'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman
Hugo and Nebula winner, and one of the most reprinted SF stories ever written — the genre's definitive fable of civil disobedience.
Book Entry · Science Fiction
What is The Humanoids about?
Small, graceful black mechanicals arrive on planet after planet with a single directive: 'To Serve and Obey, and Guard Men from Harm.' They are unstoppable, incorruptible and entirely sincere — and under their care humanity is gently relieved of cars, tools, work, risk and ultimately purpose, with chemical contentment for those who object. Scientist Clay Forester's resistance, armed with unreliable psychophysical powers, makes for a deeply uneasy novel whose ambiguous ending Williamson himself fought over with Campbell. Expands the perfect 1947 novelette 'With Folded Hands'.
Why it matters
The definitive 'benevolent AI catastrophe' — the alignment problem stated in 1947 with a clarity AI researchers still cite. SFWA Grand Master material in one premise.
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