By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They’ve even built humans. Immigrants to Mars receive androids so sophisticated they are indistinguishable from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans can wreak, the government bans them from Earth. Driven into hiding, unauthorized androids live among human beings, undetected. Rick Deckard, an officially sanctioned bounty hunter, is commissioned to find rogue androids and “retire” them. But when cornered, androids fight back—with lethal force.

San Francisco lies under a cloud of radioactive dust. People live in half-deserted apartment buildings, and keep electric animals as pets because so many real animals have died. Most people emigrate to Mars — unless they have a job to do on Earth. Like Rick Deckard — android killer for the police and owner of an electric sheep. This week he has to find, identify, and kill six androids which have escaped from Mars. They're machines, but they look and sound and think like humans — clever, dangerous humans. They will be hard to kill. The film Blade Runner was based on this famous novel.

2021年，數百萬人命喪世界大戰，人類瀕臨滅絕，倖存者遠離地球，留下來的無不渴望擁有一隻生物，而負擔不起的人，廠商提供幾可亂真的仿冒品，有馬，有鳥，有貓，還有羊……他們甚至做出仿生人。

這些仿生人製作之精巧，簡直難辨真偽，但只有移居火星的人才能擁有。政府深怕人造人帶來浩劫，禁止它們來到地球。瑞克・狄卡德是官方核准的賞金殺手。他的工作是找到逍遙法外的仿生人，將它們「除役」。

然而，狄卡德這次奉命追殺的6名新型仿生人，卻讓他對人性、道德、同理等概念產生了巨大的困惑。他只能靠分辨同理心的「共感測驗」來判別仿生人與真人，心中卻升起不安的顫慄──因為就連他自己，都可能無法通過這項測驗。

仿生人會夢想擁有電動羊嗎？
……瑞克之前從沒想過這一點。他對被自己除掉的仿生人從來沒有一絲同情。不論是在內心深處還是在理智上，他總以為自己全心全意地將仿生人視為一種智慧型機器。

By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can't afford one, companies build incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They've even built humans. Immigrants to Mars receive androids so sophisticated they are indistinguishable from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government bans them from Earth. Driven into hiding, unauthorized androids live among human beings, undetected. Rick Deckard, an officially sanctioned bounty hunter, is commissioned to find rogue androids and "retire" them. But when cornered, androids fight back — with lethal force.

Tras la guerra nuclear, la Tierra ha quedado sometida bajo una gran nube de polvo radioactivo. La gente ha emigrado a otros planetas del sistema y se ha llevado a androides que les asisten. Algunos de estos han escapado de la servidumbre y han vuelto ilegalmente a la Tierra. Y Rick Deckard, cazador de bonificaciones, es uno de los encargados de acabar con ellos. Pero, ¿es justo matar a los humanoides sólo por el hecho de serlo? ¿Cuál es el límite entre la vida artificial y la natural?

Rick Deckard é um caçador de recompensas. Ao contrário da maioria da população que sobreviveu à guerra atômica, não emigrou para as colônias interplanetárias após a devastação da Terra, permanecendo numa San Francisco decadente, coberta pela poeira radioativa que dizimou inúmeras espécies de animais e plantas.

Na tentativa de trazer algum alento e sentido à sua existência, Deckard busca melhorar seu padrão de vida até que finalmente consiga substituir sua ovelha de estimação elétrica por um animal verdadeiro; um sonho de consumo que vai além de sua condição financeira.
Um novo trabalho parece ser o ponto de virada para Rick: perseguir seis androides fugitivos e aposentá-los. Mas suas convicções podem mudar quando percebe que a linha que separa o real do fabricado não é mais tão nítida como ele acreditava.

Em Androides Sonham com Ovelhas Elétricas?, Philip K. Dick cria uma atmosfera sombria e perturbadora para contar uma história impressionante, e, claro, abordar questões filosóficas profundas sobre a natureza da vida, da religião, da tecnologia e da própria condição humana.

“科幻鬼才”菲利普•迪克成长于西方科技文明创造出的崭新辉煌的时代。彼时，人类进入了太空，登上了月球，成功制造出第一台工业用机器人……科技的蓬勃发展也催生出主流科幻小说对人类创造力的无比自信，克拉克、阿西莫夫和海因莱因撑起了西方科幻的黄金时代。可是，迪克却反其道而行之，他的主人公迷惘于亦真亦假的世界上，挣扎于文明的陷落中，充满了对生命的依恋和对人性的追求。
《仿生人会梦见电子羊吗？》是菲利普•迪克最负盛名的作品，小说描述了从一天早晨到第二天早晨的二十多个小时，主人公里克•德卡德为了赏金追杀几个仿生人的过程，历经无数变故，狗血共桃花一色，阴谋与暴力齐飞。小说里的人类受到地球辐射尘的影响，相貌丑陋，很多在心智上都发生了退化，而仿生人却外表堂堂，多才多艺。当仿生人在外表和心智上无限逼近人类，甚至表面上已经超越人类时，人究竟何以为人？
1982年，菲利普•迪克去世后不久，根据《仿生人会梦见电子羊吗？》改编的电影《银翼杀手》上映，雷德利•斯科特导演。电影笼罩着一种迷离、朦胧、似幻似真的基调，描绘了一个末世大都市洛杉矶，是后世无数赛博朋克电影的鼻祖之作。我是谁？我从哪里来？要到哪里去？对这个哲学终极命题的探讨，让这部电影成为科幻电影史上的经典之作，也赋予其历久弥新的魅力。
2017年，电影续集《银翼杀手2049》在北美定档10月6日，也即将与中国观众见面。关于生存和生命的意义，我们永远没有确切答案。
核战后，放射尘让地球上的动物濒临灭绝，地球已不再适合人类居住。为了鼓励残存的人口移民，政府承诺，只要移民到外星球，就为每人自动配备一个仿生人帮助其生活。仿生人不满足于被人类奴役的现状，想方设法逃回地球。
小说主人公里克•德卡德是一名专门追捕逃亡仿生人的赏金猎人。在一次追捕行动中，里克遭遇了新型仿生人前所未有的挑战。九死之后，能否一生？在与仿生人的接触和较量中，里克发现自己对仿生人的看法和态度有了很大的改变。这种改变究竟是福还是祸？