. But there is at least one more vendetta-minded replicant still on the loose. Sarah Tyrell, sole surviving heir to the powerful replicant-manufacturing Tyrell Corporation and the human model for Rachel, pulls Deckard out of retirement and into a no-win predicament. Not only are there more replicants than anyone guessed, but Deckard is now wanted for the murder of Pris, who was not, as he had assumed, a replicant but fully human. Jeter masterfully reproduces the gritty film noir atmosphere of the movie while providing previously undisclosed and fascinating character background. Must reading for the film's large cult following. Carl Hays --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553575708
• ISBN-13: 978-0553575705
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,376,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Awful. Just...awful., March 6, 2002

By 

Erin K. Darling "naive cynic" (olympia, wa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Edge of Human (Blade Runner, Book 2) (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed both "Blade Runner" the movie (it's in my top five favorites of all time,) and the PK Dick book the movie was based on, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." _BR 2_, however, is just unfiltered tripe.

This novel attempts to be a sequel to the movie, rather than the novel, and, let me say it again, it's done so in a truly awful manner. The (un)original bits that Jeter came up with are frequently interspersed with flashbacks to the movie in a really uninteresting manner, and the writing itself is clunky and amateurish. One example, and I swear I'm not making this up or embellishing it in any way:

"She ascended to the appointed place, at the appointed hour. Without effort, almost without will, thermal sensors had registered her presence within the small space, a disembodied voice had asked if she'd wanted to go up to the building's roof, far above the dense weave of structure and light that formed the static ocean of the city."

[SPUTTER!]

Oh, and there are more equally bad paragraphs I could throw at you, but I won't foist those other atrocities off upon you - I don't dislike *anyone* that much.

If you, like me, thirst for ever more "Blade Runner" Stuff, my best advice is to stay right the heck away from this novel, and read some of the other (non-fiction) pieces that have been written about _DADOES_ and about the movie - you'll find it far more satisfying, and you'll be much less inclined to beat your head repeatedly against something hard and/or spikey to erase this travesty from your brain.

Oh, was I using my Outside Voice when I said that? Well, K.W. Jeter, I would apologize for such a scathing review of something you are in all likelihood very proud of; however, I don't recall anyone apologizing to me for the hours of my life I lost whilst reading this book, so I'm calling us even.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly Good, January 1, 2001

By 

"repdetec" (Victoria BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Edge of Human (Blade Runner, Book 2) (Paperback)

This novel was quite entertaining, but I found Jeter's writing at times to be pointlessly descriptive, and I often skipped down as much as a page waiting for him to get back to the action instead of rehashing old scenes in the movie, or filling up whole paragraphs with flowery language that had no relevance to the story and brought it to a halt. Other than that, it was an enjoyable read with good pacing.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent, but inconsistent. Doesn't live up to Scott or Dick., December 18, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Kew Gardens, Queens, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Edge of Human (Blade Runner, Book 2) (Paperback)

BR2 was, overall, an enjoyable read. It succeeded in keeping me guessing what exactly was going on, but left me disappointed with it's resolution.

The book draws heavily on images, characters, and dialogue from the movie, with a little help from Dick's novel. As with some of the Star Wars novels, however, this feels like a mantra used to evoke something without full justification. It also seems to be asking for someone to make a movie sequel out of it, being writen in an almost cinematic style.

Blade Runner (the movie) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep both had their amazing qualities, and the creation of BR from DADoES was an impressive feat. By trying to reunite the two, Jeter does both a disservice.