Blade Runner Books: Plot, Characters & Lore Analysis

These Blade Runner books start with Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel, include Les Martin's 1982 photo-illustrated film novelization, and continue through K. W. Jeter's authorized alternate sequels to Ridley Scott's 1982 film. Dick's story is the source for the movie, but Jeter follows the Los Angeles hunt rather than the San Francisco day, and Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, released in 2017, later contradicted that licensed line. The films, the short films, and the Titan comics follow the Blade Runner timeline. Jeter had been a friend of Dick, and the Dick family gave him the blessing to write The Edge of Human, Replicant Night, and Eye and Talon. Doubleday issued Dick's hardcover in 1968, Random House published Martin's stills paperback in 1982, and the Jeter books ran from 1995 to 2000 under Millennium, Bantam Spectra, and Gollancz. Those film sequels pick up Rick Deckard in August 2020 and close with Iris Knaught hunting through monsoon Los Angeles.