''The Cosmic Puppets'' is a science fiction novel by American author Philip K. Dick, published in 1957. It is a revision of ''A Glass of Darkness'', first published in the December 1956 issue of ''

Satellite Science Fiction ''Satellite Science Fiction'' was an American science-fiction magazine published from October 1956 to April 1959 by Leo Margulies' Renown Publications. Initially, ''Satellite'' was digest sized and ran a full-length novel in each issue with a ...

''. ''The Cosmic Puppets'' was first published as a novel by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scien ...

as one half of

Ace Double American company Ace Books began publishing genre fiction starting in 1952. Initially these were mostly in tête-bêche format with the ends of the two parts meeting in the middle and with a divider between them which functioned as the rear cover ...

D-249, bound

dos-à-dos Dos-à-dos (French for "back-to-back") may refer to: *Dosado Do-si-do is a dance move. Description It is a circular movement where two people, who are initially facing each other, walk around each other without or almost without turning, i.e., fa ...

with ''

Sargasso of Space :''"The Sargasso of Space" is also the title of a 1931 sf novelette by Edmond Hamilton'' ''Sargasso of Space'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, written under the alternate pseudonym "Andrew North". It was published in 19 ...

'' by Andrew North (better known as

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name ...

Plot summary

Ted Barton, having left Millgate,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

several years ago, returns with his wife Peg to find his hometown strangely transformed. Street names and landmarks do not exist as he remembers them, and the inhabitants of the town are similarly oblivious to their contradictory past. Peg proves intolerant of her husband's interest and abandons him while he explores the town. While in Millgate, Barton meets three sympathetic locals: Doctor Meade, a family physician; his daughter, Mary; and William Christopher, a town drunk. However, Mary has a menacing counterpart—Peter Trilling, the deceptively young offspring of the town's hotel owner. After Barton's departure from Millgate is blocked by a permanently jackknifed logging truck obstructing the only route out of town, he discovers that Christopher remembers the town's erased past. Christopher recalls an event entitled "the Change", which occurred eighteen years beforehand, after Barton had left Millgate. In his previous life he was an

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

but is now working to revert Millgate to its previous state of existence. Dr. Meade and Mary have the same agenda, as Meade's "Shady House" patients turn out to be "Wanderers",

incorporeal Incorporeality is "the state or quality of being incorporeal or bodiless; immateriality; incorporealism." Incorporeal (Greek: ἀσώματος) means "Not composed of matter; having no material existence." Incorporeality is a quality of souls, ...

former inhabitants of the erased Millgate who can communicate with Mary and certain others. Barton is able to revert objects, as well as an erased park, at which point Mary discloses that she is also aware of the Change and the prior Millgate. Mary and Peter are in fact engaged in a low-intensity supernatural

proxy war A proxy war is an armed conflict between two states or non-state actors, one or both of which act at the instigation or on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in the hostilities. In order for a conflict to be considered a p ...

against one another. She can only use bees, moths, cats and flies against his control over

golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

s, spiders, snakes and rats, and initially seems to kill Mary through his servitors. However, even this traumatic event is not enough to cause Dr. Meade to abandon the comforting illusion of his false human identity. Two vast, supernatural entities loom over Millgate, however, and Barton realises that Meade is one of them, as Peter Trilling reverts to his own, malignant divine self. He uses his servitors to attack Barton, Christopher and the Wanderers, but is stopped as Meade remembers his past, and reassumes his own divine identity. At the denouement, Millgate finds itself in the crossfire of a battle between the twin but diametrically opposed demigods,

Ahriman Angra Mainyu (; Avestan: 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 ''Aŋra Mainiiu'') is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the ...

(the "destructive spirit") and

Ormazd Ahura Mazda (; ae, , translit=Ahura Mazdā; ), also known as Oromasdes, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hoormazd, Hormazd, Hormaz and Hurmuz, is the creator deity in Zoroastrianism. He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the ''Yasna''. ...

(the "creator") of

Zurvanism Zurvanism is a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zu ...

. Ormazd eventually triumphs, and Mary reveals her own true identity as Ormazd's messianic daughter,

Armaiti In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta ( ae, , Aməša Spəṇta—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian ...

, who arranged for Barton's exile and return to the town when it was time to overthrow Ahriman's false illusion. The former Millgate returns to solidity, Christopher resumes his career as an electrician forgetting the Change ever occurred, and Barton leaves the town, having restored the "true" nature of the community to what it was.

External links

* *
''The Cosmic Puppets''
Review at The Open Critic
''The Cosmic Puppets'' cover art gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmic Puppets, The 1957 American novels 1957 science fiction novels Ace Books books American science fiction novels Novels by Philip K. Dick Religion in science fiction Simulated reality in fiction

Plot summary

See also

External links