Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
105 global ratings
5 star
52%
4 star
23%
3 star
11%
2 star
7%
1 star
7%
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Review this product



Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Glenn Russell
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! What a trip!
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2017
Verified Purchase
In many important respects Fiasco is Stanisalw Lem’s crowning achievement. Publsihed in 1986 toward the end of the Polish author's distinguished career spanning more than half a century, the novel contains at its heart a key theme revisited by Mr. Lem over the years: the impact of science and technology on multiple dimensions of intelligence and communication.

What a literary achievement! Please do not be thrown off by the label "science fiction." To be sure, generous helpings of scientific data and detail are proffered to satisfy any reader with an interest in science; but, more importantly, especially for non-science types like myself, Fiasco probes an assortment of gripping philosophical conundrums and is a hugely engaging adventure story. I was enthralled every step of the journey as I accompanied the crew on their expedition to distant planet Quinta to communicate with the Quintans.

The time is mid-twenty-first century and travel between planets and moons is commonplace. From the orbit of one such moon, Titan by name, the spaceship Eurydice is launched on its quest to make contact with what is judged by top international scientists a technically advanced civilization. Such pooling of intellectual resources is possible since in this future time there is worldwide peace and global cooperation. Thanks for the cheery prospect, Stanislaw! Too bad your optimism doesn’t endure when the Earthlings reach planet Quinta.

The ship is massive, as large as a high-rise building – many rooms and hallways and chambers large enough to hold smaller space vehicles. The crew includes a flight commander and various chiefs overseeing things like power, communications and medicine. Accomplished experts within the fields of physics, biology, geology and other sciences are present along with a Dominican monk in the role of adviser.

Of course, the inclusion of a Catholic father adds real spice to the flavor and shape of how decisions are to be made. Although Catholicism was very much part of the culture in his home country of Poland, Stanislaw Lem made a public statement on why he became an atheist: “For moral reasons: the world appears to me to be put together in such a painful way that I prefer to believe that it was not created intentionally."

Also on board is a pilot awakened after spending decades in cryonic deep freeze – his own “last resort” decision in consequence of a botched rescue mission. Did I say awakened? Perhaps resurrected from the dead would be more accurate, at least according to top physician Dr. Gilbert's philosophy of personal identity. We listen in on the good doctor's provocative conversation with Dominican Father Arago.

And last, but hardly least, there's DEUS, a supremely advanced twenty-first century supercomputer performing complex calculations in nanoseconds and speaking directly with members of the crew. DEUS is short for Digital Engrammic Universal System but everyone involved in the project recognizes the irony of a direct reference to a deus ex machina.

Back on the pilot returned to life - he can’t recall his past name, it could be Prix or Parvis. As readers, we know Parvis from his mini misadventure in Chapter One; Lem fans will recognize Prix from the author’s Tales of Prix the Pilot. Anyway, among the more intriguing sections of the novel is his return to consciousness and interactions with a Socrates-style teaching computer in efforts to help restore his memory and educate him on the latest technologies. A particular statement made by the teacher resonates on what is to follow once the ship attempts to communicate with the Quintans: “The Mystery of the Silent Universe has become a challenge to Earth’s science.”

Additionally captivating are the embedded shorter tales within the novel: the first tells how two sixteenth century Spaniards conquistadors violated sacred ground in their attempt to unmask the mystery surrounding an ancient Aztec deity; and the second an excerpt from a book of science fiction the resuscitated pilot reads one evening, a spellbinding, spine chilling yarn about an Indiana Jones-style treasure seeker venturing through South American jungle to reach a vast region where termites rule.

Under a blazing tropical sun the termites have built over a million white mounds, row after row after row, thirty feet high and harder than cement. Each and every one of these mounds seethes with termite activity within. And at the very center of this termite city there is a bent, black mound.

Our adventurer recounts how he brought dynamite, airplane gasoline, insecticides, gas masks and other heavy duty equipment to lead an expedition to the land of termites and uncover the secrets of the black mound. However, what he ultimately discovers after penetrating to the heart of this insect nation deepens rather than solves any of nature’s secrets. I include a brief sketch of this embedded tale since it unquestionably contains many parallels with the ship's excursion to Quinta.

