Friday, February 03, 2012

The Puppet Masters

The Puppet Masters. Robert A. Heinlein. 1951. Del Rey. 340 pages.

Were they truly intelligent? By themselves, that is? I don't know and I don't know how we can ever find out. I'm not a lab man; I'm an operator. 

I honestly don't know which Heinlein is my favorite, but it would definitely be either The Puppet Masters or The Door Into Summer. At least of the ones I've read so far. The Door Into Summer is about cold sleep and time travel. The Puppet Masters is about an alien invasion--where the aliens are parasites that take on human hosts. Both books are good--really, really good. Though if you hate science fiction, I doubt either would change your mind. (Connie Willis might change your mind though!)

So. The Puppet Masters is a novel that I think you should definitely try. I am SO SO glad I bought myself a copy.

The narrator of The Puppet Masters is an agent named "Sam." (His real name is revealed, but most people do call him Sam, so that's what I'll call him too.) When the novel opens, he's getting a new assignment. He'll be working with two other agents--his Old Man, and his "sister" "Mary" (that's not her real name either) to investigate the landing of a flying saucer in a small town in Iowa. What they discover changes everything...but it may take some convincing to be believed.

Read The Puppet Masters
  • If you're a fan of classic or vintage science fiction
  • If you're a fan of alien-invasion novels
  • If you're a fan of Robert Heinlein
  • If you like reading about how different authors have envisioned the future. (The novel is set in 2007, I believe).

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This was a piece of it's time really. You couldn't trust anyone, even the ones who look safe might be the enemy. I read it in my teens and was blown away by it. I think it was made into a film. I dono't know if it was before or after the 'Invasion of the Body-Snatchers' , but it might well have founded that genre of films. High on paranoia and sure to make you think about free-will. One to read again.