Title: A Plague of Pythons

Title: A Plague of Pythons Title Record # 1384
Author: Frederik Pohl
Date: 1965-09-00
Type: NOVEL
Language: English

Note: Pohl revised this novel heavily for Demon in the Skull

Synopsis: From the back cover of the DAW first printing: "Something had seized his mind, something that rode his body like a speed-maniac would drive a stolen car - for he had committed atrocities against his friends and neighbors, he had done unspeakable things - and yet his own conscious mind ahd only stood aside and watched in horror. For a demonic intelligence had taken over inside his skull and left him a helpless observer. He was not unique. It was happening all of the world - society was breaking down in an epidemic of crimes, vicious and senseless, and it would seem as if the world had been invaded by a legion of invisible devils from some interplanetary hell. There had to be a solution, and when at last he found a clue, he set out to pursue it to the bitter end. Frederick Pohl's Demon in the Skull is a revision and upgrading of his A Plague of Pythons, bringing this classic science fiction shocker into the realtime world of 1984 and after..."

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Other Titles

Variant Titles

Translations

Serializations

Translated Serializations

Year	Title
1965	Plague of Pythons
1984^ⓘA major revision of A Plague of Pythons (1965)	Demon in the Skull

Year	Language	Title
1965^ⓘTranslated by Ginetta Pignolo or Hilia Brinis	Italian	Gli indemoniati
1968^ⓘTranslated by Tony Westermayr	German	Die Macht der Tausend
1973^ⓘTranslated by José Gil, possibly revised by Arlette Rosenblum.	French	L'ultime fléau^?L'ultime fleau
1976	Portuguese	Os possuídos
1977^ⓘTranslated by Roberta Rambelli	Italian	La spiaggia dei pitoni
1985^ⓘTranslated by Dagmar Hartmann	German	Der Dämon im Kopf^?Der Daemon im Kopf
1994	Portuguese	Um demónio no cérebro^?Um demonio no cerebro

Year	Title
1962	Plague of Pythons (Part 1 of 2)
1962	Plague of Pythons (Part 2 of 2)
2016	Plague of Pythons (Complete Novel)

Year	Language	Title
1963	Italian	I distruttori (Part 1 of 3)
1963	Italian	I distruttori (Part 2 of 3)
1963^ⓘTranslated by Roberta Rambelli	Italian	I distruttori (Part 3 of 3)

Publications

Displaying all variants and translations • Do not display translations • Do not display variants or translations

