A Maze of Death
- 210
- Pages
- about 4 h
- Reading time
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Our view
Dick’s “A Maze of Death” is a short, unsettling science-fiction mystery set among fourteen colonists who cannot trust one another. On Delmak-O reality shifts, cube-shaped creatures answer in anagrams and the gods can be reached by transmitter. Some readers find it hard going until late revelations recast everything; others enjoy its twists from the start and are struck by how many layers so short a novel holds.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
From Hugo Award–winning author Philip K. Dick, A Maze of Death is a sci-fi murder mystery set on a mysterious planet where colonists experience unexplained shifts in reality and perception. Delmak-O is a dangerous planet. Though there are only fourteen citizens, no one can trust anyone else and death can strike at any moment. The planet is vast and largely unexplored, populated mostly by gelatinous cube-shaped beings that give cryptic advice in the form of anagrams. Deities can be spoken to directly via a series of prayer amplifiers and transmitters, but they may not be happy about it. And the mysterious building in the distance draws all the colonists to it, but when they get there each sees a different motto on the front. The mystery of this structure and the secrets contained within drive this mind-bending novel.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.6 across 60 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 29% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.7 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 9.0 | 6 | 10% |
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 54 | 90% |
Frequently asked
How long is A Maze of Death?
It has 210 pages — shorter than 92% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 7.7, the closest to this book.