Reaching their destination and sending a series of digital transmissions but receiving no answer, a small crew voyages to the surface of Quinta in their probing craft, the Hermes. They detect one moving object the size of a boulder that increases its speed to escape their observation. The captain is quick to resolve: “Let’s catch that moth.” He sets the trajectory of pursuit and engages the craft’s hunt program. Go get ‘um cowboy! Less than a mile away from the Quinta prey, the Hermes discharges a missile with prehensile arms, grasps it and conducts an initial examination. Clearing any safety issue with DEUS, the crew then takes the trophy of their chase on board for future analysis.

Moth, pursuit, hunt, prey, trophy, chase - these are the actual words articulated by captain and crew. Such language is aggressive; such language is the language of war. How far are these future space explorers from the mindset of prehistoric hunters or the Greek warriors at the gates of Troy? How will the consequences of this initial assertive strategy play themselves out?

Pondering Stanislaw Lem’s work, many additional philosophic questions loom up for consideration. Here are several: Are humans so warlike that nearly any communication from aliens will be interpreted as a threat requiring retaliation? Why didn't Nakamura, the perceptive Japanese physicist, recommend a sense of humility all along? Nakamura states: Where there is mind, there is cruelty. Is this an accurate observation? Would it have been wise to include a Zen master on this mission teaching the crew meditation and the cultivation of "No Mind?" What's the sound of one brutal hand clapping?
Read more
Barton D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Heavy, but Awesome
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
I'm a Heinlein and PKD fan. I've been slowly digging through Lem. In a quarantine, I figured I'd give this book a shot. Of what I've read, Lem's different books vary in styles...they can be: amazingly ridiculous farce (Star Diaries), psycho mind-melters (futurological congress? Though I've not read it yet), or even dark intellectual/tactical stuff (Fiasco).

Fiasco centers around the philosophical progression of meat-based civilizations toward AI or the technological singularity as Kurzweil puts it. It follows one crew on a mission to make first contact. I shall say little more about the story itself. Certainly, out of the gate, this book is hard to figure out where the heck it's going or even if it'll be an actual story.

However...it IS heading somewhere, depending on your definition, and the meandering path is really dang interesting and brilliantly laid out. I can just say, if you have the patience, this book is totally worth it. Intellectual, heavy, and dark... but truly intriguing, and it gains speed. The translation is at quite a high level of reading comprehension...though not painfully so...but be prepared. While the person who translated is clearly of high intellect and vocabulary, I expect that Lem's writings in Polish/Russian are no walk in the park.

Anyway... as I read through his catalog... I would say that this is a book that shouldn't be missed. I am coming to have a great appreciation for Lem, and this book is no exception. It has taken me a while to get the "voice" from where he is writing (perhaps influenced by the translation), but it is a magnificent and intelligent voice... and the topics have always been the same...magnificent and intelligent. Bottom line: This is no pulp sci-fi (not that I don't enjoy the crap out of pulp!), and Lem has taken some time to grow on me (which mainly took exposure and variety). Enjoy!
Read more
Dave CarverTop Contributor: Fantasy Books
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly Titled
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018
Verified Purchase
While this is not a particularly easy book to read it is most worthwhile and satisfying. Written in dense and scientific prose, The story jumps across place, time and the universe following one man's journey from near death to first contact.

