Puppet Masters

Rating:
Summary: Men in Black...only better
Review: They must have taken that idea from this book...or at least they reminded me of each other. This is a great book...and isn't all that far fetched if you don't read it too literally.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best alien invasion stories
Review: This book has stood up amazingly well over time. It is still probably the very best alien invasion story of all time with the possible exception of the The Body Snatchers. The story is relatively well crafted and it shows much of the breeziness typical of Heinlein's most popular books. I would not place this at the top of the list of Heinlein's very best novels however.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Heinlein
Review: This is a fabulous science fiction tale with all the classic Heinlein elements: a quick-witted, lusty, smart-alecky protagonist; a luscious babe love interest; a wildly fantastic plot that that is well crafted enough to almost seem possible; and plenty of action. Parasites capable of inhabiting humans' minds and bodies threaten to take over the world unless a father, son, and wife team can stop them. In turn, all are inhabited by the "slugs."

In addition to being a first-rate science fiction work, this is a coming of age story of sorts, since the hero works for a secret service agency run by his cranky old man. It is also a realistic love story between "Sam" and his wife "Mary" that has its share of turmoil, especially as the two attempt to delve into Mary's forgotten past.

Readers will have trouble believing this story was written more than fifty years ago- the technology and science described are that good, and the plot is that well-paced and tight. The Puppet Masters holds up to any contemporary science fiction, and may even exceed today's offerings because of its originality. Furthermore, this tale's paranoid theme of "trust no one" (i.e., because he or she could be inhabited by a parasite), while written originally under the specter of the cold war, is as timely as ever in view of the recent terrorist attacks. This country ought to mobilize to detect the villains among us as effectively as the future USA of The Puppet Masters.

Rating:
Summary: good story, but I didn't like the style
Review: This novel is one of the classics but I didn't find it as enjoyable as I thought I would. The story is relatively simple. A flying saucer full of aliens from one of saturn's moons lands in Iowa and proceeds to take over the population. These aliens are slug like creatures who attach themselves to humans taking over their bodies. They quickly multiply and threaten to take over the world. Getting rid of them is tricky because killing one while they are attached to a human will kill the human as well.

The story's setting is in the 21st century. I found it comical how the author depicted the technology of today back then. Also, the dialogue seems awfully simplistic and I wasn't all that satisfied with how the author explained the creatures and how the scientists analyzed them.

The story was fun, but not nearly as engaging as some of the Star Trek novels I've read.