Divine Invasion by Dick is a startling experience to say the least. Had no idea what to expect and it definitely kept me on my toes. Sorry. Can't resist. In all seriousness however, I really didn't know what to expect. What little I new about the novel beforehand is that it was heavily influenced by some kind of possession experience that PKD claimed to have (google "VALIS"). Starting on that foot, I fully expected this to just be one trippy read. And it was. But, as is his forte, it left me considering the line between just plain nuts and insane genius. Verdict is still out. The first thing you need to know about Divine Invasion is that there is a VERY steep learning curve that is required to unravel the heavy Judeo/Christian (mostly Judeo) undertones with all the major characters playing a part in the 'pantheon' (if you will allow the term). - Herb: Joseph. He also represents humanity.- Rybys: Mary. Though taking a noticeably reduced role than than in the traditional Christian/Catholic view. - Elias: Elijah and also other significant messengers of God (i.e. John the Baptist)- Yah: God the Father. Yahweh.- Emmanuel: 2nd coming of Christ.- Zina: the Holy Spirit or presence of God. Also embodying the aspects of God the represent free will. - Linda Fox: represents the good of humanity or Yetzer Hatov- Belial: represents the evil of humanity or Yetzer Hara- Fulton Statler Harms: representing organized religion- Nicholas Bulkowsky: representing governmentBasic plot: Herb and Rybys are colonists living far away from Earth and commanded by Yah to return to Earth with their immaculately conceived son (Emmanuel) to save humanity from itself. It is explained that the first time they tried this with Jesus, humanity just really fucked it all up (via the modern church), and they need to try again. It is a crazy read. Very abstract but beautiful. I would mostly recommend for people with a religious background who are also open-minded.
Philip K. Dick did exactly the right thing with his encounter with the divine (or psychotic break, depending on who you ask). He /kept writing/. Divine Invasion is the second of the VALIS tetralogy, which includes VALIS, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, The Divine Invasion, and Radio Free Albemuth. (RFA was published posthumously, but it still addresses the same themes. The Divine Invasion is probably the most coherent of the "VALIS series". VALIS was groundbreaking, and it shattered any preconceptions about what science fiction /could be/, but it was also a bit of a trainwreck. It was apparent on every page that one of the most brilliant minds ever to put pen to paper had fractured, but the fracturing was so beautiful, like a smashed stained glass window, that it was impossible to look away.In The Divine Invasion, PKD takes the VALIS experience and reshapes it into something with real mythic resonance. One part study in comparative mythology, one part fable, and one part science fiction, this book makes the VALIS experience both more personal and grander in scope than it has ever been. I found the character of Emmanuel (who is the deity Yah in the body of a ten-year-old boy) absolutely spellbinding. Dick excels at writing characters torn between two versions of reality, and Emmanuel is possibly his finest realization of this. Emmanuel manages to be compassionate, naive, terrifying, and mythopoeic all at once. Every character in the book strikes this balance between the terrifyingly average and a potential for greatness. Their normality is terrifying because they're faced with a conflict far beyond their scope of comprehension.This book is an absolute masterpiece. It unmakes the Judeo-Christian tradition as a tradition and re-presents it as a myth, and in doing so, reminds us why those myths survive.
The "sequel" to VALIS. VALIS, one of my favorite books, seemed at times so obscure and meandering (obviously I enjoy these things when done right) that I was a bit surprised by Divine Invasion, which is much more direct and straightforward. To the point where VALIS begins to look like a conceptual setup for this more action oriented book. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, especially Zina and Emmanuel, and it made it quite difficult to put down. This is one of the very few books I continued to read as I walked down the street, instead of waiting until I arrived at my destination.There are a lot of references to theological concepts in the book, and the more you know about them, the more you can enjoy it, but this knowledge is not necessary to enjoy the read.
—Jason
Book 2 of Philip K Dick's VALIS Trilogy (Gnostic Trilogy [God Trilogy]), 'The Divine Invasion' is a funky PKDesque exploration of good and evil, God and Belial, gnostic truth, etc. In this short novel, Emmanuel (God) is smuggled back to Earth via the womb of a Jewish woman with MS. She is accompanied by Herb Asher, a DJ protagonist of sorts (Jesus as a DJ's son) who marries Rybys (read Mary) to assist getting her and her unborn God-baby smuggled safely to Earth, and Elias (Elijah) the one who prepares the way. They have to get past Cardinal Fulton Statler Harms, Chief Prelate of the Christian Islamic Church (C.I.C.) and their counterpoint - the Scientific Legate (S.L.) and all the rest of Satan's bureaucracy.As science fiction, the Divine Invasion is so far left of funky that it isn't on the map. It is definitely NOT what your typical teenage, pimply reader would expect from pulp Sci Fi. But in many ways it is messy genius. Well, maybe genius after a psychic break, and way too much religious exploration and hit after hit after hit of LSD. IT is weird, off beat and leaves you the reader in a trippy religious, dream-like, loop.
—Darwin8u
This story is an amalgamation of various religions and philosophies, along with a bit of science fiction and fantasy. God finds that he needs to be smuggled back to earth, in the womb of a virgin woman, Rybys. God's mission in returning to Earth is to battle against Belial, a sort of Satan in the guise of a caged animal at the zoo. Rybys is very sick, and is granted permission to return to Earth for medical treatments. However, Earth is ruled by tyrannical religious leaders who try their best to destroy the immigration space craft, and when that fails, to have God aborted at customs, and later again at the hospital. God is brought up by a woman named Zina; it is apparent that Zina has some supernatural characteristics, although it does not become clear who she is exactly, until the end of the story.If this plot sounds a bit confusing--well, it is. There are many shifts in time periods, and it takes a while to understand just what is going on. There are some very entertaining scenes in the story, such as how the attitudes of the soldiers in the customs station are bent around. The scene where a policeman stops Herb Asher (Rybys' "pretend" husband) is simply wonderful. There are plenty of references to Judaism and Torah in the story, and in the author's philosophy. Christianity also plays a big role, as is clear by the virgin birth. While I understood many of the religious references, much of the philosophy went right over my head.
—David
