The Truth and Other Stories

Written by Stanislaw Lem

Narrated by David Aaron Baker

Of these twelve short stories by science fiction master Stanislaw Lem, only three have previously appeared in English, making this the first “new” book of fiction by Lem since the late 1980s. The stories display the full range of Lem’s intense
curiosity about scientific ideas as well as his sardonic approach to human nature, presenting as multifarious a collection of mad scientists as any reader could wish for. Many of these stories feature artificial intelligences or artificial life forms, long
a Lem preoccupation; some feature quite bizarre theories of cosmology or evolution. All are thought provoking and scathingly funny.

Written from 1956 to 1993, the stories are arranged in chronological order. In the title story, “The Truth,” a scientist in an insane asylum theorizes that the sun is alive; “The Journal” appears to be an account by an omnipotent being describing
the creation of infinite universes—until, in a classic Lem twist, it turns out to be no such thing; in “An Enigma,” beings debate whether offspring can be created without advanced degrees and design templates. Other stories feature a
computer that can predict the future by 137 seconds, matter-destroying spores, a hunt in which the prey is a robot, and an electronic brain eager to go on the lam. These stories are peak Lem, exploring ideas and themes that resonate throughout his writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781705058558

Stanislaw Lem

Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006) was the most widely translated and best known science fiction author writing outside of the English language. Winner of the Kafka Prize, he was a contributor to many magazines, including the New Yorker, and the author of numerous works, including Solaris.

Reviews for The Truth and Other Stories

[maria.ivanova.mihailovna · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gripping storytelling as always I love his books so much

[inquisitrix · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Stanisław Lem is one of the great philosophers in the worlds of classic science fiction, and this new collection is a truly intriguing glimpse into the mental worlds of a rather unique thinker. His worldview--that of an irreverent iconoclast, a wildly creative nonconformist, and a fantastically satirical humorist--is handily showcased by the twelve stories included here. As in much of Lem's work, themes of artificial and alien intelligence have a strong presence in many of these stories. The emotional tension and tragedy of stories such as "The Hunt" and "Rat in the Labyrinth" is underscored by their inhuman casualties, while the comedy of "Invasion from Aldebaran" is made acerbic by the fact that no one human in the story even really knows the truth of what did and did not happen. The questions Lem asks about what it means to be human, alive, or aware remain timelessly relevant, and this running thread ties the collection together in a relatively cohesive way I might not have expected from a set of stories spanning nearly four decades of the author's life. While I cannot read Polish and am therefore unable to comment on the accuracy of Antonia Lloyd-Jones's translation, the prose in this book has the feeling of a translation that largely stands aside and lets the author's voice shine through--an impressive feat, given the specificity of Lem's voice and his propensity for neologisms. Overall, this is an excellent collection, and one I look forward to recommending to the existing Lem fans in my life as well as to anyone looking for interesting and intellectually provocative science fiction. I received a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.