crowfood's review
4.0
It is hard to find a half-decent female character in science fiction novels from the period in which this was written. You won't find any here.
The only real female character starts with a leg up. She is one of the top agents for the top-secret Section. Things go predictably downhill from there. She is also "super hot" and can spot the titular invaders because they're not attracted to her smokin' bod. She soon submits to the protagonist's ridiculous demand of marriage, and thereafter her dialogue more or less consists of "whatever you say, dear." Sigh.
That aside, the rest of the story is a classic that seems to have set the precedent for countless later imitations.
The only real female character starts with a leg up. She is one of the top agents for the top-secret Section. Things go predictably downhill from there. She is also "super hot" and can spot the titular invaders because they're not attracted to her smokin' bod. She soon submits to the protagonist's ridiculous demand of marriage, and thereafter her dialogue more or less consists of "whatever you say, dear." Sigh.
That aside, the rest of the story is a classic that seems to have set the precedent for countless later imitations.
gon8go's review
4.0
classic book, fast action but the romantic plot seemes forced.
the idea of everyone taking tempus pills to slow the perception of time deserves its own book.
the idea of everyone taking tempus pills to slow the perception of time deserves its own book.
thomcat's review
3.0
Hard to rate this. The science is good, once past the premise, and a darn sight better than the other alien invasion and body snatcher plots of the seventies. The female main character, though, brings the rating down. I cringe while reading lines like "Oh, I am being weak and womanish." Yes, attitudes were different 60 years ago, but I've read plenty of pulp where the female characters were either differently shaped men or completely ignored - either is preferable to the Heinlein approach.
Note to self - time to re-read Friday. Written 33 years later, and I think I remember a much better female lead.
Note to self - time to re-read Friday. Written 33 years later, and I think I remember a much better female lead.
veryreaderie's review
1.0
This book is probably a lot easier to read if you're not a woman. The exhaustive (and weird—pleasingly mammalian? arrogant breasts?) descriptions of female bodies wore on me, and the main character just had nothing to pull me back in. Occasional clever insights were peppered throughout, and if I'd liked the MC more the adventure might have been enjoyable, but I couldn't help feeling like Sam was a pretty useless guy who always took things out on the wrong people, had a victim complex a mile wide, and generally didn't deserve the admiration of the people around him. Certain well-done plot twists edge this towards an "it was okay", but then I remember the love interest saying she fell in love when the MC slapped her and it settles back down. Everything about the actual parasites was fairly interesting and thought-provoking; I just wish I'd been able to experience the story through a different character.
suzannekm's review
2.0
Yes I read another Heinlein. This time partly for a class and partly to see if I still dislike his writing. I do.
antoneh's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
theatlantean's review
4.0
Classic golden age SF. A good story, executed well.
Some of the relationships and dialogue are quaintly archaic... such as the unconscious cultural misogyny, but there are also progressive attitudes, notably towards race.
Obviously written to take advantage of the (at the time) sudden wave of UFO sightings, and current thinking in that direction.
The technology is impressive, though. While there are retrospectively strange omissions such as a global information/communication network, but then there are smart phones that fit in a pocket, and implants,which are surprisingly prescient for a book nearly 60 years old.
Some of the relationships and dialogue are quaintly archaic... such as the unconscious cultural misogyny, but there are also progressive attitudes, notably towards race.
Obviously written to take advantage of the (at the time) sudden wave of UFO sightings, and current thinking in that direction.
The technology is impressive, though. While there are retrospectively strange omissions such as a global information/communication network, but then there are smart phones that fit in a pocket, and implants,which are surprisingly prescient for a book nearly 60 years old.
markyon's review
4.0
Alien invasion? Fifties paranoia? Mind control?
After a visit to the British Library’s Out of this World Exhibition in London, I was suddenly reminded that I hadn’t read this Heinlein for a long while.
And indeed I haven’t read it in its ‘uncensored’ version, which was published in 1990 with the tale increased from about 60 000 words to 96 000.
So: it was time to revisit!
Puppet Masters is Heinlein’s version of an alien invasion tale, written at a time when such tales were popular in film and in prose.
The tale itself is quite simple. Told in the first person, ‘Sam’ Nivens (not his real name) is working for the US secret service. This means different names, different places, different faces (as I find on the first page a blonde in bed with Sam, who wasn’t there in my original version!)
He’s assigned with a red-headed woman currently named Mary and his boss, ‘the Old Man’, who go to investigate a report of a crashed saucer in Des Moines. It is quickly claimed to be a hoax – a schoolboy prank reported by an overenthusiastic local news station, but there is clearly more to it. Mary, being the typical Heinlein heroine, notices she doesn’t get a reaction from the adult males that she usually receives – the drooling is pretty much left to Sam.
