The Midwich Cuckoos vs The Puppet Masters: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Invasion, Science Fiction, Fiction
The Midwich Cuckoos
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In the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and all the inhabitants fall unconscious. A day later the object is gone and everyone awakens unharmed – except that all the women in the…
The Puppet Masters
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First came the news that a flying saucer had landed in Iowa. Then came the announcement that the whole thing was a hoax. End of story. Case closed. Except that two agents of the most secret intelligence agency in the…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Midwich Cuckoos has the widest readership — 30309 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| The Midwich Cuckoos | The Puppet Masters | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (30309) | — |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (95) | 3.6 (96) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (2) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (11) | 4.5 (26) |
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Reception
| The Midwich Cuckoos | The Puppet Masters | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 30309 | 96 |
| Editions | 35 | 45 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 26669 | — |
| Reading it now | 733 | — |
| Written reviews | 2448 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 13110 | 1978 |
| Pages | 220 | 175 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Midwich Cuckoos or The Puppet Masters?
The Midwich Cuckoos has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Midwich Cuckoos 3.9/5, The Puppet Masters 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Midwich Cuckoos or The Puppet Masters?
The Puppet Masters is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Puppet Masters (175 pages, ≈ 3 h 14 m); The Midwich Cuckoos (220 pages, ≈ 4 h 04 m).
Which is harder to read: The Midwich Cuckoos or The Puppet Masters?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Midwich Cuckoos: Challenging; The Puppet Masters: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
The Midwich Cuckoos: no film adaptation on record; The Puppet Masters: 3 film adaptations.