Title	Date	Author/Editor	Publisher/Pub. Series	ISBN/Catalog ID	Price	Pages	Format	Type	Cover Artist
Galaxy Magazine, October 1962	1962-10-00	ed. Frederik Pohl	Galaxy Publishing Corporation		$0.50^?$: US dollar	196	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Virgil Finlay
Galaxy Science Fiction [UK], No. 94 October 1962	1962-10-00	ed. Frederik Pohl	Galaxy Publishing Corporation		3/6^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	196	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Virgil Finlay
Galaxy Magazine, December 1962	1962-12-00	ed. Frederik Pohl	Galaxy Publishing Corporation		$0.50^?$: US dollar	196	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Dember
Galaxy #58	1963-03-00	ed. Luigi Vitali	Casa Editrice La Tribuna	58	Lit 200^?Lit: Italian lira	160	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Martin (I)
Galaxy #59	1963-04-00	ed. Luigi Vitali	Casa Editrice La Tribuna	59	Lit 200^?Lit: Italian lira	160	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Schelling
Galaxy #60	1963-05-00	ed. Luigi Vitali	Casa Editrice La Tribuna	60	Lit 200^?Lit: Italian lira	160	digest^?Digest-size magazine, including both standard digest size, at about 7" by 4.5", and also large digest, such as recent issues of Asimov's, which are about 8.25" by 5.125".	mag	Finlay
L'ombra del 2000	1965-05-00	ed. Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini	Mondadori (Omnibus)	5754	Lit 3,500^?Lit: Italian lira	[2]xiv+ 963	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	anth	Ferenc Pintér^?Ferenc Pinter
A Plague of Pythons	1965-09-00	Frederik Pohl	Ballantine Books	U2174	C$0.50^?C$: Canadian dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Ralph Brillhart
A Plague of Pythons	1965-09-00	Frederik Pohl	Ballantine Books	U2174	$0.50^?$: US dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Ralph Brillhart
A Plague of Pythons	1966-05-00	Frederik Pohl	Gollancz (Gollancz SF Series (2))		16/-^?Prior to decimilisation (1968-1971), UK books were priced in shillings, or shillings and pence, where 20 shillings equals one pound and 12 old pence equals one shilling. Shillings were indicated with a variety of suffixes, e.g. 3s, 3', 3", 3/ all mean 3 shillings. Any number after that is additional pence, usually 6 (half a shilling) but sometimes 3 or 9 (a quarter of a shilling or three-quarters of a shilling).	158	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel
A Plague of Pythons	1967-07-00	Frederik Pohl	The Science Fiction Book Club (UK)	123		158	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel	Terry James
Die Macht der Tausend	1968-03-00	Frederik Pohl	Goldmann (Goldmanns Weltraum Taschenbücher #089)	089	DM 2.80^?DM: German (Deutsche) mark	171	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Eyke Volkmer
L'ombra del 2000	1969-04-00	ed. Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini	Mondadori (Omnibus)	5754	Lit 3,500^?Lit: Italian lira	[2]xiv+ 963	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	anth	Ferenc Pintér^?Ferenc Pinter
A Plague of Pythons	1969-10-00	Frederik Pohl	Ballantine Books	01745	$0.75^?$: US dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Robert Foster
L'ultime fléau	1973-01-09	Frederik Pohl	Calmann-Lévy (Dimensions SF)			247	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	novel
A Plague of Pythons	1973-06-00	Frederik Pohl	Penguin Books	0-14-003647-4	£0.30^?£: UK pound	169	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	David Pelham
A Plague of Pythons	1973-08-00	Frederik Pohl	Ballantine Books	0-345-23438-3	$1.25^?$: US dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	John Berkey
Os possuídos	1976-00-00	Frederik Pohl	Livros do Brasil (Argonauta #231)			178	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Manuel Dias
La spiaggia dei pitoni	1977-10-00	Frederik Pohl	Editrice Nord (Cosmo Collana di Fantascienza #68)		Lit 2,500^?Lit: Italian lira	iv+ 166	hc^?Hardcover. Used for all hardbacks of any size.	novel	Paul Lehr
L'ultime fléau	1978-00-00	Frederik Pohl	Le Livre de Poche (Le Livre de Poche - Science Fiction #7027)	2-253-02041-9		215	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel
A Plague of Pythons	1978-09-00	Frederik Pohl	Del Rey / Ballantine	0-345-27690-6	$1.75^?$: US dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Dean Ellis
A Plague of Pythons	1978-09-00	Frederik Pohl	Del Rey / Ballantine	0-345-27690-6	C$1.95^?C$: Canadian dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Dean Ellis
Demon in the Skull	1984-07-00	Frederik Pohl	DAW Books (DAW Collectors #585)	0-87997-939-9 / UE1939	$2.50^?$: US dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Don Maitz
Demon in the Skull	1984-07-00	Frederik Pohl	DAW Books / New American Library of Canada	0-87997-939-9 / UE1939	C$2.95^?C$: Canadian dollar	158	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Don Maitz
Demon in the Skull	1985-07-00	Frederik Pohl	Penguin Books	0-14-007583-6	£1.95^?£: UK pound	171+ [1]	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	David O'Connor
Der Dämon im Kopf^?Der Daemon im Kopf	1985-11-00	Frederik Pohl	Goldmann (Goldmann Science Fiction #23479)	3-442-23479-4	DM 9.80^?DM: German (Deutsche) mark	186	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	Klaus Holitzka
L'ultime fléau^?L'ultime fleau	1988-02-25	Frederik Pohl	J'ai Lu (J'ai Lu - Science Fiction #2340)	2-277-22340-9		2254	pb^?Paperback. Typically 7" by 4.25" (18 cm by 11 cm) or smaller, though trimming errors can cause them to sometimes be slightly (less than 1/4 extra inch) taller or wider/deeper.	novel	David B. Mattingly
Um demónio no cérebro^?Um demonio no cerebro	1994-00-00	Frederik Pohl	Livros do Brasil (Argonauta #445)				unknown^?The publication record was created from a secondary source and the publication format is unknown.	novel
Three Vintage SF Novels of Pohl and Kornbluth: The Syndic, Plague of Pythons, and Wolfbane	2009-00-00	C. M. Kornbluth, Frederik Pohl	Wonder Publishing Group	978-1-4486-3554-2	$19.99^?$: US dollar	384	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	omni
The Bees of Death / A Plague of Pythons	2011-10-02	ed. uncredited	Armchair Fiction (Armchair Sci-Fi & Horror Double Novels #36)	978-1-61287-052-6 / D-36	$12.95^?$: US dollar	214	tp^?Trade paperback. Any softcover book which is at least 7.25" (or 19 cm) tall, or at least 4.5" (11.5 cm) wide/deep.	anth	Jed Thayer
The 32nd Golden Age of Science Fiction Megapack	2016-02-25	Frederik Pohl	Wildside Press	978-1-4794-2033-9	$0.99^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	coll	Edward Valigursky
Plague of Pythons	2016-04-19	Frederik Pohl	Project Gutenberg	51804	$0.00^?$: US dollar		ebook^?Used for all electronic formats, including but not limited to EPUB, eReader, HTML, iBook, Mobipocket, and PDF.	novel

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Reviews

Review by Judith Merril (1966) in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1966
Review by Langdon Jones [as by Lang Jones] (1966) in Zenith Speculation, July 1966
Review by P. Schuyler Miller (1967) in Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, July 1967
Review [French] by Jean-Pierre Andrevon (1973) in Fiction, #233
Review [French] by Pierre Pelot (1978) in Fiction, #295
Review [German] by uncredited (1982) in Reclams Science Fiction Führer
Review by Dan Chow (1984) in Locus, #282 July 1984
Review by Don D'Ammassa (1984) in Science Fiction Chronicle, #61 October 1984
Review by Albert I. Berger (1984) in Fantasy Review, November 1984
Review by C. J. Henderson (1984) in Whispers, December 1984 , reprinted in:
Whispers, December 1984 (1984)
Review by Thomas A. Easton [as by Tom Easton] (1985) in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, February 1985
Review by David Langford [as by Dave Langford] (1985) in White Dwarf, October 1985
Review by Keith Freeman (1985) in Vector 128
Review by Helen McNabb (1985) in Paperback Inferno, #57