Aaron's Book of the Week :: Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys

Completing our tribute to Algis Budrys (1931-2008), the Book of the Week is Some Will Not Die, cover art by Leo and Diane Dillon. This is the 1961 paperback original edition of Some Will Not Die, which is a revised and expanded version of last week's BOTW, False Night.

Some Will Not Die was published by Regency Books, a very small but interesting publisher, many of whose books are now prized collector's items. Algis Budrys was an editor with Regency and became editor-in-chief, taking over from Harlan Ellison, shortly after Some Will Not Die came out. Regency was the highbrow imprint of Greenleaf & Company, which made most of its profits from pornography (much of which was written by ridiculously good authors, often under pseudonyms, as I may work up the nerve to describe in greater detail in forthcoming BOTWs).

Regency Books deliberately sought novels that brashly addressed controversial topics of the day, including drugs and race relations. Next week's Book of the Week will be my favorite Regency Book, a novel involving race issues by one of my favorite science fiction authors making his first foray out of genre.