Our Friends from Frolix 8 (1970)

Our Friends from Frolix 8 is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was written from 1968 to 1969 and was published in 1970 by Ace Books. The novel is set in the 22nd century, when humanity is ruled by mutated humans, "New Men" and "Unusuals", while normal "Old Men" are discriminated against. The story follows Nick Appleton, a low-class Old Man worker who becomes a subversive to the system, and Willis Gram, the Unusual ruler of the Earth. Separately, resistance leader Thors Provoni has left the planet to find an ally to the Old Men, finally returning with an alien from far away in space. The novel is best known for a single scene where the characters discuss the dead body of God having been found in space.

Frolix 8 was written on commission for Ace Books in a period where Dick was short on money, and he himself stated that the book was a "regression" and a "throwaway". The novel is generally viewed as a poorer effort by Dick, with scholars and critics criticizing it for its unoriginality, dialogue and plot; literary scholar Patricia S. Warrick commented that "if an award were given for the most sterile Dick novel, Our Friends from Frolix 8 (1970) would be one of the leading candidates." Some of its ideas were praised, and its themes and contents have been seen as a throwback to Dick's earlier novels. The scene involving the death of God was viewed as foreshadowing themes found in Dick's later works.

Plot

In the 22nd century, the Earth is ruled by two classes of evolved superhuman men: New Men, who have incredible intelligence and enlarged heads, and Unusuals, who possess paranormal abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis and precognition. Old Men, those with neither of these sets of powers (who still compose most of the population), are oppressed and disgruntled. The state heavily polices and surveils them, and dissident Old Men who refuse to submit are placed in concentration camps on the moon. A resistance figure known as Thors Provoni, who long ago went deep into space to find help to put the Old Men back in power, has finally announced his impending return. He has found an ally in Morgo Rahn Wilc, a Frolixian from the Proxima system. The Frolixians are a race of large, sentient protoplasmic blobs.

Nick Appleton, a lowly tire regroover, is further disillusioned with the system after his son Bobby fails the civil service examination, as the test is geared toward passing only New Men and Unusuals. Meanwhile, authorities are holding Eric Cordon, the leader of the Under Men (the Old Men resistance), in prison and are preparing for his execution. This in combination with his son's exam failure radicalizes Appleton, and he falls for Charlotte "Charley" Boyer, a sixteen-year-old subversive who distributes Cordonite resistance literature together with her abusive alcoholic boyfriend. After the authorities discover that Appleton has become a subversive, they attempt to apprehend him and Charley, resulting in Appleton's arrest. Appleton's turn to subversion worries the authorities, as Appleton, unknowingly, is statistically significant as an average man. Appleton is brought before Willis Gram, the Council Chairman ruler, a mind-reading Unusual. Gram is insecure and dissatisfied with his wife, who he is plotting to kill. Through his observation of Appleton, he discovers and falls in love with Charley. Out of jealousy, he makes Appleton's profession of tire regrooving illegal.

While returning to Earth, Provoni has conversations with Morgo, who has encircled Provoni's ship, questioning Morgo about his intentions and discussing the nature of both of their species. The nature of the Frolixian species is to absorb and then consume, having peacefully eliminated all other animals on their home planet through sterilization to facilitate their expansion process. The Frolixians' claimed motive for helping mankind is to steal knowledge of Earth's unique creations, quaint things like typewriters and 3D film systems that the Frolixians find unique and interesting; Provoni worries the Frolixians may actually want to take over the Earth, having run out of space on their home planet. Provoni's ship eludes Earth's defenses and rapidly nears Earth, leading to paranoid fears among the ruling elite about the possibility of violent alien invasion and their potential overthrowing. Gram fears the return of Provoni and turns to a prominent New Man scientist, Amos Ild, to foresee the future. Ild predicts through the New Man science of "neutrologics" that Provoni will be defeated with certainty. Charley predicts that Provoni will win, based on nothing.

Provoni lands, and Morgo's body that is enveloping the ship guards it from all attempts to strike it down. Provoni is actually a New Man and an Unusual at the same time; Morgo removes all the powers of all other Unusuals and New Men through physically removing parts of their brains. This renders the Unusuals normal, but the New Men become intellectually disabled and like children. Charley and Appleton's vehicle crashes into an army vehicle responding to Provoni, killing Charley and injuring Appleton. The government collapses and Gram, having lost his ability to read minds, surrenders his power. In the end, a disempowered New Man expresses his thoughts about God in a childlike way.