C
The Invincible is a surprisingly conventional sci-fi novel; as conventional as Stanisław Lem can get anyway. While I’m not as big of a fan of The Invincible as I was Solaris, this is still a really great book. A lot of the hypothesizing and philosophizing that was present in Solaris now shares the stage with some light horror and a lot more action. Make no mistake though, this is still very much a hard sci-fi novel at its core. The unknown planet of Regis III is described down to the chemical composition of its atmosphere and what that means for the crew of The Invincible. The ship itself and its equipment have a cold and sterile quality to them that is reminiscent of the space-age technology of the 1960s. And despite all of the weapons, the majority of crew members are scientists or engineers of some kind who have plenty of theories to share about the events of the book as they unfold.
What separates this book from Solaris, and my biggest complaint, is that some of the mysteries set up in this book have a lot of lore that mostly comes out off the blue and the hypotheses thought up by the characters either work or don’t work depending on what the story needs instead of feeling like there’s a genuine logic behind why things happen. To be fair, Solaris also had a lot of lore and hypotheses that go nowhere; but I think it had a stronger connection to the theme in that book than it does here. Having almost an entire chapter dedicated to a theoretical history of the alien phenomenon that the crew finds themselves in conflict with wasn’t really necessary here. A line or two of explanation of how one character managed to survive a situation in which none have previously didn’t feel like enough for me to truly believe it.
Plot contrivances aside, the book is still very compelling. The mystery behind the “flies” is still left open ended enough to leave the reader to speculate on what they really are. It shares with Solaris its theme of the unknown and the limits of human knowledge and understanding. It also subtly touches on colonialism and the attitude pervasive among imperial powers, and the tendency to use violence towards that which we don’t understand. As realized by the main character, Rohan while he searches for lost comrades, “not everything everywhere is for us”.
It’s a shame that Stanisław Lem seems to be so overlooked in the west. His works are dwarfed in popularity and regard in orders of magnitude by authors like Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick, when he deserves as much praise as they (rightfully) get. The Invincible is a great sci-fi novel that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of the genre. Even if I am a bigger fan of Solaris, I think this book is likely a better introduction to Lem’s works for most people.
The Invincible is a surprisingly conventional sci-fi novel; as conventional as Stanisław Lem can get anyway. While I’m not as big of a fan of The Invincible as I was Solaris, this is still a really great book. A lot of the hypothesizing and philosophizing that was present in Solaris now shares the stage with some light horror and a lot more action. Make no mistake though, this is still very much a hard sci-fi novel at its core. The unknown planet of Regis III is described down to the chemical composition of its atmosphere and what that means for the crew of The Invincible. The ship itself and its equipment have a cold and sterile quality to them that is reminiscent of the space-age technology of the 1960s. And despite all of the weapons, the majority of crew members are scientists or engineers of some kind who have plenty of theories to share about the events of the book as they unfold.
What separates this book from Solaris, and my biggest complaint, is that some of the mysteries set up in this book have a lot of lore that mostly comes out off the blue and the hypotheses thought up by the characters either work or don’t work depending on what the story needs instead of feeling like there’s a genuine logic behind why things happen. To be fair, Solaris also had a lot of lore and hypotheses that go nowhere; but I think it had a stronger connection to the theme in that book than it does here. Having almost an entire chapter dedicated to a theoretical history of the alien phenomenon that the crew finds themselves in conflict with wasn’t really necessary here. A line or two of explanation of how one character managed to survive a situation in which none have previously didn’t feel like enough for me to truly believe it.
Plot contrivances aside, the book is still very compelling. The mystery behind the “flies” is still left open ended enough to leave the reader to speculate on what they really are. It shares with Solaris its theme of the unknown and the limits of human knowledge and understanding. It also subtly touches on colonialism and the attitude pervasive among imperial powers, and the tendency to use violence towards that which we don’t understand. As realized by the main character, Rohan while he searches for lost comrades, “not everything everywhere is for us”.
It’s a shame that Stanisław Lem seems to be so overlooked in the west. His works are dwarfed in popularity and regard in orders of magnitude by authors like Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick, when he deserves as much praise as they (rightfully) get. The Invincible is a great sci-fi novel that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of the genre. Even if I am a bigger fan of Solaris, I think this book is likely a better introduction to Lem’s works for most people.