Puppet Masters [Mass Market Paperback]

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!