Back to Dick (there's a lot of Dick in the SF Masterworks series).

Dropping in to a Dick novel, is like putting on a pair of comfy slippers. You know certain trappings are going to be there in the story - a few loner-type characters and almost certainly a drug of some description. How good a Dick novel is usually depends on how well he blends his familiar themes with new ideas and concepts.

In this novel, our main protagonists are involved, both knowingly and unknowingly, in a stable drug trade with off world colonies. Their legitimate business sells paraphernalia used to support the use of the drug. Palmer Eldritch returns from a distant star system, bringing with him a new, better, non-addictive, legal drug which looks to upset that status quo. Our protagonists are concerned only with themselves, and saving their own skins and empire.

A running theme with Dick's stories tends to be distortions of reality, facilitated by whatever drug is central to the story. Two two drugs have distinctly different effects, and how the new drug effects perceptions of reality becomes not only a tool for escapism, but a weapon for the antagonist, as he tries to avoid his inevitable fate.

It's a good story, and Dicks protagonists are two very distinct characters. The drug plot, and the plot of Palmer Eldritch is pretty linear, but the treatment of realities is interesting, and you may find yourself flicking a few pages back to confirm events. After reading Grass, the lack of a strong female lead becomes very apparent here - all the women are simply props for the protagonists. There's nothing revolutionary here, but it is a worthwhile read.