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The Duplicated Man
Paul Danto was a member of a subversive political party which had an answer: make peace with Venus. But the only way to peace was through the overthrow of Security. And Danton had found the one weapon which would make Security's fall possible: the long-forgotten duplication machine.
It had been well forgotten, for a machine which could make up to five duplicates of any living person was too dangerous to have around. But now, what if the top members of Security were kidnaped briefly, and then, suddenly, there were five of each? No government could endure such chaos.
It had been well forgotten, for a machine which could make up to five duplicates of any living person was too dangerous to have around. But now, what if the top members of Security were kidnaped briefly, and then, suddenly, there were five of each? No government could endure such chaos.
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
2 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
James Blish
455 books327 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 15, 2020
I'm finding that a lot of these pulpy, Golden Age scifi books suffer (among many other things) from a drastic case of Too Much Going On, none of which is explained or done well. This book doesn't know what it wants to be or who it wants to be it with, so it does its best to hit every scifi plot branch as it falls out of the story tree. Stalinesque social critique! Effects of mutally assured destruction on a society! Cloning! (But not really, because it's duplicating, which turns out to be far, far weirder and involves not one whit of actual science.) Mutants who are immune to all diseases! Political intrigue on Earth! Political intrigue on Venus! Immortality! Characters who matter a heck of a lot and then suddenly cease to matter at all, to the extent that you forget whether or not they're still alive! And a shockingly depressing case of a supposedly powerful and important female character becoming simply, "Mrs. [Male Protagonist Name]" and ceasing to have any role in the story whatsoever.
June 8, 2020
I think I can say that I've finished what will be the worst book of the year for me. I would have bailed on this but it was very short. This is the story of a conflict between the humans on Venus and the ones on Earth. I thought it took a long time to set up a convoluted story line. When it got there, I didn't think it was worth the journey. If you start this book and after 20 pages are wondering if you should continue, just put it down.
March 8, 2025
Tight triple cross novel collaboration fully immersed in futuristic interplanetary Cold War paranoia.
There isn't much space for descriptions of Earth or Venus here, as much of the action takes place, and pleasantly so, in the devious minds of the many actors in the play.
More than other works of Blish, this feels indeed like a story made of people and ideals, and the challenge to follow and guess the plotlines is satisfying.
I should say that this had very few of the sci-fi staples. Mostly, it is an espionage thriller crossed with a space opera, which does not waste any time in describing technologies, having to force on the reader a quantity of detailed personalities and motives through a number of cryptic dialogues.
I would rather rate this 3 and 1/2, but push it to 4 to advertise it.
There isn't much space for descriptions of Earth or Venus here, as much of the action takes place, and pleasantly so, in the devious minds of the many actors in the play.
More than other works of Blish, this feels indeed like a story made of people and ideals, and the challenge to follow and guess the plotlines is satisfying.
I should say that this had very few of the sci-fi staples. Mostly, it is an espionage thriller crossed with a space opera, which does not waste any time in describing technologies, having to force on the reader a quantity of detailed personalities and motives through a number of cryptic dialogues.
I would rather rate this 3 and 1/2, but push it to 4 to advertise it.
Read
April 12, 2024(alte Wertung: Über einen duplizierten Mann in einem Krieg zwischen Erde und Venus. Nicht fertiggelesen 4)
March 17, 2016
I really love it when A Sifi book makes me look at something in a new way. The way cloning is done is uniquely different than I have ever read it presented before. Great Job Mr Blish. Recommended
April 3, 2023
Although the concept of the story was interesting, the book is poorly written. There were too many characters and very little explanation about their role in the story. Events appeared out of nowhere with no context. I had a hard time understanding where the book wanted to go.
Other topics were left unexplained, as they were never mentioned again throughout the story.
It was a very confusing book and I suggest to skip this one and try others.
Other topics were left unexplained, as they were never mentioned again throughout the story.
It was a very confusing book and I suggest to skip this one and try others.
February 10, 2025
Concept is good, execution is so-so, ending is great. Not recommended if you're a card-carrying commie.
June 5, 2015
This book is... challenging. The basic premise.. Earth Vs. it's outerspace colony (Venus, in this case), is a common one, but this one was much more political. We're not told why, just that Venus has a screen to keep out atomics, and uses conventional missile to constantly bombard Earth. Both governments are shown as mildly hated and corrupt, and have undergrounds that are similar.. on Earth, they want peace.. on Venus conquest.
