John Warner's Reviews > I Will Fear No Evil

Have you ever reread a book and found that your second opinion was worse than when you first read the book? I first read I Will Fear No Evil by Robert Heinlein, the "dean of science fiction writers" about fifty years ago when I was an older adolescent and remembered it fondly... up until I read it again. I guess Thomas Wolfe was correct regarding the inability of returning home again. My initial interest in this book was probably due to being a testosterone-surging adolescent. I discovered on my second read that it appears to be influenced by the new age culture of the 1960s including sexual freedom, psychoactive drug use, and rise of transcedental meditation.

The plot focuses on the protagonist, an elderly billionaire Johann Sebastian Smith who is currently on life-support awaiting a younger body in which to transplant his brain into. After finding a donor and successful operation, he discovers upon returning to awareness that his brain has been tranplanted into his ravishingly beautiful young female secretary, Eunice Branca. I used the adjective "ravishing" because the author frequently describes how both men and women are drawn to her beauty. He also discovers that he shares his body with Eunice's consciousness who advises him how to be a woman. Even with Eunice's help, I found it difficult to believe that a cranky old man would so quickly be able to navigate life as a empathetic woman.

There were a number of issues that I didn't like about this book. Hardly a page was turned without finding a sexual innuendo. I did not care how Eunice, pre- and post-surgery, was often placed a on a pedestal to be sheltered from the evils of the country.

Robert Heinlein did appear prescient in one aspect of this book. Crime is rampant in the near future, which has resulted in some areas being abandoned by law enforcement. Anyone living in or traveling through this abandoned areas risk their lives.

Although this novel is considered a classic, it is not a work that has survived the test of time.