Butterfly Planet

by Philip E. High

Look down into the streets, the buildings, the parks. There is your battleground. Down there is the enemy--an enemy who wears no uniform. He walks behind you in the street, sits with you when you eat and perhaps swims beside you in a public pool. He may ask you for a light, sell you a flyer, or in another form, leave the smell of perfume on your pillow. The enemy is young and old, male and female and he is everywhere. Could such a situation arise ... or has it already arisen? In this exciting story novel, the author depicts a world at war. An undercover war, so skilfully manipulated that sixty per cent of the population are unaware of its existence. Yet, daily, the casualty figures climb higher and higher...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1971

Reviews

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 2 out of 5]

High’s prose is slapdash, his grammar shaky and his punctuation atrocious. His wealth of SF ideas offers some compensation but these gush forth as if from a newly struck oil well. Only having laid claim does High refine them (in subsequent novels).

[Chris Weidner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Really enjoyed it. Like many of Philip's books, this story is about two groups of society fighting a secret war and an ordinary man being pulled into it. You have aliens, dreamscapes, cloak and dagger action, and psi abilities. I seem to never tire of the whole “pulling the curtain back” storyline; to see what’s really going on just below the surface of society.

“It’s a disease one grows out of,” said one of the humans who appeared to be reading his thoughts. “When we had nations, each one thought itself better, freer and more impartial, nobler, more advanced technically and ethically than all the rest. It was not true, of course, but the nations believed it. They believed it until the change began.”

I like High’s work as it is usually a fun, fast read with a hopeful message about change. This book was no exception.

If you like Philip E. High, you'll like this one.