Customer Reviews

Puppet Masters

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Going in to this book I was skeptical because I had only read one of Heinlein's other books (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress) and absolutely hated it. But from the very first chapter "Puppet Masters" had me hooked. The idea - aliens taking over the world by controlling human beings - is by now a cliche, what with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Faculty and other similar tales out there. But even if the idea seems tired I know that you can like this book, because I thought I was tired of it too. As I said, you get hooked early. It really was hard for me to put this book down in a lot of parts. But what is truly scary about the subject matter is how realistically Heinlein portrays it. The way the aliens move their forces outward, how the characters react, and even the final resolution are all reasonably plausible enough to make you paranoid about crowds of people (but then perhaps I'm just gullible). Outside of the story itself, "Puppet Masters" makes a lot of intelligent statements about our fear of assimilation, and ties in to the Cold War effortlessly. Being far too young to know firsthand the paranoia and fear that people must have lived in, "Puppet Masters" becomes all the more intriguing because it helps show the reader the hysteria that our nation must have felt.

The Puppet Masters is one of Heinlein's most entertaining novels. A fairly quick read, it provides a wealth of enjoyment for both young and old alike. The earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces, but few people recognize this fact or choose to believe it for this is no typical invasion. These extraterrestrials are slugs who attach themselves to human hosts, thereby controlling them and giving the appearance of normalcy to those around them (and, more importantly, to typically slow-witted politicians). Our protagonists, mysterious agents of some murky, top-secret government agency in the early 21st century, enter the fray when a flying saucer supposedly lands in Iowa and is quickly proclaimed a hoax. They are soon able to figure out what is actually going on, though, and they manage to convince a reluctant President of the seriousness of the matter. Soon Schedule Bare Back is in force, requiring all citizens to wear nothing (or next to nothing in the case of women) above their waists--slug-invaded hosts bear a discernible hump on their backs where the aliens imbed themselves. These aliens are smart, though, and the government is typically naïve and slow to respond, so eventually the fate of the nation depends on the work of our three heroes.

The protagonists are typically peculiar Heinlein characters. The hard to read Old Man runs the show, while "Sam" and "Mary" conduct much of the field and security work, Mary is a beautiful, mysterious female agent, and naturally Sam immediately falls head over heels in love with her. Together, they identify the means by which the slugs propagate, eventually developing first-hand knowledge of the slugs despite their best intentions and precautions. As compelling as the slug crisis is, the interrelationships between the Old Man, Sam, and Mary are even more interesting. One never truly knows a Heinlein character, and there are some surprising twists and turns in the evolution and past histories of the important ones here.

The tidbits we are given about life in the 21st century and the recent past history of America are slipped in rather slyly; America did win World War III, we learn, but did not escape a limited nuclear attack; the defeated yet unbowed Soviets remain Communists (drawing a perfectly legitimate question in the mind of Sam as to how much difference it would make for the Soviets to fall victim to slug control), and marriage has become a business contract available for periods of six months up to the old-fashioned yet rarely selected lifetime commitment.

This is basically an action-packed alien invasion story of an unusual sort, driven along unflaggingly by Heinlein. The science of this science fiction is present but by no means takes away from or slows down the story whatsoever. Even as incredible wartime events unfold rapidly, we are continually treated to a character study of sorts of our heroes. This is not sociological science fiction, yet there is much in that vein to draw one's eye. Certainly, a Cold War influence can be felt in these pages, especially early on when it seems all but impossible to tell who is an enemy and who is not. The issue of civil liberties is brought up when the government basically demands all citizens to live and work essentially nude (because that is the only way to tell whether Joe Schmo is walking around with a slug or not) The novel is not politicized however, with the exception of allusions to government's predictable weaknesses and failures. The bare-bones skeleton of the tale is rather common fare, despite the unusual nature of the aliens here, but Heinlein's incredible characterization, subtle references to psychological and sociological issues, and unique manner of telling a story make this a thoroughly enjoyable novel.

