The novel “The Transmigration of Timothy Archer” by Philip K. Dick was published for the first time in 1982.

Bishop Timothy Archer has highly unorthodox ideas about the history of Christianity and the history of Jesus of Nazareth. The discovery of Zadokite scrolls suggests that two centuries earlier what is attributed to him was already preached. To find out the truth and the anokhi scrolls they talk about, Archer wants to go to Israel to research in person.

Angel, Timothy Archer’s daughter-in-law, reamined in contact with him after the death of her husband Jeff but in the course of her life she already had various problems. Being in the midst of the romance between the bishop and his secretary Kirsten and getting involved in the man’s religious quest become an additional burden.

In the last years of his life, Philip K. Dick was trying to abandon the field of science fiction and to gain acceptance as a mainstream writer. Some personal events of the ’70s led him to focus on philosophical and religious themes that became more and more important and in particular the foundations of his last novels.

“The Transmigration of Timothy Archer” is generally included in what is called the VALIS trilogy because it has themes in common with the other two novels even if there’s no link in their plots. The third novel contains no elements of science fiction or fantasy like the previous ones had and can be considered post-modern. Being able to sell it to the publisher as a mainstream novel was a victory for for Philip K. Dick, who unfortunately died shortly before its publication.

Philip K. Dick got inspired by the real manuscripts found at Nag Hammadi that allowed to rediscover Gnostic Christianity, already one of the author’s inspiration for “VALIS“. In “The Transmigration of Timothy Archer” other imaginary scrolls are discovered that reveal the teachings of the Zadokite sect, which already preached what two centuries later was attributed to Jesus of Nazareth.

Timothy Archer is an Episcopal bishop based on James Pike, a personal friend of Philip K. Dick who had very progressive and highly unorthodox ideas regarding religion. Archer’s faith is shaken from the study of Zadokite teachings, convincing him that the Christ he always preached never really existed.

The search for the truth about God by Timothy Archer gets mixed with his personal life with his romantic relationship with Kirsten. All this is told in a manner similar to a biography because the novel is narrated in first person but by Angel, the bishop’s daughter-in-law. Through her philosophical and theological discussions with Archer, Angel tells the man’s research but also their complex family relationships.

Angel is not only the novel’s narrator but her character has a specific importance in Philip K. Dick’s works. The author himself wrote that in some ways Angel was his alter-ego and the fact that it was a woman reflects very strongly the changes in Dick’s life and career.

Angel has personal problems, in part resulting from her husband’s death that are explored in the novel, but despite her bitterness and weariness she tries to rebuild her life. Like Philip K. Dick, she’s part of the generation of the 60’s that lived over the top and it’s significant that the novel has as its historical reference John Lennon’s murder, a symbol of the end of a certain culture.

In many ways “The Transmigration of Timothy Archer” is a painful novel due to the death of most of its protagonists. However, it’s not a story of despair because Angel survives these tragic events and still wants to live and love. In the end she’s the character most anchored to reality and rationality.

As Philip K. Dick’s alter-ego, Angel shows a balance and optimism in the author’s life that didn’t exist previously. A reality that in Dick’s works tends to be fragmented and to be torn even more to pieces for once seems to find at least some fixed points. Unfortunately for Dick a great fame outside the field of science fiction came only after his death.

For all these reasons, “The Transmigration of Timothy Archer” is a very special novel among those by Philip K. Dick, even compared to the other two of the VALIS trilogy. For the people who want to know this author it’s certainly a must-read.