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Bezig met laden... The Humanoids (1949)door Jack Williamson
The 5 Parsec Shelf (37) Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Llegaron de un remoto planeta mucho más allá de la Tierra robots benévolos con el único propósito de servir al hombre en todo momento, acabar con las guerras y las enfermedades tanto físicas como espirituales, conseguir liberar al ser humano de cualquier daño. Pero su actuación convirtió a los hombres en meros espectadores pasivos de un «mundo feliz» en cuyo desarrollo ya no podían tomar parte. Great read. This book was well ahead of it's time as SF should be. Unexpected plot twist keep it interesting. The surprise ending leaves you uncomfortable. OK, here is the lecture for people who review speculative fiction written before they were born. Predictions of future tech may not be what we now have. It's speculation. Predictions of event dates may be inaccurate. Yes, we know the moon landing was 1969 but classic SF authors had to guess. The use of language may be dated unless the author decided to invent new words, phrases, and social references for the story. It's an artistic choice. Invented language ends up being foreign to the author's contemporary readers as well as modern readers which can be good or bad. The technology of another world may not be like ours. Need I mention it's another world. This book does have some old cultural references which the author should have avoided in case the book's popularity lasted beyond his life but, who knew that at the time. Don't forget Williamson is the inventor of ideas and words that are still used by SF writers today. Have you ever heard of "terraforming"? It’s psychics versus robots! We´re not in Asimovian territory... And it gets weirder from there. I’m not sure if it’s just the nature of Golden Age SF, but this book is a real mess. I remember reading it a long time ago in my teens. The pacing is weird, as Jack Williamson goes through the key moments (like the humanoid takeover of Starmont society), as well as having characters totally disappear (the entire psychic team mostly fades away after an elaborate introduction, eg, Graystone the Great" simply vanishes!). Plot-lines are foreshadowed without paying off (there are lots of hints about the mysterious origin of Forester’s friend Ironsmith, but he’s really just a robot-loving, wife-stealing jerk). The ending is also a bit of a mess. There’s some unintentional (I think) ambiguity, that gets nowhere. I should have known better than to start re-reading Golden Age SF at my age... I have a few more in store to read: Heinlein, Phil Dick, Le Guin, Vance, Wolfe, Silverberg, etc. " geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
On the far planet Wing IV, a brilliant scientist creates the humanoids--sleek black androids programmed to serve humanity. But are they perfect servants--or perfect masters? Slowly the humanoids spread throughout the galaxy, threatening to stifle all human endeavor. Only a hidden group of rebels can stem the humanoid tide...if it's not already too late. Fist published in Astounding Science Fiction during the magazine's heyday,The Humanoids--sceince fiction grand master Jack Williamson's finest novel--has endured for fifty years as a classic on the theme of natural versus artificial life. Also included in this edition is the prelude novelette, "With Folded Hands," which was chosen for the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Unfortunately, on the negative side there's just too many cliffhangers, repeated and lengthy sequences of running around facing danger and pain, and pages of info dumps, first to set up the background, and later to explain the new (imaginary) physics. The primary character is annoying from page one and wrongheaded to the very end. Even the diversity aspect is minor, since we're told early on that what seems like Earth in the near future is really taking place in the distant future on another planet, with many things translated to familiar terms -- so racial issues are off the table.
Not recommended, except for historical purposes. ( )