F. Paul Wilson quote!

I've been rearranging my bookcase and unpacking boxes of books with the intent of deciding which books I keep forever and which I can live without. I have too many books.

I have noted several references lately to F. Paul Wilson's words and works on several blogs that I visit more or less daily, so when I ran across his books during my unpacking, I set them aside for special attention. Today I finished two of his books: The Barrens and Others and Masque.

Now, while I'm not a big fan of his horror and (gasp) Repaiman Jack books, I do like his sci-fi works. As a matter of fact, I think his An Enemy of the State to be a defining libertarian work. And his political philosophy bleeds over into his other works. (Pun intended.)

Masque is about a mime. Not the mimes we are familiar with, however. From the back cover of his book, a mime is "an artificially created human whose metamorphic DNA can be programmed with 'masques'--genetic copies of anyone--over and over and over again. Until his body breaks down." Mimes are owned by corporations in circumstances that equate to slavery. Is a mime a person or is he property?

Mr. Wilson made a point that I'd like to pass on. He said, "A slave can't ask the master for freedom. A slave must take it. By deceipt or force or stealth, by whatever means necessary." I may, at a later time, explain why this means so much to me.