Plague of Pythons

In Short

Steve Chandler faces execution after a mysterious, brief spell of possession leaves him accused of a horrific crime. In a world shattered by sudden, global mind control, he escapes into a lawless landscape where millions are used as helpless puppets by invisible masters. Driven to understand why he is being controlled, Chandler journeys across a ruined America to the Hawaiian Islands, discovering the lavish enclave of the "execs." Frederik Pohl’s 1965 novel endures as a chilling sci-fi thriller about the fragility of human free will and the corrupting nature of absolute, frictionless power.

The Story

The tragedy strikes the world overnight: without warning or physical contact, human beings anywhere can be instantly possessed. Victims are forced to perform grotesque acts, commit murders, or destroy vital infrastructure, only to regain awareness moments later, horrified and utterly helpless. Society rapidly collapses into paranoid feudalism. Outcasts and survivors form terrified enclaves, hanging suspects or turning to brutal cult rituals to purge the "imps."

When Steve Chandler is tried and sentenced to death for an outrage he did not knowingly commit, he accepts the scapegoating logic of a broken public. Yet a sudden disruption allows him to escape the firing squad. Wandering a fractured landscape, Chandler boards a freight train, meets another victim named Ellen Braisted, and finds himself among the Orphalese—a fanatical cult that believes physical suffering can shield the soul from possession. Their resistance proves futile; the invisible masters, known as the "execs," casually pilot possessed victims to slaughter the entire group in a cold, mechanical bloodbath.

Identified by his background in submillimeter radio technology, Chandler is spared. Possessed like a draft animal, he is flown directly to the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu has become the heavily guarded sanctuary for roughly a thousand execs—a clique of military defectors and elites who fled the ruin of the mainland aboard naval cruisers. Wearing metallic coronets that broadcast their intentions via global relay stations, the execs live in grotesque luxury. They treat the world’s population as disposable puppets, using remote possession to trigger nuclear strikes, engineer mass famines in Asia, or simply inflict public torture for an afternoon's amusement.

In Hawaii, Chandler is forced to assemble a high-power switching panel designed to expand the execs' transmission network. He makes contact with the "Society of Slaves," a desperate underground resistance whose members identify one another with subtle wrist signals, but their efforts are repeatedly crushed by the execs' omniscience. Caught between the casual cruelty of a fat Russian exec named Koitska and the seductive, chilling charm of a young female exec named Rosalie Pan, Chandler realizes that the masters view their tyranny as a necessary, grand design.

When Koitska turns on Chandler out of jealous rage, Chandler is driven into hiding. Using his technical expertise, he locates the central transmitter hub at the TWA facility. Operating during a shift change, Chandler commandeers the system using a single master coronet. Operating through remote bodies across the island, he embarks on a relentless night of slaughter, systematically executing the execs in their beds and villas. By dawn, the tyrants are dead. Left standing as the sole possessor of the master crown, Chandler faces a quiet, terrifying temptation: whether to destroy the machinery forever or inherit the godlike power that ruined the world.

How It Unfolds

The trial and the train Chandler sits bruised in a improvised courtroom, condemned to die for actions committed while his body was hijacked by an invisible force. Escaping during a sudden logistical collapse, he hitches a ride on a freight train carrying pharmaceuticals, learning that even essential transit is frequently derailed by random possession.

The cult of Orphalese Captured by a group of survivalists who torture themselves to ward off evil spirits, Chandler meets Ellen, a fellow victim who carried weapons under external control. The illusion of safety shatters when three possessed members calmly execute the entire congregation, ignite the building, and commit suicide.

Transport to the enclave Recognized for his knowledge of shortwave radio spectrums, Chandler is rounded up by collaborators and forced onto a plane bound for Hawaii. He learns that the possessors are not demons, but human beings operating complex technical equipment from a secure location.

Life among the execs In Honolulu, Chandler encounters fat, decadent rulers like Koitska and the beautiful Rosalie Pan, who use electronic coronets to leap into any human mind on Earth. He is forced to build new relay transmitters while witnessing the horrific public maiming of citizens used as warnings or sport.

