[dsq]

Dick is one of the writers that accompanied me in my youth, along with the Golden Agers (IA, RAH, AC etc.). His books are the base for many SF tv/movies. Total Recall, The Man in the High Castle, and others. This story, written in the fifties, is eerily evocative of todays drone warfare.

[danielschreber]

Terminator evoked Second Variety for me more than anything else ever has.

Never understood why Harlan Ellison insisted it was ripping off his work instead.

[jhbadger]

The part that Ellison claimed was ripping off his work was the Terminator traveling back in time to kill someone in the present day, which was similar to his Outer Limits episode "Soldier". There are a lot of things that may or may not have inspired Terminator, from "Soldier" to "Second Variety" to "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (a 1970 movie which featured a military computer taking over the world similar to Skynet).

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Actually, when it came out, Fred Saberhagen's Brother Assassin came to mind.