Ratings5
Average rating3.4
The Cosmic Puppets was published in 1957 in an Ace Double edition, back to back with The Sargasso of Space of Andrew North. This underrated novel of Philip K. Dick, which is more fantasy than SF, was kept out of the publishing loop for more than 25 years between its original publication in 1957 and the first re-publication in 1983. The Cosmic puppets, written in 1953, was first published as a novella under the title "A Glass of Darkness" in the 12/1956 issue of Satellite before it was expanded into a novel and published as a book.
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Yielding to a compulsion he can't explain, Ted Barton interrupts his vacation in order to visit the town of his birth, Millgate, Virginia. But upon entering the sleepy, isolated little hamlet, Ted is distraught to find that the place bears no resemblance to the one he left behind--and never did. He also discovers that in this Millgate Ted Barton died of scarlet fever when he was nine years old. Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that it is literally impossible to escape. Unable to leave, Ted struggles to find the reason for such disturbing incongruities, but before long, he finds himself in the midst of a struggle between good and evil that stretches far beyond the confines of the valley.Winner of both the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards for best novel, widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day, and the object of cult-like adoration from his legions of fans, Philip K. Dick has come to be seen in a literary light that defies classification in much the same way as Borges and Calvino. With breathtaking insight, he utilizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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PKD is primarily known these days for his sci-fi. The Cosmic Puppets is probably his only attempt at a fantasy novel. One of his earlier and less well known works, the immaturity of the prose is definitely evident, but the wild ‘what if' ideas that characterize his best sci-fi works is absolutely present.
Here we are playing with the ideas of creation. The whole story steeped in heavy Zoroastrian imagery - the cosmic battle between light and dark - this time played out in a kind of urban fantasy setting. The idea of ‘what is real?' is something that PKD plays with a lot over the years. It is intriguing to see his early ideas on this front. The concepts have evolved into much more well fleshed out examples in his later works, but seeing how he has previously explored them is definitely interesting.
This is certainly not one of his best books. His prose is weak, the setting dated. However, seeing where some his more famous ideas started being developed is certainly fun for people who like his works.