I will fear no evil – Robert Heinlein

Summary: Old man dies, has his brain swapped into the body of a 20-something hottie. The only problem… somehow, she’s in his head with him!

Setting: The book was written in 1970, and while it’s set in the future (about 2030, as near as I can tell), on the surface it feels analogous to “The Jetsons”; The Jetsons were a cartoon expectation of the 21st century, and this book could be described as a literary expectation of the 21st century.

 

Plot: Johann Schmidt has reached the end of his life. He’s well into his ‘90’s (if not older, the book’s not clear), he’s accomplished everything he wanted in his life, and by most measures, he’s an incredible success. He’s built a multi-billion dollar company, and he’s got too much money for his own good. When he dies, all of his money will be fought over by his granddaughters, who never loved him while he was alive. All he’s got left is his lawyer and best friend of the last 27 years, and his secretary.

He’s hooked up to machines to live, and now that he’s attached to all of these wires, it’s not possible for him to die. He comes up with a legal scheme to help himself die; arrange a brain transplant to a younger body, and harnesses his wealth to this scheme – if it’s successful, he gets his money. If he dies as a result of the transplant, his fortune goes to all sorts of charities (to keep his grand-kids away from it).

The transplant works out, but there’s a “glitch”. The previous owner of the body still has some presence in this body, and can communicate with Johann. It sounds like a horror story, but it’s not horror in any way, shape or form. Simply perfect Sci-Fi.

One thing to note. Some of the social mores we are used to are not necessarily followed in this book. Clothing is optional in most cases, and when you do have to wear clothes, you’re supposed to dress as scandalously as possible. The main character (Johann) is a nearly 100 year old man, and his brain is transplanted into a 25 year old female’s body. Due to the youth (and attractiveness) of his current body, and the amount of money that he was able to “bring with him”, our new main character has no shortage of sex partners, and through most of the book, Johann is hopping from bed to bed (when she bothers to get out of bed at all). Male, female, groups, you name it, she does it; she did it; hell, she’s probably doing it right now!

There are quite a few deeper messages in this book, but if you pay too much attention to them, you’ll miss out on all the sex… and there’s a lot of it. Nothing is presented graphically at all, but once the main character (Johann, or later, “Joan Eunice”) is up and around after surgery, she still manages to find herself flat on her back on what seems like every other page.

On the alternate side, if you pay too much attention to the sex scenes, you might miss some of the hidden commentary. In particular, the masterful transitions between chapters; they’re a brilliant method that Heinlein used for (I think) 3 different purposes: 1: To acknowledge that time has passed in the story, and that the reader didn’t get to read through absolutely everything that happened, 2: To give you a sense of how important our characters are in the story – their status is covered in the “National News” segments between chapters, to give you a picture of how many people are aware of the ongoing story; 3: Heinlein was not bashful about making predictions about the future. The transitions are crammed with information about what he was expecting to happen in the future. Some of the events he refers to as “Current News” are, ironically enough, happening today. Heinlein has plenty to say about politics, the environment, capital punishment, contraception, religion, arcane social customs; he was truly a wonderful writer, and regardless of the main topic of his books, he was able to get his social commentary in without coming across as “preachy”.

Wrap-up: This is a wonderful book, and I’m not just saying that because of all the gratuitous sex scenes in here. This book explores quite a bit about psychology, multiple personalities, the power of physical relationships, religion, racism, and many other topics.

One thing that does get a bit awkward is that a lot of the social conventions that we’re used to are completely ignored. While Johann has almost a century of hetero-sexual activity, he’s quite quick to jump into bed with any man who comes along, rather than sticking with his original orientation. It’s quite smoothly explained within the context of the story (taking into account the presence of the consciousness of the previous occupant of his body), but it’s still interesting to see how he manages it. He doesn’t necessarily limit his selection of partners to just men though; evidently in Heinlein’s alternate universe, bi-sexuality is the norm, and everybody sleeps with everyone else, regardless of existing relationships. In a lot of cases, spouses are well aware of (and in some cases, complicit in) their partners activities. There’s all kinds of swapping going on – I think the only person who doesn’t have sex in the whole book is the illiterate African American preacher.

If you’re not scared off by Sci-Fi, I’d highly recommend giving this one a read. I can’t describe this book any other way, though… This is pure Sci-Fi, from one of the acknowledged masters of the genre. It doesn’t get any better than this, folks!

Grade: By my arbitrary scale, I give this book an A-.

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls – Robert Heinlein

Summary: Colonel (Senator?) Richard Ames Campbell is being recruited to save the world. A stranger is assassinated at his dinner table, he and his girlfriend get booted out of their apartments, and they’re chased off the habitat in the company of a man who was supposed to kill them both. Now he’s being recruited for a mission (across multiple timelines and dimensions) to save all existence.

