VALIS
VALIS by Philip K. Dickby Philip K. Dick
Shares rank 80 of 179 science fiction novels by recommenders
People recommend it for its deeply personal, semi-autobiographical take on Dick's life and psychology, with a strange, shifting narrative that rewards rereading.
People recommend it for its deeply personal, semi-autobiographical take on Dick's life and psychology, with a strange, shifting narrative that rewards rereading.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
Other science fiction novels people recommend
The four most recommended other science fiction novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Hail Maryby Andy Weir | 117 | 24 | 83% | 12 | — | Approved |
| There Is No Antimemetics Divisionby qntm | 98 | 34 | 74% | 9 | 1.5 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Blindsightby Peter Watts | 96 | 27 | 78% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Duneby Frank Herbert | 82 | 25 | 77% | 12 | — | Approved |
| VALISby Philip K. DickThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“nothing really comes of it compared to VALIS or Three Stigmata”
“What I love is how PKD and Horselover Fat phase in and out of each other throughout the book.”
“no one else but Philip K. Dick could have written VALIS, it is so tied to his life and psychology”
“If you want the druggy, high-concept, ersatz-reality version go with Philip K. Dick”
“he wrote some real bangers”
“I enjoyed VALIS the first time a lot, but going back and finding these specific sections has a strong lure to it.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.