The Penultimate Truth
Encyclopedia
The Penultimate Truth is a 1964
science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick
. The story is set in a future where the bulk of humanity is kept in large underground shelters. The people are told that World War III
is being fought above them, when in reality the war ended years ago. The novel is based on Dick's 1953 short story "The Defenders
". Dick also drew upon two other of his short stories for the plot of the novel: "The Mold of Yancy
" and "The Unreconstructed M".
The government and war engine remains on the surface, the elite "Yance-men". Their president, Talbot Yancy, delivers inspirational speeches to the tankers, motivating them to increase their production of leadies and win the war. The war does eventually end. However, the Yance-men design a conspiracy to maintain the wealth of the Earth for themselves. Yancy continues to describe devastation in televised speeches. The tankers continue to produce leadies.
Talbot Yancy is actually a computer generated simulacrum. The Yance-men program him from the "Agency" in New York. They live in immense villas on private parks, called "demesne
s". The leadies are actually used by the Yance-men as personal servants and to maintain their estates. The Agency is run by the most vicious and greedy Yance-man, Stanton Brose, who is kept alive by pre-war artificial organs which he hoards.
The story begins in one of the tanks, named Tom Mix (named after the actor Tom Mix
). The tank president, Nicholas St. James, is forced to go to the surface to look for an artificial pancreas for the tank's lead mechanic. He emerges on David Lantano's property (a Yance-man). When some of Lantano's leadies try to kill St. James, they are destroyed by a mysterious man who looks like Talbot Yancy. St. James wanders around, through the ruins of a 10 year old war, and eventually ends up at Lantano's mansion. There he learns where he can find an artificial organ.
Simultaneously, Adams (another Yance-man) is put on a special mission by Brose. He must plant evidence of alien artifacts on land belonging to a housing developer (Louis Runcible) so the land can be legitimately seized. The artifacts are buried using a time travel
device. One by one, the people attached to this project are killed. Adams fearfully retreats to Lantano's mansion.
Another person to appear in the mansion is Webster Foote, the owner and operator of a private detective corporation. Foote accepts on a per-case basis work from everybody (including Brose, Lantano and Runcible) but wishes to save Runcible from the plot against him.
Lantano then reveals to Foote, Adams and St. James, that he is a Cherokee
from the distant past, somehow being given extended life by the time travel device that placed the artifacts back in time. He has lived through history, taking many positions of note under different names, and now he has killed the members of this special project. Lantano, Foote, and Adams together now plot to kill Brose and free the people underground.
However, Adams figures out Lantano was behind the deaths as part of his plot to bring down Brose. In desperation and fear, he joins up with St. James, who discovered a cache of artificial organs, and flees into the Tom Mix tank with him. They discover that Lantano was ultimately successful but contemplate that the biggest lie is yet to come.
1964 in literature
The year 1964 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Jean-Paul Sartre becomes head of the Organization to Defend Iranian Political Prisoners....
science fiction 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...
. The story is set in a future where the bulk of humanity is kept in large underground shelters. The people are told that World War III
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
is being fought above them, when in reality the war ended years ago. The novel is based on Dick's 1953 short story "The Defenders
The Defenders (short story)
"The Defenders" is a 1953 science fiction short story by American author Philip K. Dick, and the basis for Dick's 1964 novel The Penultimate Truth. It is one of several of his short stories to be expanded into a novel....
". Dick also drew upon two other of his short stories for the plot of the novel: "The Mold of Yancy
The Mold of Yancy
"The Mold of Yancy" is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1955. It is published in volume four of The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, The Days of Perky Pat....
" and "The Unreconstructed M".
Plot summary
World War III begins early in the 21st century. It is fought between the two superpowers, Wes-Dem and Pac-Peop. The fighting is extensive and severe, most of it performed by "leadies", robots built to withstand the most extreme circumstance. The Earth becomes a battlefield. Unable to exist in the atmosphere created by robot war, vast "ant tanks" are constructed underground to save the diminishing human population.The government and war engine remains on the surface, the elite "Yance-men". Their president, Talbot Yancy, delivers inspirational speeches to the tankers, motivating them to increase their production of leadies and win the war. The war does eventually end. However, the Yance-men design a conspiracy to maintain the wealth of the Earth for themselves. Yancy continues to describe devastation in televised speeches. The tankers continue to produce leadies.
Talbot Yancy is actually a computer generated simulacrum. The Yance-men program him from the "Agency" in New York. They live in immense villas on private parks, called "demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
s". The leadies are actually used by the Yance-men as personal servants and to maintain their estates. The Agency is run by the most vicious and greedy Yance-man, Stanton Brose, who is kept alive by pre-war artificial organs which he hoards.
The story begins in one of the tanks, named Tom Mix (named after the actor Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
). The tank president, Nicholas St. James, is forced to go to the surface to look for an artificial pancreas for the tank's lead mechanic. He emerges on David Lantano's property (a Yance-man). When some of Lantano's leadies try to kill St. James, they are destroyed by a mysterious man who looks like Talbot Yancy. St. James wanders around, through the ruins of a 10 year old war, and eventually ends up at Lantano's mansion. There he learns where he can find an artificial organ.
Simultaneously, Adams (another Yance-man) is put on a special mission by Brose. He must plant evidence of alien artifacts on land belonging to a housing developer (Louis Runcible) so the land can be legitimately seized. The artifacts are buried using a time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
device. One by one, the people attached to this project are killed. Adams fearfully retreats to Lantano's mansion.
Another person to appear in the mansion is Webster Foote, the owner and operator of a private detective corporation. Foote accepts on a per-case basis work from everybody (including Brose, Lantano and Runcible) but wishes to save Runcible from the plot against him.
Lantano then reveals to Foote, Adams and St. James, that he is a Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
from the distant past, somehow being given extended life by the time travel device that placed the artifacts back in time. He has lived through history, taking many positions of note under different names, and now he has killed the members of this special project. Lantano, Foote, and Adams together now plot to kill Brose and free the people underground.
However, Adams figures out Lantano was behind the deaths as part of his plot to bring down Brose. In desperation and fear, he joins up with St. James, who discovered a cache of artificial organs, and flees into the Tom Mix tank with him. They discover that Lantano was ultimately successful but contemplate that the biggest lie is yet to come.
See also
- "The DefendersThe Defenders (short story)"The Defenders" is a 1953 science fiction short story by American author Philip K. Dick, and the basis for Dick's 1964 novel The Penultimate Truth. It is one of several of his short stories to be expanded into a novel....
" - "The Mold of YancyThe Mold of Yancy"The Mold of Yancy" is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1955. It is published in volume four of The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, The Days of Perky Pat....
" - "The Unreconstructed M"