The main action takes place when a minor official in the Earth underground (who happens to look just like a Venusian leader), is duplicated... the plan is to have them sow chaos on Venus. The duplicates are generated by another person, though, so they aren't clones, but rather the personifcation of what the other person sees the original as. If that makes you think 'why don't the find a bunch of little kids and dress someone up like Superman and MAKE Supermen', I thought the same... but it actually makes sense in the end.
While the plot was convoluted, choppy, and hard to follow, the ending was pretty awesome. This is definitely the sort of book that screams for a discussion, as all good old school sci-fi should.
The main action takes place when a minor official in the Earth underground (who happens to look just like a Venusian leader), is duplicated... the plan is to have them sow chaos on Venus. The duplicates are generated by another person, though, so they aren't clones, but rather the personifcation of what the other person sees the original as. If that makes you think 'why don't the find a bunch of little kids and dress someone up like Superman and MAKE Supermen', I thought the same... but it actually makes sense in the end.
While the plot was convoluted, choppy, and hard to follow, the ending was pretty awesome. This is definitely the sort of book that screams for a discussion, as all good old school sci-fi should.
January 5, 2017
Horrible, horrible book. I found this almost unreadable (which is saying something for me – I love old badly written pulps most of the time!) Over half of this short book is a painfully slow setup of an overly complex political situation involving a war between Earth and an Earth colony located on Venus. Military officials on Earth run across Paul Danton, a political subversive who happens to look just like a Venusian official. They also dig up a weird human duplicating machine from the past and make five duplicates of Danton, all of which are randomly inaccurate copies. Confusion ensues. Not recommended.
March 5, 2011
Grade D
Want to read
June 29, 2016James Blish & Robert A. W. Lowndes
April 22, 2017
"That was the trouble with the old multi-national thinking. ‘Just one more war, and everything will be straightened out.’ It’s always been 'Peace tomorrow!’ on this planet, and here we are at it again."
"This whole society is so damned decentralized that you couldn’t pull a cornerstone anywhere that would do no more damage than a plumber could fix. It’s a saboteur’s Hades."
"The trouble with the saviour is that he wants to save you in his own way, rather than in yours."
"This whole society is so damned decentralized that you couldn’t pull a cornerstone anywhere that would do no more damage than a plumber could fix. It’s a saboteur’s Hades."
"The trouble with the saviour is that he wants to save you in his own way, rather than in yours."
April 10, 2017
An excellent story. I think I expected a Space Opera of some kind, but Bliss delivers something more in his stories. When I see one of his old paperbacks available I grab it and have a hard time waiting very long to read it. The Duplicated Man didn't disappoint.
I didn't expect references to global warming in a 1953 story, but there it was, and simply stated as a fact that drove people crazy, and led to war, and that led to other things. It wasn't a plot device, but simply an explanation for how humanity arrived at a future point in it's history.
And then, there's the duplication machine, the actual plot device including the idea that such duplications have military value in the story's war. I think this was before the word cloning ended up in our collective vocabulary. More than that, Bliss conceives of a way for errors to creep into the process, and it has little to do with DNA corruption; in fact DNA isn't even mentioned.
The story concerns itself less with the duplication machine than with the duplicates and their psychology, as well as the people they will interact with. There are political plots and subplots, and secret cabals within secret political organizations, and it unfolds in roughly 124 pages. And the people themselves are as devious and multi-faceted as the plot.
I didn't expect references to global warming in a 1953 story, but there it was, and simply stated as a fact that drove people crazy, and led to war, and that led to other things. It wasn't a plot device, but simply an explanation for how humanity arrived at a future point in it's history.
And then, there's the duplication machine, the actual plot device including the idea that such duplications have military value in the story's war. I think this was before the word cloning ended up in our collective vocabulary. More than that, Bliss conceives of a way for errors to creep into the process, and it has little to do with DNA corruption; in fact DNA isn't even mentioned.
The story concerns itself less with the duplication machine than with the duplicates and their psychology, as well as the people they will interact with. There are political plots and subplots, and secret cabals within secret political organizations, and it unfolds in roughly 124 pages. And the people themselves are as devious and multi-faceted as the plot.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews