The Cosmic Puppets (GOLLANCZ S.F.)
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"The fascination of the novel lies in spotting the themes that Dick would later develop and make his own: the malleability of perceived reality, the imposition of the fake on the real and the struggle between good and evil. The Cosmic Puppets may be a minor work, but is nevertheless interesting." (Eric Brown THE GUARDIAN )
Book Description
A typically unsettling tale of different realities from a master of the genre
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The general plot seems a classic for a PKD novel. However it is one of his weaker attempts at creating an adult sci fi for a stimulating read. He introduces some perfetic creatures as the bad guys which cause the chaos such as moths, bees, snakes and rats.
The galatic invasion is non existant.
Hopefully that should set off some alarm bells.
The galatic invasion is non existant.
Hopefully that should set off some alarm bells.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although I am an fan of PKD's work and read everything I have access to this one was a bit disappointing. I think it was too late when I ckecked the original publishing date ('50s) so to tell the truth is is an early PKD novel with some sign of a genius but in general a weak composition. The strongest feature of the novel is the athmosphere: the typical schizophrenic situation read in so many PKD novels. You will also find the transcendentalism interesting but somewhat unsophisticated especially compared to other novels like The three stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. So in short: if you like everything what Dick wrote you can read this - I don't think this will be your favourite PKD novel.
Format:Paperback
" When Ted Barton follows an inner compulsion and returns to Millgate, Virginia, the isolated, sleepy town of his birth, he is troubled to find that the place bears no resemblance to the one he left all those years before. It's even more alarming to realise that it never did. And when Ted discovers that in this Millgate Ted Barton died of scarlet fever at the age of nine, he knows there's something seriously amiss. Imprisoned there by a mysterious and unseen barrier, Ted attempts to find the reason for the disquieting anomalies, only to become enmeshed in a desperate and epic struggle of cosmic importance."
- from the back cover
Written in 1953 and published in 1957, Cosmic Puppets (Dick's fourth published novel) is possibly his shortest novel. It explores a number of themes Dick had an abiding interest in (and would bring out more fully in later novels), most specifically the nature of reality and the impact on people when reality as they understand it starts to unravel around them.
As with all PKD's works this novel makes you marvel at his imagination but also (if you are of a philosophical turn of mind) brings you to question and consider the themes he raises for yourself.
"[Dick] sees all the sparkling and terrifying possibilities. . . that other authors shy away from."
-- Paul Williams, Rolling Stone
"The most consistently brilliant SF writer in the world"
-- John Brunner
"I see Dick as a major twenty-first century writer, an influential 'fictional philosopher' of the quantum age."
-- Timothy Leary
If you are new to Philip K Dick's work I would also recommend the following novels (which generally seem to be regarded as among his best):
The Man In The High Castle (S.F. Masterworks)
Ubik (S.F. Masterworks)
A Scanner Darkly (S.F. Masterworks)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (S.F. Masterworks)
That said, though some of PKD's works are better than others, to my mind they are all well worth reading. I would also recommend his short story collections:
Beyond Lies The Wub: Volume One Of The Collected Short Stories
Second Variety: Volume Two Of The Collected Short Stories
The Father-Thing: Volume Three Of The Collected Short Stories
Minority Report: Volume Four Of The Collected Short Stories
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: Volume Five of The Collected Short Stories
Also of interest may be the fine biography of Philip K Dick by Lawrence Sutin Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick (Gollancz S.F.)
- from the back cover
Written in 1953 and published in 1957, Cosmic Puppets (Dick's fourth published novel) is possibly his shortest novel. It explores a number of themes Dick had an abiding interest in (and would bring out more fully in later novels), most specifically the nature of reality and the impact on people when reality as they understand it starts to unravel around them.
As with all PKD's works this novel makes you marvel at his imagination but also (if you are of a philosophical turn of mind) brings you to question and consider the themes he raises for yourself.
"[Dick] sees all the sparkling and terrifying possibilities. . . that other authors shy away from."
-- Paul Williams, Rolling Stone
"The most consistently brilliant SF writer in the world"
-- John Brunner
"I see Dick as a major twenty-first century writer, an influential 'fictional philosopher' of the quantum age."
-- Timothy Leary
If you are new to Philip K Dick's work I would also recommend the following novels (which generally seem to be regarded as among his best):
The Man In The High Castle (S.F. Masterworks)
Ubik (S.F. Masterworks)
A Scanner Darkly (S.F. Masterworks)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (S.F. Masterworks)
That said, though some of PKD's works are better than others, to my mind they are all well worth reading. I would also recommend his short story collections:
Beyond Lies The Wub: Volume One Of The Collected Short Stories
Second Variety: Volume Two Of The Collected Short Stories
The Father-Thing: Volume Three Of The Collected Short Stories
Minority Report: Volume Four Of The Collected Short Stories
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: Volume Five of The Collected Short Stories
Also of interest may be the fine biography of Philip K Dick by Lawrence Sutin Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick (Gollancz S.F.)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A fine small story
I bought this book to complement my PKD collection, thinking it might be a snore, but hey it's Dick, right? Read more
Published on 23 July 2009 by Rasmus Keldorff
An early PKD gem
The Cosmic Puppets begins unpromisingly as a rather cliched eerie tale from fifties small-town America, somewhat in the vein of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2009 by Jordan, The Comeback
Stranded, suspiscous, a pawn in a greater game...
This is one of Philip K Dick's popular or pulp sci fi books, it doesnt have quite as much existential angst and musing as some of his books and yet it is still a great work of... Read more
Published on 21 April 2009 by Lark
Big on Concept, But Not Dick's Best
If you have ever moved away from an area you've grown up in, particularly as a child, then returned some years later you will know that mix of the familiar with the unfamiliar as... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2008 by Mr. T. Berriman
Early PKD
One of the earlier PKD novels, which initially reads like an original episode of the Twilight Zone (in fact I can think of an episode with a cameo from a young James Doohan which... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2002 by W. G. Hardy
A very pleasant little book indeed
It only took me a couple of hours to read this book as it is quite short. However, that it is not to say that it wasn't a good read. Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2001
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