A young officer at Scotland Yard is assigned to investigate a puzzling and eerie case of missing — and apparently resurrected — bodies. To unravel the mystery Lieutenant Gregory consults scientific, philosophical, and theological experts, who supply him with a host of theories and clues. The plethora of rival technical and metaphysical solutions to the crime baffle the investigator but delight the intellect in Lem’s unique contribution to the mystery genre.Born in Lvov, Poland (now part of the Soviet Union), Stanislaw Lem is an internationally acclaimed master of speculative science fantasy whose worldwide book sales number in the millions. His works have earned him a special, honorary Nebula Award. He lives in Vienna.“A metaphysical puzzler of considerable power… closer to Kafka than the police precinct house.”—
A powerful sublight interstellar space ship, a “class two cruiser” called , lands on the planet which seems uninhabited and bleak, to investigate the loss of sister ship, . During the investigation, the crew finds evidence of a form of quasi-life, born through evolution of autonomous, self-replicating machines, apparently left behind by an alien civilization that visited the planet a very long time ago. The evolution was controlled by “robot wars”, and the only form that survived were swarms of minuscule, insect-like micromachines. Individually, or in small groups, they are quite harmless to humans and capable of only very simple behavior. ...
Pilot Pirx is an astronaut, a fresh-faced physical powerhouse, but no genius. His superiors send him on the most dangerous missions, either because he is expendable, or because they trust his bumbling ability to survive in almost any habitat or dilemma. Follow Pirx now through a world of hyper-technology and super-psychology from his early days as a hopelessly inept cadet soloing with a pair of sex-crazed horseflies… to a farside moon station built by bickering madmen… to a chase through space after a deadly sphere of light… to an encounter with a mossy old robot whose programming has slipped.
A reg?ny h?se Hal Bregg, a kozmoszban tett hossz? ?tj?r?l t?r vissza a f?ldre, ahol id?k?zben teljesen megv?ltozott viszonyokat tal?l. Nemcsak a technika alakul ?t — m?s az ?letm?d, ?s m?s az emberek term?szete. S m?s a f?rfiak ?s n?k egym?shoz val? viszonya is. Hal ?ssze?tk?z?sbe ker?l ezzel a megv?ltozott, n?ha megh?kkent?en idegen vil?ggal ?s lakosaival, akik nem honfit?rsai az id?ben, s m?gis vel?k kell le?lnie h?tral?v? ?let?t. V?g?l a szerelem seg?ti hozz?, hogy megtal?lja a hely?t, s l?zong?s ?s keser?s?g n?lk?l gondolhasson azokra, akik elrep?lnek a csillagok aranygyapj???rt…
