James Nicoll Reviews

The Listeners

His Master’s Voice

By Stanislaw Lem

6 Apr, 2022

**Translation**

5 comments

Stanislaw Lem’s 1968 His Master’s Voice (Głos Pana) is a stand-alone first-contact novel. The 1983 English edition is by Michael Kandel.

His Master’s Voice is Professor Peter E. Hogarth’s posthumously-published account of the His Master’s Voice (HMV) project. Neutrino-based telescopy offered the chance to unravel nature’s secrets. Alien signals were an unexpected bonus. Mathematician Hogarth was merely one of many experts recruited to decipher the message.

Fables

The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age

By Stanislaw Lem (Translated by Michael Kandel)

27 Mar, 2022

**Because My Tears Are Delicious To You**

11 comments

Stanislaw Lem’s 1965 The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age is a collection of humorous science fiction stories. The 1974 English translation is by Michael Kandel. My 1976 Avon paperback has illustrations by Daniel Mróz; I cannot tell if this is true of other editions.

Friends Trurl and Klapaucius are rival “constructors,” always seeking to outdo each other with their marvelous inventions. Their ingenuity is only rivaled by their indifference to unforeseen outcomes.