Fiasco
by Stanisław Lem · first published 2012
86% recommend14% neutral
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…hate (though the first part of the first book is very well written), but if you like all of Seveneves then it might suit you. My personal favourites that might not already be on everyone else's lists: Fiasco - Stanisław Lem This is how you lose the time war - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Feersum Endjinn - Iain Banks The Dark Side of the Sun - Terry Pratchett (yes, that one) Blindsight - Peter Watts…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗Godel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter Fiasco - Stanislaw Lem
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗Stanislaw Lem: Fiasco Stanislaw Lem: His Master's Voice Strugarsky Brothers: Roadside Picnic Olaf Stapledon: Star Maker
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗That would be Stanislaw Lem's most depressing but aptly named masterpiece, "Fiasco". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiasco_(novel) http://garethrees.org/2012/05/31/fiasco/ 2. Radio static A radiolocation map of the planet showed hundreds of transmitters of white noise, which merged…
on “A Cyberattack 'the World Isn’t Ready For'” ↗I don't read that much lately, but want to throw in a few names: - Stanislaw Lem (Solaris, The Cyberiad, His Masters Voice, Fiasco) - William Gibson - evrything worth reading) - Bruce Sterling
on “Ask HN: What sci-fi books are you reading?” ↗…alternatives which I feel deal more inventively with the themes of first contact, the alien, and colonialism: Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus and Stanislaw Lem's Eden, Solaris, The Invincible, and Fiasco. Wolfe does a fine job of modulating his prose style according to the dictates of his content, and unpacking the workings of the book over repeated readings is a pleasure -- both admirably Joycean qualities…
on “The Sparrow” ↗For the curious: the doodle is for Stanislaw Lem, one of my favorite science fiction authors. For those who haven't read any of his books, I personally recommend Solaris and Fiasco, although most of the other books I've read by him are also great. Edit: Oh yeah, for something a little bit more funny, read Tales of Pirx the Pilot.
on “Google.pl's crazy doodle” ↗Not a single Stanislaw Lem novel? Why is this so typical of USA sci-fi section? His 'Fiasco' is one of the most thought provoking books I have ever read.
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗…"The Invincible" by Stanislaw Lem. Basic idea of the story is exactly what you're describing, "self-replicating system", with "creators long forgotten". I recommend this novel, among with many others ("Fiasco", "Eden" and, of course, "Solaris"), for anyone who likes good sci-fi about "first contact".
on “Engineers create ‘lifelike’ material with artificial metabolism” ↗…treaty unilaterally just because it's inconvenient is also not great, and would untie the other sides' hands. That's why we can't have nice things. /* If you haven't yet, I recommend to read the novel Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem. It describes a civilization where all trust and cooperation are gone, and the planet is in the state of constant creeping war of sabotage. What Earthlings do there is another thing worth…
on “The Lunacy of Artemis” ↗…countries of Eastern Europe are generally considered part of the West [*] (in contrast to, say, China or Japan), so Stanislaw Lem is western author. (Outside of that, i would definitely recommend Lem, esp. Fiasco, The Invincible, or Peace on Earth.) [*] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world
on “Ask HN: Sci-fi recommendations by non-western authors?” ↗I love Stanislaw Lem. Solaris is his most famous and it has many of his core themes; I'd also try Fiasco. I'm also a huge fan of R.A. Lafferty, but his stuff his harder to find, mostly out of print. Peter Watts' Blindsight is amazing recent-ish hard SF. (the follow-up, I did not like at all). Anything…
on “My favorite cult sci-fi and fantasy books you may not have heard of before” ↗Just finished reading "Fiasco" by Stanislaw Lem. Between that "Cyberiad" I feel like Lem doesn't get enough credit. Maybe part of it is not being in the Western European writer's camp? At any rate, I would say: Moon is a Harsh Mistress,…
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗The Quintans in Stanislaw Lem's novel "Fiasco" were too busy mining cryptocurrency to make contact and communicate with. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiasco_(novel)
on “What Happens When Bitcoin Miners Take Over Your Town” ↗Good point, I call this the Mitochondria outcome. I also believe it's the plot point of Stanislaw Lem's Fiasco.
on “Giant Tech Firms Plan to Read Your Mind and Control Your Emotions” ↗