Solar Lottery

Solar Lottery is the first published novel by Philip K. Dick, an American science-fiction writer. Many of Dick's works have been adapted into popular movies, including Blade Runner and Minority Report, making him one Hollywood’s most prolific writers to boot. The Solar Lottery contains many of the themes present in Dick's later work, specifically the psychological struggles of characters trapped in illusory environments. Set in 2203 in a world dominated by logic and numbers, a computerized lottery chooses the Quizmaster, leader of the world government, at random. The element of randomization serves as a form of social control: nobody — in theory, at least — has advantage over another in becoming the next Quizmaster.

Solar Lottery was first published in 1955, bound tête-bêche with The Big Jump by Leigh Bracket as one half of Ace Double D-103, featuring cover art by Ed Valigursky. The standard format edition of the novel wasn't published until 1959.

At the request of his Ace Books editor, Dick cut six passages from the original manuscript of Solar Lottery. Meanwhile, the uncut manuscript was sold to UK publisher Rich and Cowan under the title World of Chance (1956). In addition to the six passages, the two texts differ considerably as World of Chance was severely copy-edited, including wholesale eliminations of adjectives.