Williamson's humanoids [in "The Humanoid Touch"] are perfect robots programmed "to serve and obey and guard men from harm." This they do all over the galaxy with tyrannical efficiency…. The humanoids were the subject of Williamson's most famous novel, and he returns to them now for this sequel, in which the last free outpost is found and invaded by the machines and one young man faces this implacable foe. Anyone familiar with the original humanoids stories will want to read this, but some will be disappointed that Williamson is able to offer only a partial answer to the humanoid challenge—a utopia the hero escapes to, where the psychic and biological sciences have achieved ultimate perfection.

A review of "The Humanoid Touch," in Publishers Weekly (reprinted from the September 12, 1980 issue of Publishers Weekly, published by R. R. Bowker Company, a Xerox company; copyright © 1980 by Xerox Corporation), Vol. 218, No...