Reviews

I felt so many different ways about this book that I'm not sure exactly how to rate it. In some ways it is very very Lem. What I mean by that is that it has long, creative, well formed stretches of philosophy as well as some hard sci-fi. I do think he goes on a bit too long at times, but that's also not unusual for him. There is so much in this that's interesting and exciting. Communication- or lack thereof- is the central theme. The ending is a beautiful and haunting closing, that took me off guard despite all the set up. I'm not going to spoil it any more than that.

I gave this 3 stars rather than 4 because I always have a tough time with men who can imagine entire futures with advanced artificial intelligence and intricate alien worlds and species, yet are completely incapable of imagining futures with women in them as anything other then the butts of the occasional misogynistic joke.

andgineer's review against another edition

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4.0

Настоящее удовольствие читать качественную научную фантастику.
В данном случае, на мой взгляд, есть баланс между философией и action - в других произведениях Лема он смещен в ту или другую сторону.. впрочем, оптимальность этого баланса у каждого своя, к тому же зависит от этапа жизни..

vankan's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

mebius's review

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adventurous challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

carmiendo's review

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3.0

when things were actually happening, this book was pretty good.

when they were debating morals or speculating about aliens, this book was also pretty good

somehow there was a whole lot more stuff too though.

bharath_sundararaj's review against another edition

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4.0

Fiasco follows one of Stanislaw Lem's common themes - alien intelligences are so far removed from humanity that is futile to attempt contact, and any attempt at understanding leads eventually to complete failure.

One an unrelated note, this novel was written almost 25 years ago - and it shows. There are no women in this book, not even the shadow of a hint of one.
It's almost as if mankind in the future has finally managed to get rid of the weaker sex, and not bothered to get around to mentioning it.

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