I allowed the book to swallow me up the past few days: when I'm doing routines, I turn on the audio version and listen to the voice of the husky narrator on YouTube and when free, I open up my Kindle and regress to make sure I understand unclear portions from the audible. I was consuming the book with my ears and my eyes. That is how interesting it was to me. It pulled me in from the very first chapter.
To be fair to this novel, if you love science fiction and imaginative, it was easy to read. There are a few stumbling blocks however. Particularly those parts where it dabbled on existentialism and when hallucinations of the characters have become reoccurring.
Before reading the book, I watched the Blade Runner movies first. Yes, both the 1982-Harrison Ford and the 2017-Ryan Gosling sequel. Therefore, it affected my interpretation of the post-World War Terminus California. The setting in my mind was different from that of the novel. To me, it was a wasteland with a few pockets of modern civilization. A Mars-like world where animals are extinct. Perhaps a more civilized version of Mad-Max. Well, that's the beauty of books, you use your own imagination to fill-in the details.
*Anyway, for this review I have a questions which may spoil you. So here's a line I'm adding to warn you about possible spoilers.*
The first questions I have would be about Rachael and her role in the novel: what was the motive of Rachael to kill Deckard's goat? Also, why did she do it and let Iran (wife of Deckard) see her? My answer to these is that Rachael may have wanted to exact revenge for the death of her fellow androids whom Deckard killed. An eye for an eye, right? I do not think it was the sex as this human experience has elevated her from the other androids -it made her feel human. As the androids in the book all desire to live further and ultimately, become and feel human, I do not think that Rachel would have despised this experience.
The second wave would be on Mercer. Why was Mercer constantly reappearing to Deckard and to Isidore towards the end of the story? Was Mercer a god in the book? The spider and the toad, what do they represent?
I believe that there could be a profound divine meaning to these, i.e. Mercer was a symbol of hope and mercy in the novel. A sign of empathy that only humans have. This is why Deckard and Isidore, in their low points in the novel had visions of him. Now, is he a God? No. I do not think so as it was admitted in the novel that he is just a normal human being who was filmed to depict the man who is climbing the mountain when people sync with their empathy box.
The spider is a symbol of John Isidore’s life. He was used by the androids as the spider was tortured by them. The resurrected spider depicts his new life away from the androids. Though damaged, he is still alive.
On the other hand, the Toad symbolizes the acceptance and epiphany of Deckard that machines and living things have started to become alike, i.e. despite of discovering that the Toad was 'electric', he still cared for it and opted to keep it.
Just to sum it up, if you have watched any of the Blade Runner movies, this novel is nowhere near except on similar themes and setting. The book can be compared to the movie but they have to be consumed separately. Both are good.
If you are looking to read a good sci-fi book, then this is it.
P.S. I also read all of the graphic novels and I did a review of the 5th collected edition as it is where things get very interesting!