Setting: Distant future, across multiple dimensions and timelines (Heinlein’s “World as Myth”).

Plot: Richard Campbell is an ex military commander who currently writes salacious novels. He’s out to dinner with his girlfriend when a man approaches their table and tries to enlist Campbell in a plot to murder a prominent citizen of their habitat. Before the unwanted visitor can get the particulars across, he’s mysteriously shot from afar. In the course of investigating the murder (and the requested “hit”) Campbell and his girlfriend are evicted from their apartments, and kicked out of the habitat.

His girlfriend turns out to be an operative with an organization whose grasp surpasses the boundaries of time and space; they jump around in different time lines to try and steer the present into more beneficial outcomes. Richard’s hesitant to join the organization, but his participation is vital (according to the group’s research) in saving a certain computer system.

Criticisms: I don’t have any major criticisms of this book.  

Wrap-up: As far as Sci-Fi is concerned, if you were to ask anyone (who’s familiar with Sci-Fi) who the masters of the genre are,  Heinlein would be in the top 3 of every respondent, along with Clark and Asimov.

If you’re already a Heinlein fan, this is a little gem which ties together with most of the other “World as Myth” books. If you know who Lazarus Long is, you’ll have a small step up on other readers. If you’re not a Heinlein fan but have been eager to try a new author (or genre), this would be a good choice, as it’s not dependent on the other novels but can be read as a good stand-alone book.

Heinlein exhibited his famous sense of humor (and solid grasp of the absurdities of the current political situation when he wrote the book) perfectly with this book, and it would be a good primer for a burgeoning Sci-Fi (or Heinlein) fan.

Grade: By my arbitrary scale, I would give this book an A-.

Virtual Mode – Piers Anthony

Summary: Colene is walking home from school, and discovers a strange man collapsed in a ditch. They learn how to communicate and Darius brings her a story of a land where magic reigns. She assumes that he’s crazy and when he’s able to travel back to his own dimension, she realizes that he was telling the truth the whole time. How can she get back together with him?

Setting: Starts in Oklahoma in the 1980’s, includes travel to other dimensions.

Plot:  Colene is a 14 year old high school student. She’s popular enough but she’s got some significant issues, among them that she’s suicidal, and her parents marriage is a sham. Her father is a philanderer, her mother is a practicing alcoholic. She meets Darius, a king from another dimension, when he’s beat up by hoods in her neighborhood. She nurses him back to health in secret and he tells her of his mission – to find an appropriate queen. We already know that Colene wouldn’t be appropriate for his purposes, but they fall in love anyway; at least he does. She think's he’s crazy, but accepts his story for something to grasp onto and believe in. He finds out that she’s suicidal, and that she wouldn’t meet the qualifications to be the queen (because of her negative attitude), so he decides to return to his home dimension (with her help) and try finding a queen another way. His leaving demonstrates to Coleen that he was telling the truth, and cements her feelings for him. Unfortunately, she’s separated from him by virtue of being dimensions away.

Darius returns to his home dimension, and finds a way that he and Colene can be together, so he sets up a method of joining their dimensions so that they can join back up. Colene is eager to get out, and grasps on the opportunity to reunite with Darius (now that she knows he’s not crazy), but first they have to actually find each other. Enter the telepathic horse, the old woman who can’t remember the past but can see the future, and the homicidal intergalactic emperor. 

Criticisms:  Piers Anthony is an accomplished enough writer that if you’re interested in sci-fi and fantasy in the first place, you won’t find any gaping holes in the plot. He’s one of the masters of the genre, and definitely knows his business.

Wrap-up:  This was a hard read, and forced me to reevaluate whether this belongs on my bookshelf in the first place. It’s not my favorite series by him, but it’s pretty well written. What made this so hard is that he’s such a good writer, and he deals with some uncomfortable issues. Colene is suicidal, and cuts her wrists to flirt with death. She’s been raped in the past, and this affects her psyche and her daily life. Darius falls in love with her (he’s in his 20’s and she’s 14), but for this book at least, they don’t consummate their relationship. This book attempts to deal with alcoholism and a father who’s unfaithful to his wife.

Are Colene’s psychological aspects realistic? I truly don’t know. I’ve never been a 14 year old girl, and I don’t know what it feels like to be in ones head. I guess what’s a little disturbing is that Piers Anthony apparently does and, from the outside at least, he appears to do the whole “teen angst” thing quite ably, 5+ years before it occurred to Kurt Cobain. That’s pretty impressive for a (at the time) 57 year old man, but it’s still a bit uncomfortable.

If you’re already a Piers Anthony fan, chances are you might have missed this series, and it’s worth a look. If you’re not a Piers Anthony fan but wanna give him a try, I would recommend starting on one of his one-shots first (I can make some recommendations if you need some), then trying out another of his series first. This one’s a bit heavy.

Grade: By my arbitrary scale, I would give this book a C+.