Reviews - Tales of Pirx the Pilot

40 reviews for:

Tales of Pirx the Pilot

Stanisław Lem

3.89 AVERAGE

cj_mo_2222's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

curleyfries's review against another edition

3.25

A quick short story. It was fine. The translator did well at capturing the Lem-ness.

la_mordida's review against another edition

5.0

Amazing collection with a superb finish in 'Terminus'. Definitely more of the Lem I love than the Cyberiad.

slategrey's review against another edition

2.0

2.0 out of 5

leadbelly's review against another edition

1.0

Jesus, this is boring. Tedious protagonist. I hoped for so much.

brokensandals's review against another edition

4.0

...whenever he would ponder, with cheeks aglow, the great galactic silence, the lonely valor of men, he always had trouble picturing a hero of eternal night, a loner, having such a -- dimplepuss.

The first story in this is pretty funny, and the next two are interesting mysteries. I was a bit bored with the remaining two, although I appreciated the final one's spooky notion of

Spoiler

echoes of dead personalities inadvertently living on in the brain of a robot

.

I enjoy the anachronisms of old sci-fi (this was published in 1966); there's something cozy about an imagined future where rocketships need to carry shelves full of physical books, and pilots still need Morse code. Sometimes, though, you run into an offhand remark that really drives home how much the world has changed:

...like a bout of the measles: sooner or later everyone was bound to get them.

jamestomasino's review against another edition

5.0

Older sci-fi stories are often difficult for me to get into because of their lack of character focus. Authors like Arthur C Clarke tend toward a focus on the science, or the big philosophical idea, rather than establishing a believable cast and seeing them explore these worlds. Lem is not like this. Pirx is alive. He's at times grumpy, excited, fearful, nervous, and bored in real ways that bring you into the story with him.

The format of the book is episodic. Many of the stories at this time were magazine publications brought together into a larger volume. I'm not sure if that's the case here, but it feels like it. In this sense, some stories work better than others. Terminus, the final in the book, is absolutely the strongest. It has so many aspects to explore, so many questions left lingering, and an absolutely devastating ending that will stick with me for a long time to come.

I'm looking forward to reading more Pirx stories soon.