Back Vládci loutek Czech Die Invasion German Marionnettes humaines French השליטים HE Il terrore dalla sesta luna (romanzo) Italian 人形つかい Japanese ദ പപ്പറ്റ് മാസ്റ്റേഴ്സ് Malayalam Władcy marionetek Polish Mânuitorii de zombi Romanian Кукловоды Russian
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 US first edition dust jacket cover | |
| Author | Robert A. Heinlein |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1951 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
The Puppet Masters is a 1951 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space. It was originally serialized in Galaxy Science Fiction (September, October, and November 1951).
The novel evokes a sense of paranoia and Heinlein repeatedly makes explicit the analogy between the mind-controlling parasites and the Communist Russians, echoing the prevailing Second Red Scare in the United States. The book takes up the then common theme of sightings of flying saucers, the plot assuming that the "saucers" seen in the 1950s were part of a preliminary reconnaissance of Earth, carried out by the extraterrestrials in preparation for a full-fledged invasion sixty years later.