Things develop as Sam and his colleagues quickly discover a secret invasion is going on that seems to suggest the future of the human race is at stake. Sam’s job is to stop it.
Those of you who know ‘Operation Annihilate’ from Star Trek: the Original Series will get an idea of this story and realise how close these tales are. I’m surprised Heinlein didn’t sue, frankly.
But back to the book. What we have here though is a B-movie plot written in the Heinlein way, with all the good and bad points it entails. There is the usual fabulous prose, the honed wise-cracking comments, the drip-feeding of all those little neat ideas that Heinlein does so well. The plot moves along at a great pace and there’s a lot of tension and suspense along the way.
There’s also the use of a typical strong red-headed Heinlein-gal, with all the ‘Hey, sister’ type comments that the Heinlein character usually has attached to it. These still jar a little, even allowing for the context of the times. Though Mary is fast, intelligent, strong, resourceful and more than capable, there is still a feeling that all she’s there for is to serve the needs of our Hero, Sam. This is not by far the worst example of this by RAH – later novels do it much more – but it is more noticeable in this souped-up, more risqué version.
This is perhaps where I see a transition between the juveniles and say, Stranger in a Strange Land: this still has the excitement and the pace of the juvies, but the addition of the posturing lecture seen in later books such as Stranger. That and the need to get naked.
Sometimes ‘more’ can mean ‘less’, and I’m reminded of that, as I was when I read the longer version of Stranger in a Strange Land – I’m in two minds to decide whether this longer Puppet Masters is one of those examples.
Despite this, the tale’s an engaging one and must have shook things up a little when first published in 1951 – 60 years ago. There are parts that are quite good, for all of my complaints.
In summary, though, this is an interesting read: an alien invasion story with some intelligence that shows many of Heinlein’s strengths, but a few of his weaknesses, and sadly more so in this longer version. It is definitely worth reading, though it has to be seen as a product of its time.
After a visit to the British Library’s Out of this World Exhibition in London, I was suddenly reminded that I hadn’t read this Heinlein for a long while.
And indeed I haven’t read it in its ‘uncensored’ version, which was published in 1990 with the tale increased from about 60 000 words to 96 000.
So: it was time to revisit!
Puppet Masters is Heinlein’s version of an alien invasion tale, written at a time when such tales were popular in film and in prose.
The tale itself is quite simple. Told in the first person, ‘Sam’ Nivens (not his real name) is working for the US secret service. This means different names, different places, different faces (as I find on the first page a blonde in bed with Sam, who wasn’t there in my original version!)
He’s assigned with a red-headed woman currently named Mary and his boss, ‘the Old Man’, who go to investigate a report of a crashed saucer in Des Moines. It is quickly claimed to be a hoax – a schoolboy prank reported by an overenthusiastic local news station, but there is clearly more to it. Mary, being the typical Heinlein heroine, notices she doesn’t get a reaction from the adult males that she usually receives – the drooling is pretty much left to Sam.
Things develop as Sam and his colleagues quickly discover a secret invasion is going on that seems to suggest the future of the human race is at stake. Sam’s job is to stop it.
Those of you who know ‘Operation Annihilate’ from Star Trek: the Original Series will get an idea of this story and realise how close these tales are. I’m surprised Heinlein didn’t sue, frankly.
But back to the book. What we have here though is a B-movie plot written in the Heinlein way, with all the good and bad points it entails. There is the usual fabulous prose, the honed wise-cracking comments, the drip-feeding of all those little neat ideas that Heinlein does so well. The plot moves along at a great pace and there’s a lot of tension and suspense along the way.
There’s also the use of a typical strong red-headed Heinlein-gal, with all the ‘Hey, sister’ type comments that the Heinlein character usually has attached to it. These still jar a little, even allowing for the context of the times. Though Mary is fast, intelligent, strong, resourceful and more than capable, there is still a feeling that all she’s there for is to serve the needs of our Hero, Sam. This is not by far the worst example of this by RAH – later novels do it much more – but it is more noticeable in this souped-up, more risqué version.
This is perhaps where I see a transition between the juveniles and say, Stranger in a Strange Land: this still has the excitement and the pace of the juvies, but the addition of the posturing lecture seen in later books such as Stranger. That and the need to get naked.
Sometimes ‘more’ can mean ‘less’, and I’m reminded of that, as I was when I read the longer version of Stranger in a Strange Land – I’m in two minds to decide whether this longer Puppet Masters is one of those examples.
Despite this, the tale’s an engaging one and must have shook things up a little when first published in 1951 – 60 years ago. There are parts that are quite good, for all of my complaints.
In summary, though, this is an interesting read: an alien invasion story with some intelligence that shows many of Heinlein’s strengths, but a few of his weaknesses, and sadly more so in this longer version. It is definitely worth reading, though it has to be seen as a product of its time.