The Truth and Other Stories

It feels kind of crazy to read “new”, never-before-translated works by one of the greats like Lem. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going in since this is mostly a collection of unconnected short stories, but what I got in the end is the typical thought-provoking, creative and a delight for any Lem fans.

Some of these are quite heavy reads, and I had to re-read some parts multiple times. Interestingly, as much as there is no main theme, you can expect many of the themes Lem always returned to in his career, perhaps most notably in this collection the exploration of what alien intelligence would look like. Because these stories were all written independently over the span of multiple decades, you can see a clear evolution/change in his writing style and habits.

Feels like classic SF, and classic Lem!

I would like to thank NetGalley and MIT Press for this ARC.