The Science Fiction Novel - Jack Williamson

John Stewart (Jack) Williamson

I think this entry will be a relatively quick one as I've read only one book by this author, John Stewart Williamson. Williamson, who wrote under the name Jack Williamson, was born in the Arizona Territory in 1908 and died in New Mexico in 2006. After the death of Robert Heinlein in 1988, he became known as the 'Dean of Science Fiction'. He is credited with one of the first uses of the term 'genetic engineering'.

In 1926, Williamson discovered the magazine, Amazing Fiction, and sold his first short story, The Metal Man, in 1928. By the 1930's, he was an established Science Fiction writer. He wrote over a dozen novels with fellow Sci-Fi author, Frederick Pohl. He wrote a number of series -

- Legion of Space series (4 books)
- Humanoid series (3 books; the book that I have read is part of this series)
- Seetee series (3 books)
- Undersea trilogy (with Frederick Pohl)
- Saga of Cuckoo (2 books, also with Pohl)
- Starchild Trilogy (with Pohl)

From 1930 - 2005, he also wrote over 30 novels. I guess I'll have to check them out, eh?

The one book that I have read was The Humanoids (1949).

Synopsis - "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.
First published in Astounding Science Fiction during the magazine's heyday, The Humanoids--science fiction grand master Jack Williamson's finest novel--has endured for fifty years as a classic on the theme of natural versus artificial life."

My review - "I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I hadn't read anything by Jack Williamson previously and saw this in one of my used book stores. It looked interesting and didn't let me down. A bit of a slow start, but it quickly found its footing and was nicely paced. A story in the Isaac Asimov vein; dealing with humanoids, how they serve/ rule humans and certain of mankind's efforts to fight them. A story with some science as well, which made it even more interesting. Good story. (3 stars)"

Well, that's that. It's been a long time since I checked this out. I'm going to have to research Williamson a bit more. Have a great weekend. Hope you have better weather than we're supposed to have.