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)

Narrater was great!

I would have given the performance 6 stars, if I could. He brought the book to life.

soft porn

if soft porn is what you like, this is great. if not, don't bother. it's SF, but only technically.

Love the premise, but the sex-with-all overtone was way overdone!

Love the premise of this story, but I grew tired of the sex-with-all overtone was way overdone!
This overtone, sex with anyone/everyone, went too far when it seemingly included minors!
I read this book the first time in my late teens and I couldn't put it down! My mind was in a very different universe, being the victim of childhood sexual abuse, and I guess I thought life just worked that way…which screwed me up (in my way of thinking about sex back then, in general) in all my relationships!
I couldn’t put the book down, back then.

free love

This is not Heinlein's most famous novel, but perhaps it should be better known. I find Heinlein's style to be magical but I can't explain exactly why.

The main focus of the novel appears to be sexual open-mindedness. I guess this was a shocking concept to most people in 1970, and I guess this is still shocking to most people in 2012.

I like the warning about overpopulation. The problem was already bad in 1970 and has gotten worse since. I am happy when authors try to open the eyes of the public to this threat.

The narration is very good.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

Ok I guess

If you could sum up I Will Fear No Evil in three words, what would they be?

The story was pretty good. It seemed to have some gaps which I guess is attributed to the Unabridged version. The narrator's voices were ok, he just was pretty weak in the female voices. :)

Who was your favorite character and why?

I guess the Johan for his ability to adapt.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Anthony Heald?

Not sure

The writing.

excellent story, great characters. I read this in a book decades ago and this audio rendition brought a fantastic novel to life.

The concept was interesting and executed very well.

Not Heinlein's best - but still good

I am an admitted Heinlein fan. I own the entire canon in paper, everything available in e-book format, and everything Audible carries in audio. But this is not his best novel. He wrote it at a low point in his career. The story is still entertaining, but the characters are not his most compelling. So why purchase this book?

Heinlein, as always, provides interesting commentary on our culture. Many of his ideas are coming to pass today. There are creditable observations on how America is moving to a fractured society run by corporate interests and political thugs. Remember that his ideas about the relation of medicine to law were written over 30 years ago. His vision is impressive and thought provoking.

The performance and recording are superb. I was unfamiliar with Anthony Heald until this work. I will seek out his other performances - he's outstanding.

And it's a fun listen. Look, the sex scenes will seem silly. The metaphysical ideas are really out there. But it's still an enjoyable way to spend hours. You won't be bored.

Thank you Blackstone Audio and Audible for adding this masterwork to your collection.

Definitely Heinlein

This book, while well written isn't Heinlein's best. The book has a grand premise and wonderful characters, but seems to be a little to centered on and preachy regarding sex. I'm not a prude and don't mind books with a sexual undercurrent or even theme, but in this case it detracted a little from the masters story for me. Granted Heinlein was rebelling against a rather puritanical society at the time and in that light it is understandable.
However, even with that criticism, this book is a great read. Exploring the psychology of being thrst into a new body, let alone one of the opposite sex is fascinating.
Read it, just don't make it your first Heinlein novel!

classic scifi from a master story teller

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would gladly recommend I WILL FEAR NO EVIL as I read the book 20 years ago and was impressed by the topic Heinlein developed around what would my world look like after a brain transplant and how would I reorganize 'who am I' with my new body.

I was impressed by the reader who has a great range of voices for this story.

I find that I listen to Audible in my car as I do a fair bit of driving (appointments, errands, business meetings,...) and I look forward to some stories more than others. I WILL FEAR NO EVIL is one of those stories that I looked forward to getting back into the car and listening to the balance of the story.

Heinlein's is a legend in sci fi and I find I WILL FEAR NO EVIL is still relevant today as it was when it was written decades ago.

ENJOY!

Amazing Gender Bender with awe inspiring narration

I enjoy some Heinlein novels and this is one of them. I read it many times, but I never enjoyed it half so much as when I listened to it. My hat is off to Anthony Heald, who juggled a LOT of characters and made us love them all. For the time in which it was written, I'm eternally surprised that the subject matter didn't shock folks, as it's 85% about sex. Regardless, "I Will Fear No Evil" is a fanciful, intelligent tale and Anthony Heald is a narrating genius!