The greatness of Miller's accomplishment [in A Canticle for Leibowitz] lies not in the mere telling of his marvelous story. After all, television, the movies, and hundreds of science fiction yarns have told the story of Man's folly several times well and many times poorly. And, while A Canticle does have nice touches of humor and irony that the others may lack, the narrative is not significantly above the level of the rest. Rather, the achievement lies in Miller's skillful handling of thought-provoking ideas. While dealing with potentially sensational plot materials (the possible end of the world and all that sort of thing), he has placed most of his emphasis on the moral issues of Man's way—his life and survival.

Miller's narrative continually returns to the conflicts between the scientist's search for truth and the state's power…. It is in this area of thought-provoking concern that Miller...