No moral messages or satire! Nothing deep, subliminal, fancy, or indirect and hidden! The Puppet Masters is straight-up hard driving sci-fi action thriller based on the simple theme of alien invasion! Given the underlying culture of 1950s USA, the deep-seated American fear and paranoia over the Cold War with Russia and Cuba plus the ongoing bewilderment surrounding alleged UFO sightings and alien abductions, there are few surprises in The Puppet Masters. Despite that, Heinlein succeeds in hooking his readers from the very first page and producing a fast-paced tale that is extremely difficult to put down once you've started. Move over "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "War of the Worlds" and "Day of the Triffids" - you've got some exciting new company!

Sam and Mary, operatives for an ultra-covert government intelligence agency run by the Old Man, open the story as they are briefed on the arrival of a flying saucer which we will later learn is from Titan, Saturn's sixth and largest moon. The government, with typical bureaucratic blundering and political maneuvering fails to react to the threat against mankind when it is first recognized - the occupants of the flying saucer are a slug-like parasitic lifeform that steals its human host's body, intelligence and memories by attaching itself to a human's back and reproduces at a frightening rate.

Although Heinlein primarily used plot and action to drive the story to a thrilling climax and a warm-hearted optimistic conclusion, we are given snippets of his visions of technology and life in a 21st century future - non-habit forming drugs capable of dramatically elongating a person's psychological perception of the passage of time; heat guns; flying cars powered by impellers with one model laughably called the "Cadillac Zipper"; stereo-video, high resolution pictures and a multi-channel television entertainment universe (well, he sure got that one right, didn't he?); space travel; and, established colonies on Venus. It's difficult to say whether Heinlein was being unabashedly cynical or taking a stab at black humour when he portrayed the state of marriage as having evolved into a purely contractual arrangement with optional renewal after a specified term and payment of a salary from one party to the other.

One of the most interesting developments in The Puppet Masters is the government's decision to suspend certain civil liberties - the world's population is forced to live and work in the nude as the only way of ensuring a neighbour has not been hi-jacked by one of the "slugs". The alternative is being summarily shot by military or police forces, not to mention roaming vigilante groups. How ironic that something written over fifty years ago should suddenly be so timely! In light of recent events such as Al-Qaeda terrorist bombings, Heinlein's outlandish plot device gives one considerable reason to pause, draw a deep breath and contemplate what rights might be sacrosanct and which ones might be changed or eliminated in the world's efforts against terrorism.

With the exception of overtly sexist dialogue in the style of a hard-nosed Mike Hammer police procedural, nothing else would date this fine story as having been written so long ago. Maybe we can look to Spielberg to work his magic on this one next - the book was terrific and I bet it'd be a hell of a big screen epic too!

I was about 13 years old when I read this book in its' first issued paperback form in the late 1950's. The original book cost 35 cents and the cover showed a man making a call from a phone booth while on the background behind him was a flying saucer that had landed. To this day I consider it one of the best science fiction books written. So many concepts were introduced in it, including organ donor banks (which are now reality). The plot built up nicely and held your interest and attention. The characters in it were quite believable and the action exciting. For some reason the "Pass Christian Saucer" line always stuck in my head. Probably since I didn't know where it was until I looked it up. To sum it up briefly, it's a GOOD read!

