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The upcoming Amazon series 鈥淭he Man in the High Castle,鈥� based on Philip K. Dick's 1962 Hugo Award-winning alternate-history novel of the same name, imagines a world in which Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan triumphed in the Second World War, and possession of illicit fictional accounts of an Allied victory are grounds for execution.

The new series starring Rufus Sewell, Rupert Evans, and Alexa Davalos takes place in the 1960s in an America divided by its conquerers.聽Hitler's Greater Nazi Reich rules the East Coast and Imperial Japan has taken the West Coast, leaving a small patch of neutral territory in the Rocky Mountain states. Episodes released in January and October have set the stage for an impending power struggle following the death of the F眉hrer.

鈥淭he Man in the High Castle,鈥澛爄s is just the latest in a long list of Hollywood projects adapted from Mr. Dick's stories. His novels and short stories have been the basis for some of the most popular science fiction movies of the past several decades, including "Man in the High Castle" producer Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic 鈥淏lade Runner,鈥� 1990鈥檚 鈥淭otal Recall鈥� (which was recently remade), and 2002's 鈥淢inority Report.鈥�

Much of Dick鈥檚 best known work explores questions about personal identity and the fragile nature of reality. "Blade Runner" inspiration "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the story of a detective tasked with destroying escaped androids nearly indistinguishable from human beings. "Minority Report" envisions a world in which police have broad powers to punish you for crimes you are predicted to commit in the future. The protagonist of "Total Recall"聽has trouble distinguishing between the real world and false memories implanted in his head. And聽鈥淭he Man in the High Castle鈥� is no exception. The story's characters begin to question the authenticity of their own world when a fictional work presents an alternate-history within an alternate-history that looks eerily like our own world.

One major difference between 鈥淭he Man in the High Castle鈥� and many other Dick adaptations is the format. It's on TV. And not even on cable, but through Amazon's video-streaming service. While a high-budget, high-concept adaptation of an obscure book from the 1960s may have made TV networks leery in the past, long-form genre fare like HBO's "Game of Thrones" and AMC's "The Walking Dead" may have paved the way for the show's production.

Critical response to the first two episodes has been very positive; the show holds a on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. wrote聽that the show is "not only Amazon鈥檚 best drama, it鈥檚 an important one too.