The characters are thoughtful and detailed discussions on strategy, philosophy and the reasons for a specific actions taken make up The bulk of the story. The unintended consequences of just about every action taken make this a particularly unique look at a travel across the galaxy. I don't believe I've read any other book in this genre where each fiasco is followed by the next one and the next one and the next one.
Read more

See all reviews

Top reviews from other countries

ac
1.0 out of 5 stars Tedious read with a disappointing end
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2019
Verified Purchase
I've read Solaris and was utterly enthralled by it so was really looking forward to reading this novel by the same author. Unfortunately the writing is so heavy with prose that the actual story is lost in all the overly indepth descriptions of situations and space engineering. I had to speed read parts purely to just get on with the story. Where in Solaris you never really learn anything about the organism that covers the planet, you at least get a sense of its complete alienness through all the transcripts from the the studies conducted on it. With Fiasco, the moment the aliens are discovered the book ends abruptly. One of the most disappointing endings I've read, especially after the hard slog just getting through the book itself. Waste of effort!
Read more
zhuzhu
5.0 out of 5 stars good
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2019
Verified Purchase
good
Read more
santacompania
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2015
Verified Purchase
Mr Lem at his most delicious best.
Read more
Dr Ron Pashley-Crawford
4.0 out of 5 stars Marvellous allegorical sci-fi
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2009
Verified Purchase
As a regular reader of rational sci-fi I don't know why I haven't read this remarkable epic before. I have read most of the other sci-fi classics but this is my first Stanislaw Lem book. I was aware of Solaris but only recently realised that it was written by Lem. Fiasco is an amazing story which can be taken at different levels and depths. It uses the scenario of alien contact as an examination of the human condition. Some readers might form the view that the first chapter of the book is almost irrelevant to the main theme which doesn't get going until chapter 2. Another observation is that, apart from a holographic character in the artificial sequence used by Gerbert to distract himself onboard the Eurydice, there is no female character in the entire book! Lem has a remarkable descriptive style which is exemplified in a number of sequences in the novel, e.g. the vivid description of the geyser formations in the doomed attempt by the striders to penetrate the Depression on Titan, and the holographic recreation of the search by the Spanish explorers in the old American Midwest. These are distinctive pieces in their own right but, ironically, oddly out of place and probably superfluous to the main strand of the novel. Also Lem employs a technique reminiscent of the film 2001 where a lot of continuity is left out and the reader is suddenly transferred to a new situation sometimes separated by large time spans and has to quickly assimilate the new state of affairs often through clipped dialogue between the protagonists or by short retrospectives.

Undoubtedly the main character is Parvis or Pirx who comes to be called Tempe but the other characters are reasonably developed, particularly Steergard the tormented Captain of the Hermes. However, Tempe's development is uneven and it's not until the end of the novel that you get a fuller insight into his character. Again there are significant sections on philosophy throughout the book e.g. the development of intelligence in the Galaxy and the opportunity for contact, or the propulsion method used for near light-speed travel. Furthermore, there are long information or explanatory entries such as the technique used to excite the black hole Hades to allow the Eurydice to experience vast time contraction so that only two weeks elapses for its crew whereas years have gone by on the Hermes during its return journey to Quinta. This also allows the Eurydice to return to Earth only 8 years after it originally departed. There is also a long sequence of interrogation dialogue between Steergard and DEUS, the supercomputer, towards the end of the novel. Some readers may choose to skip all of these lengthy hard going pieces without really detracting from the experience of the story.

Lem has deliberately made some of the actions of the `envoys' on the Hermes preposterous and outrageous, as a means of illustrating the extreme behaviour of humans once committed to a course of action where the leadership will not withdraw even although that is the obvious choice. Finally at the risk of displaying anthropocentric behaviour, I doubt that the life-form of the Quintans as depicted by Lem would be capable of achieving intelligence. A well-crafted thought provoking work that stands out in serious sci-fi. Read it!
Read more
Mr. Nigel JB McFarlane
4.0 out of 5 stars Lem interesting as always
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2008
Verified Purchase
Fiasco has a similar theme to "Eden" as a story of futile misunderstanding in the wake of alien contact, but it is a far far better book; here the motives of the characters are carefully argued throughout, and every action is considered and plausible. In contrast, the technology employed to deliver the protagonists to the orbit of an alien civilisation is deliberately overblown, in order to underline the gigantic, and ultimately wasted, effort required to mount such an expedition. An added bonus and poignancy for Lem fans is the inclusion in the crew of Pirx the Pilot (or to be precise, a character who may or may not be Pirx).
Read more

See all reviews