Science fiction stories about aliens that form a symbiotic relationship with humans have been popular in the science fiction literature for a long time. One of the earliest short stories on this theme probably was Clark Ashton Smith's "The Vaults of Yok-Vombis" in 1932. The first full length novel based on this theme was Heinlein's "The Puppet Masters." It was also Heinlein's first full-length science fiction novel for adults. It first appeared as a serial in the Sept. 1951 issue of Galaxy magazine. A film based on this book was released in 1994. This story, written in a very "hard-boiled" style reminescent Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, begins with a landing of a flying saucer in Iowa. At first it is thought to be a hoax (as in Wells' "War of the Worlds"). However, it is soon apparent that it is not. The aliens, believed to be from Titan, form a parasitic attachment to humans and are able to completely control the thoughts and movements of the human host. The problems facing the non-infected humans includes how to defeat the aliens without killing the host (a similar problem facing the hero in Card's "Xenocide" (1991)). They also have a problem at convincing Washington politicians that there is a crisis. Others have suggested that the novel is an allegory of the times in the late-1940s and early-1950s of the paranoia caused by the Cold War. (However, care should be exercised here. Some of the earlier reviewers have compared this book with the paranoa associated with the McCarthy hearings. Although Senator McCarthy was much in the news in 1950 and 1951, the actual hearings didn't begin until long after Heinlein's book was published.) There is another interesting aspect. The novel is written in the first person. On two occasions, the narrator himself, the government agent Sam Cavanaugh, gets infected by the aliens and then the narration shifts to the alien's viewpoint. This was a major novel in the history of the development of science fiction literature and all serious students should read it.

Robert A. Heinlein was one of my favorite authors when I was a teenager. Time had passed by, but still I love some of his books. "The Puppet Masters" is one of them.

This book was published in 1951 with the Cold War raging and that cultural background influence the story. As I pointed out in other reviews, books and films of the period allude the frightful issue of: "They are LIKE us but they are NOT us. They are DANGEROUS to us", as in the films "The Thing from another World" (1951), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) or "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" (1958).

The story focuses on an alien invasion that expands all around the world with unimaginable speed. Sam and Mary are agents of an ultra secret Security Agency under the control of the Old Man who have a direct link to the President. Both agents go to investigate and after discovering what's up, a fast paced adventure starts.
Alien parasites take control of human beings by the expedient of attaching themselves to the back of the host. The first frightful issue to overcome is how to distinguish friend from foes. Then, the Government has to implement some defense against them, that include a "bare backs" politic. Finally our heroes try to find the source and origin of the invasion.

At this time of his career, Heinlein was more centered in the action than in political or social speculation, as he develop in later books, with uneven achievement.
I recommend this book to all sci-fi lovers and those who enjoy adrenalin charged adventures.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

The Puppet Masters can be sumed up in one word, it ROCKED!! My first Henlein book was Farnham's Freehold, which don't get me wrong wasn't a bad book but I just couldn't get into it. The Puppet Masters was, I think far better. Filled with suspense, paranoia, action and even a little terror. A basic outlining of the plot is, Earth is under attack by aliens that can control people's minds. They can attach themselves where ever they please on your body. An Intelligence officer, known as Sam Cavanaugh must stop these aliens with the help of a beautiful agent named Mary and the Intelligence's commander the Old Man. This book starts right out with tons of suspense. Even to the ending, the last five pages still had my hands sweating! If you are a Heinlein fan or just plain love Sceince Fiction read this book. I couldn't put it down!

I am not a Science Fiction fan at all. I have only seen the original Star Wars movie, for example. It's just not my thing.

Then my friend told me about this book, The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein, and how people were overtaken by alien slugs and he was curious about how people "are overtaken by slugs of belief, of thought, of ego, of... of... of..."... well, he didn't say exactly that, but I understood.. even more, I think which is...

What might happen if we purposefully infected the world with forces of light?

Intriguing. So I read.

I loved, loved, loved Heilein's writing voice. It was almost like film noir. What was not to love about Sam? I swear I had heard his voice many times in films from the 40's. I could hear him using words like "dame" and say she was something like "a tall glass of water..." you know the kind of guy!

Anyway, I loved that immediately and the short, punchy, fast paced chapters draw in even those of us who aren't into science fiction really easily.

What impressed me... more than anything else... was how Heilein was able to wave some significant themes into the book itself. My favorite quote from the book is this one:

"Luck is a tag given by the mediocre to account for the accomplishments of a genius."

I agree with it wholeheartedly.

