In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.

By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans. Emigrees to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in. Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results. (From the Inside Flap)

特德·姜作品新结集，内藏《商人和炼金术师之门》《呼吸》《前路迢迢》《软件体的生命周期》《达西的新型自动机器保姆》《双面真相》《大寂静》《脐》《焦虑是自由引起的眩晕》九篇作品—— 炼金术士之门，自由穿梭时空，科幻版的一千零一夜如何展开？ 我的每一口呼吸，都让这个宇宙离死亡更近一步。 自由意志并不存在，只是你相信这一点之前，它并不具有杀伤力。 科幻小说中随处可见人造生物，就像从宙斯头部跳出的雅典娜，这些人造生物一出现就完全成形。但意识并不是这样工作的，软件体真实的生命周期是什么样？ 我的保姆是台机器，对一个新生儿来说，这意味着什么？ 记忆一直在欺骗我们，只是我们自己并未发现。如果每个人都开始持续记录生命日志，文明将发生怎样的改变？ 我们并不是宇宙的中心，可一开始，人类并不知道这一点。 如果平行空间的确存在，且可以发生对话，你会用怎样的方式穷尽生活的可能？