by guards. Tolby infiltrates the mountain valley, sneaking past the rapidly mobilizing army of the state. After killing and outmaneuvering inexperienced soldiers, he arrives at the government center and encounters Fowler. Fowler alludes to his desire to end the government and spurs Tolby onward. Ultimately, Tolby confronts and kills Bors, sending the building into confusion as the citizens react with hysteria and grief. The condition is implied to spread outward from the city to troops in the hills, resulting in mass desertion. No longer resisted by guards, Tolby reunites with Silvia. The story concludes as Fowler secretly salvages three remaining synapse coils from Bors' remains, "just in case the times change". Publication history The exact date Philip K. Dick wrote "The Last of the Masters" is unknown, but the original manuscript of the novelette was received by the Scott Meredith Literary Agency on July 15, 1953. 25 years old at the time, Dick was in the habit of submitting a new story to the agency weekly. Just prior to receiving "Last of the Masters", the agency received "The Turning Wheel" on July 8, and following the former, the agency received "The Father-thing" on July 21. "The Last of the Masters" was published over a year later, in the 1954 November/December issue of Orbit Science Fiction no.5. The issue was the last in a science fiction anthology series edited by Donald A. Wollheim. Orbit Science Fiction advertised "The Last of the Masters" on its cover and included Dick among an advertised list of prominent contributing authors, among them August Derleth, Gordon R. Dickson, and Chad Oliver. The novelette was republished in 1958 for the Australian market by Jubilee Publications Pty., in Space Station 42 and Other Stories, a part of the Satellite Series. The novelette was not published again until the 1980 release of The Golden Man, the sixth collection of classic stories by Dick. This collection also included the only commentary Dick ever wrote regarding the story. Thereafter, "The Last of the Masters" was included in six more print collections—most of which have seen multiple print runs—and two audiobooks. Reception While "The Last of the Masters" was little noticed in the years immediately following its publication, it was reviewed after its 1980 publication in The Golden Man collection. Fellow science fiction writer Thomas M. Disch reviewed Dick's The Golden Man collection among other works in "Fluff and Fizzles", an essay