I also appreciate Heinlein's treatment of the lead woman in this book. Yes, ofcourse she is beautiful, but as significant as her beauty is her confidence, her intellect, her insights and her partnership with the men in her life.

It is intriguing to read about today (the book starts in July, 2007) from a "What will it be like then?" from 1951. We aren't flying around in rockets... (what a disappointment!) but there IS no more "Iron Curtain"... I bet that would have surprised Mr. Heinlein!

This one is worth reading, even if you don't think you like Science Fiction.

This fast-paced action-packed adventure is a sparkling example of Heinlein's early post-juvenile output. As such, there's virtually none of the sexual obsession, social commentary and philosophical maundering that some find so offensive, although fans of his later work may find this book low on substance.

The characters are pretty good (for sci-fi, anyway), and their relationship goes through some development before they fall for each other, plus their bantering conversation is a substantial improvement over the dialogue in most genre fiction. Of course the plot is straight out of H.G. Wells, as an alien race invades the earth and only a secret organization of government agents can act against them. The real strength of this novel is the breezy reality Heinlein brings to his story, and the clever (and all too believable) means the slugs use to control the country without the general populace ever knowing the difference. Surely this is Heinlein's interpretation of the Communist witch hunts of the twenties and fifties, when even someone you thought you knew well could prove to be a deadly enemy. The horror element should probably not be overemphasized, although this book was surely much scarier forty years ago. The whole concept of having an inhuman thing hanging on your back and controlling your every action is perhaps more creepy than grisly, and may not impress too many modern readers, but this particular reader found it quite disturbing enough, thank you.

Demonstrating a command of technique largely absent from his later novels, Heinlein's tightly controlled point of view puts the action right in your face, and keeps the reader in sympathy with the hero throughout. This is an excellent book for younger readers, even though it's not aimed at them specifically, and it's also a top choice for fans of sci-fi escapism; just don't expect it to change your life.

Copyrighted in 1951, The Puppet Masters showcases early Heinlein, already showing the style and content that would lead to him receiving the first Grand Master Award for science fiction. The book is entertaining not because of its fantastic vision of the future, but for the reason novels are usually entertaining - plot and character.

The story unfolds as a mysterious crash occurs in rural Iowa. Government agents are sent to investigate but do not return. The main protagonist, also an agent, a female agent, and the agency leader are dispatched. They realize something is out of the ordinary, eventually uncovering an invasion of aliens with the ability to enslave th eminds of humans, creating virtually indistinguishable puppets that then further their cause of global dominion. The story follows the three's struggles to first convince humanity of the threat, then ultimately find a way to fight back..

Set in a world that would put it near the present day, the book often misses the mark in terms of predicting the future. Information technology today is beyond anything Heinlein imagined, and transportation and military technology today still lag behind his vision. These are minor quibbles, though, as anyone who can't suspend disbelief enough to accept this as an alternate reality really has no business reading alien invasion stories in the first place.

Heinlein's characters are entertaining, incredibly skilled, and for want of a better term, "old school" in their approach to the various competencies the different genders bring to the business of protecting humanity. Heinlein has been accused of misogyny, but to me that rings hollow, as the female lead here is (typically for Heinlein) the most competent and mentally tough of the main characters. If believing that men have a duty to protect women from harm is misogynistic, then I guess you'll have to send me to re-education camp as well.

I went into the book more or less expecting the above from Heinlein. The Puppet Masters was one of the few of his books I had not read. I've enjoyed his other works, and this one did not disappoint. The one unexpected treat was seeing his early views on Soviet Russia. Apparently the aliens invaded in the territory of "the Commissars" as well, but it was much more difficult to detect. In Heinlein's mind, there appears to have been little difference between a soul-destroying collective administered by an alien hive mind and the same thing administered by a Politburo. As some have suggested, this allegory may have been Heinlein's purpose in writing the book..

So, for a timelessly entertaining early work by Heinlein with the bonus of seeing his incredible prescience regarding the USSR, The Puppet Masters is certainly worth your time.

5 stars.