From starting a conversation with "Goodbye" and ending it with a "Hello", to blowing smoke back into cigarettes and making them grow back to normal size, this is the world where time has started going backwards. The most significant change in this universe - in what is known as The Hobart Phase - is that the dead have started coming back to life and living out their lives, quite literally from the grave to the womb, when the zygote finally separates into an egg and a sperm.
The story revolves around the anticipated rise of religious leader Anarch Peak, whose revival is followed with a lot of interest by various groups including the Vitarium (an organization that revives and prepares the dead for their new life), the Library (an organization that eradicates books - which, by the way, was a brilliant idea) and of course, opposing religious groups.
While the central concept of this story is phenomenal, I felt that not enough was done with that unique concept. Once the fact of the reverse world was established, the story gradually moved away from that aspect into a more mundane world, complete with its political, commercial and religious realities, and I found my attention wavering at times. My final impression was one of somewhat less than the complete awe I usually have for PKD.
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