I Will Fear No Evil
I Will Fear No Evil
It’s a classic piece of science fiction, I read it first, when I was but a mere wisp of a lad. I’ve long figured that the author’s canon of work has played into some of my psychological and spiritual being, for good or for ill. It’s material that shaped some of my cognitive processes.
That I am sure of.
Going back, I carried a beat-up paperback copy around in my library, along with nearly two — almost three feet — of that author’s works. Still, the front piece of my copy tells a tale in itself, first published in 1970, and that paperback is 2nd printing of the paperback, circa 1972, with another piece of telltale evidence, a hand-lettered “.75,” which indicates bought used? Maybe a replacement? I can’t say, I do recall reading in formative age, perhaps pre-teen? No idea. The “first paperback edition,” as alluded to? Priced at $1.25, and that was in 1972 dollars, best guess, a princely sum. The used paperback price, gin, I’m unsure, a little more than half price, so I doubt that was the location.
I never dreamed I’d reread it — from a digital public library, on a hand-held, internet-connected, tablet device. The book was right at the edge, before computers were commonplace, and before digital really became digital. The devices and arc of technology is present, albeit in slightly different form.
One must allow for that, in dated science fiction, post Golden Age.