Wonderful characters saddled with a predictable plot

Conrad was a Naturalist (determinist). This is the story of a captain and his cargo ship that runs into a typhoon. There is no escaping. The captain and crew are not in control of the typhoon or their fate; destiny will do with them what it will. One of the things Conrad explores is how people behave in such situations. Here, he explores what the captain will do with his passengers, something he does have control over. The captain is a bit of an odd duck and not always a reader's favorite, but ask yourself if he does the right thing?

An opportunity to witness Dick's imagination at its most interesting and possibly wildest, but he isn't willing to do the grunt work to make the story convincing. Too many questions unanswered, including apparent contradictions within the story left unexplained. It's as if he needed money and wrote it over a weekend. Compare to something like Hyperion, where Dan Simmons must have spent hours and hours plotting, outlining, and researching, or to Children of Time, where the author has obviously taken the time to learn his subject matter. This is not in the same league.