The Humanoids

I was surprised this book does not have more reviews and a large entry on Wikipedia. The Humanoids deserves a wider audience, it compares favorably to 1984 and Brave New World and is entertaining and suspenseful to boot. It is truly great science fiction. It is depressing though, perhaps that accounts for its lack of popularity. The book is an important commentary on the nature of Freedom. Moreover, those who blieve in God but wonder why (s)he is not more overtly benevolent, would do well to read this book.

Jack Williamson was one of the guiding lights of science fiction during the "golden age". His writing is always excellent. That said, this has to be one of his greatest achievements ever. It's dark, hopeless and tragic, but still filled with the possible triumph of the human spirit. The main story, "With Folded Hands", though, is one of the most touching pieces of writing I've ever read. Please, I beg of you, read this book. It is one of the greats.

This book made me think. That's the first positive. It's also well-paced. That's the second positive. The ending took me by surprise and was totally acceptable. That's the third positive.But the fourth positive is really what made me love this book... Some may laugh at me for writing this, but this author seems to have described "the force" in scientific terms waaaayy back in the forties. In fact, it's a better explanation than even Lucas' "Midichlorides" or whatever they were in 'Episode I'. I have to think that George Lucas read this book before writing "Star Wars".Anyway... The author seems to have created fictitious sciences that actually make sense. I'm not a scientist, so that's probably why it worked for me. I almost felt like the answer to the universe was in this book... even though 2 of the 3 sciences don't really exist.As for the ending, I though it was great. It was the only way the story would have made any sense. If the OPPOSITE of the ending had happened, the story would have been as pointless as most action movies. Contrary to another reviewer's dislike of the world at the end of the book, I thought it was actually a desirable place to be. I think that reviewer misunderstood what was goin on at the end. I had to force myself to put the book down. It was that good. really quick, to the point, nothing to bog the story down. Just the events that needed to be there. A very quick read. You have no reason not to try it.

Science fiction has always strived to reveal something about human nature, and this disturbing book achieves this goal like no other. It casts a new light upon what it is people really want, and what happiness really means; it makes one question some of one's deep values and beliefs. Quite some time after this book a sequel was published, "The Humanoid Touch". It is just as disturbing, partially because having read the first novel, I think the point of view of the author, or perhaps better, the 'implied author' has changed. This in no way decreases the value of the books, which are a must for any sci-fi reader.

Williamson creates a unique view of robots in the future. Humans create robots to help them with their work only to find things go awry. What makes this book great is the way it won't make you feel good by the end. That may seem paradoxical but it turns out to be refreshing and unique.