The slave resistance Chandler discovers the "Society of Slaves," a clandestine network of controlled workers who attempt to organize right under the masters' noses. Their meeting at a local ballgame is quickly intercepted when an exec commandeers a speaker to mock them, proving the near-total impossibility of secret rebellion.

The final slaughter Driven to the edge by jealousy, murder, and exhaustion, Chandler gains control of the master switching terminal during a window of vulnerability. Using the coronet network himself, he systematically pilots remote bodies to execute every sleeping master across the island.

The People

• Steve Chandler: A former technician whose life is ruined when he is possessed and driven to commit a crime. He wants only to survive and regain control of his own muscles, but his technical skills make him uniquely dangerous to the ruling class. By the end, he transforms from a helpless victim into the sole arbiter of global power.
• Rosalie Pan ("Rosie"): A young, attractive exec who treats global domination like an entertaining hobby. She wants affection, novelty, and the thrill of absolute freedom, viewing mass murder and social engineering as necessary chores. Her casual affection for Chandler pulls him deeper into the enclave's dark luxury.
• Koitska: A gross, fat old man wearing a metallic coronet who speaks with a thick Eastern European accent. Driven by petty jealousy, sadism, and a desire to preserve his decadent lifestyle, he views all non-execs as disposable cattle, eventually trying to kill Chandler out of spite over Rosalie.
• Ellen Braisted: A young woman from Pennsylvania manacled to a dentist's chair when Chandler first meets her. She seeks a way to fight back against the forces that hijacked her body, but her hope is brutally cut short during the massacre at Orphalese.
• Hsi: A quiet Hawaiian contact who operates a supply shop while secretly helping lead the Society of Slaves. He risks his life attempting to organize the subjugated population, only to be repeatedly interrupted and piloted by the very masters he tries to overthrow.

In Its Own Voice

"The real enemy had struck the entire world in a single night."

This sudden, global shift establishes the terrifying premise where no human action can ever again be assumed to be voluntary.

"There was no corrupt whim of the most diseased mind in history that some torpid exec had not visited on a helpless man, woman or child in the past years."

Chandler contemplates the absolute depravity that flourishes once a tiny elite gains total control over the bodies of others.

"He was Chandler the giant killer, who had destroyed the creatures who had destroyed a world, but he was all tired out."

Exhausted by a night of systematic violence, Chandler reflects on the gruesome cost of tearing down the island's tyranny.

What It's Really About

Beneath its pulp thriller exterior, the book is a dark study of authority, absolute power, and the total loss of agency. By making mind control a matter of submillimeter radio waves rather than magic, the story examines how technical advantages allow a small, amoral elite to isolate themselves from consequences. The execs do not view themselves as monsters; they justify their atrocities—from engineering famines to clearing whole populations—as necessary administrative work. The novel asks whether human morality can survive when accountability is erased, demonstrating how quickly privilege curdles into sadism. Ultimately, it questions whether anyone, even a well-intentioned savior like Chandler, can hold ultimate power without becoming the very tyrant they destroyed.

Why Read It Today

Science fiction readers looking for classic Cold War paranoia will find a lean, unsettlingly direct story that skips high-concept fluff in favor of immediate pressure. The novel captures a specific post-nuclear anxiety: the fear that distant, unaccountable figures in high places are pulling levers that destroy ordinary lives without warning.

The prose moves at a relentless pace, combining realistic technical details of 1960s radio engineering with stark, unsparing violence. It does not pull its punches—characters die suddenly, resistance movements are crushed mid-sentence, and the tone remains resolutely cynical about human nature under pressure.

Modern readers should be aware that the book carries the casual prejudices of its era. It features mid-century racial stereotypes, dated language regarding mental health and disabilities, and a world where female characters are frequently reduced to romantic prizes or casualties. Yet what stays with you is the terrifying central metaphor: the sensation of trapped consciousness, forced to watch your own hands commit atrocities while remaining completely powerless to stop them.