I Will Fear No Evil

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

As startling and provocative as his famous Stranger in a Strange Land, here is Heinlein’s grand masterpiece about a man supremely talented, immensely old, and obscenely wealthy who discovers that money can buy everything.

Johann Sebastian Bach Smith was immensely rich—and very old. Though his mind was still keen, his body was worn out. His solution was to have surgeons transplant his brain into a new body. The operation was a great success—but the patient was no longer Johann Sebastian Bach Smith. He was now fused with the very vocal personality of his gorgeous, recently deceased secretary, Eunice—with mind-blowing results! Together they must learn to share control of her body.

Once again, master storyteller Robert A. Heinlein delivers a wild and intriguing classic of science fiction. Written at the dawn of the 1970s, this novel is the brilliantly shocking story of the ultimate transplant.

©1970 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Magnificent. A science fiction masterpiece.” ( Galaxy)

A whimsical look at gender through the eyes of a great male writer.

This is my favorite book of all time. Unlike many of Heinlein’s other works, the book is quirky, whimsical and overall delightful. The depiction of Eunice and the post-op Johann are somewhat mono dimensional in terms of their depiction of a woman’s mind. They lack the true emotional complexity of a real woman. That being said the book is thoroughly enjoyable and entirely too brief. :-)

Very goos, as to be expected from Heinlein

I've read this book many times, first time I've listened to it.

The story line is definitely written in the 60s as can be seen by much of Heinlein's beliefs of the times. Progressive for it's time although in today's society it would probably be seen in a negative light.

Well done!

Disappointing Heinlein

This Heinlein book started out good, but about one third of the way through, it changed into a really bad book. I make it a point to try to finish every book I start, and it was very difficult to grind on to the end. Usually I finish a book in a few days, but this one took a month.

didn't get very far...

Would you try another book from Robert A. Heinlein and/or Anthony Heald?

probably not - didn't get far enough into it to tell. this one was over the line for me.

What could Robert A. Heinlein have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

used his talent as a writer to be descriptive without so much sexual content.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

heinlein is talented, who doesn't know that? but this one disappointed me. i know he can make any story great - without going ... too far.

Any additional comments?

a content rating system of some kind would be nice. movies are rated, music is rated, why can't we have a rating system here so we can make choices without wasting credits?

ugh

What disappointed you about I Will Fear No Evil?

Can't bring my self to finish it, not even close to the other heinlein books i've read

Would you ever listen to anything by Robert A. Heinlein again?

yes

I was a diehard Heinlein fan until this book.

I loved, the premises of the future history series, stranger in a strange land, moon is a harsh mistress etc, so much that I dismissed many of the unfortunate/unnecessary cringe-inducing sexual themes and sci-fi that was essentially magic. I had run across a couple duds of his over the years, stuff that kinda tipped over the line to be mostly content that makes you cringe. But so far I've been able to finish all of them.

Not this one. The first few hours, and judging from some of of reviews I wrongly ignored,, the rest of the book, read like a heinlein-esque transsexual fan fiction.

That's cool, if that's what floats your boat, but its not even done well. Its just bad writing.. on top of that this book highlights why many women refuse to read heinlein.

The dude just did not get women, like at all.

Horrible. I should have read the reviews.

The author's views on gender and sexuality are so out of date that it makes me sick. Sure, the book is old, but it's not nearly old enough to be forgiven.

This story is rather like a late night fantasy of some hormonal teenager who simply doesn't know yet how people work (or doesn't care, for the sake of the fantasy). Such manuscripts should be buried at the bottom of the drawer, found 15 years later by the author, read with great agony and embarrassment, and then burned.

I picked this up at a sale, otherwise I might have noticed the earlier reviews. I thought I couldn't go wrong with picking a Heinlein. I was wrong.

Hienlein Fans should run

The man is a great writer but I just couldn't stomach this book. Page after page of adolescent erotica. I know that I should consider the so called "free love" cultural hype of the period in which it was written but I lived through that period and even then I would have considered it junk. The narrator did a fine job but you can't make a silk purse out of.... you get the idea.

Not a very good listen.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Not sure where he was going with this story, or why he was headed there but it was a total miss for me. If they made a movie out of this book it was be a hard R to X rating. Not really SiFi just sex sex and more sex.

Would you ever listen to anything by Robert A. Heinlein again?

I read and listened to Stranger in a strange land and it it was head and shoulders above this listen. Star ship troopers was excellent and I'd tell anyone to check it out, this one don't waste the credit.

A true Heinlein fan.. disappointed.

Heinlein was a bit depraved it seems in his final years and it really shows in this book. The free love and constant romps that worked in previous books was over the top and far too in your face in this book. The theme is pretty non-sensical as well, one geriatric old man gets a new hot secretaries body and proceeds to seduce her also geriatric beloved best friend.. but while pulling basically every person in his/her house into intimate relationships. The self-impregnation theme is I guess interesting.. as could the out-migration have been but instead its just briefly explored before everyone suddenly drops dead. I doubt I will ever re-read this as it was tough to get through once.