His Master's Voice
by Stanisław Lem · first published 2018
73% recommend24% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Cerebral first-contact novel about scientists decoding a message from the stars. Little plot, but rigorous thought on alien intelligence and scientific hubris. Suits readers who liked Contact and want more depth.
Common criticism: Dense, plotless, and hard going; some find the prose heavy
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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One of my favorite Stanislaw Lem novels is "His Master's Voice", about a message from space (only accidentally discovered because it was recorded on mag tape that was recycled as a one-time random pad, which turned out to inexplicably repeat itself), which had multiple…
on “Repeating Radio Signals Coming from Distant Galaxy Detected” ↗Reminds Stanislaw Lem's His Master's Voice.
on “A mysterious radio burst that keeps repeating” ↗Stanislaw Lem: Fiasco Stanislaw Lem: His Master's Voice Strugarsky Brothers: Roadside Picnic Olaf Stapledon: Star Maker
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗I like the perspective of Stanislaw Lem on this, especially in His Master's Voice - there may be others shouting out there, but we have not the ability to understand their shouts, we may even have problems understanding that a shout is a shout and not just random noise. Later pretentious…
on “Liu Cixin, China’s hottest science-fiction writer” ↗…Kreeft (recommended; a good exposition of Blaise Pascal's thought) Catholicism: A journey to the heart of the faith - Robert Barron (recommended; a good explanation of Catholicism for the common person) His Master's Voice - Stanislaw Lem (recommended; very intellectual look at the problem of first contact) The Industries of the Future - Alec Ross (the robotics chapter is best; other parts are more light-weight; easy read)…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗Try Stanislaw Lem's "His Master's Voice". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Master%27s_Voice_(novel)
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗His Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem is about trying to decipher an alien radio transmission, and focuses a lot on the mathematics and information theory involved as far as I remember.
on “Ask HN: Good Sci-Fi involving CS/InfoTheory?” ↗Stanislaw Lem used the idea of neutrinos-for-communication as the cause of the "silent universe" in His Master's Voice, which is possibly the best fictional account of how science actually works that I have ever read. Highly recommended.
on “New paper claims that the neutrino is likely a faster-than-light particle” ↗It's worth reading Stanislaw Lem's His Master's Voice. It deals exactly with this topic but it is much more nuanced.
on “Interstellar communication. IX. Message decontamination is impossible” ↗Since we’re dealing in SciFi books here, I recommend His Master’s Voice by Stanislaw Lem as an exploration of the question: if we were pretty sure we were receiving intelligent messages from space, what would they be and how would we respond? The book takes place in the…
on “It could be possible to transfer data through gravitational waves (2018)” ↗His Master’s Voice by Stanisław Lem is mind-blowing, it’s a slow burn, but I’d highly recommend it.
on “Good science fiction books about intelligence, AI, artificial life forms, etc.?” ↗…- Cuentos Completos, by Jorge Luis Borges (or at least the "Labyrinths" compilation) - A Perfect Vacuum, by Stanislaw Lem (Forewords to Non-Existent Books) - Imaginary Magnitude, by Stanislaw Lem - His Master's Voice, by Stanislaw Lem (Along the same lines as Sagan's Contact, but better, way better.) - Buddha's Little Finger, by Victor Pelevin Some my favorite "non-fiction" books: - The Landmark Herodotus: The…
on “Ask HN: What are some must read books?” ↗You might want to read "His Master's Voice" or "Roadside Picnic" by Stanislaw Lem. The first one especially concerns what you're talking about, and the second (basis for "Stalker") is a little more of a tangent on it. Same for "Solaris" honestly.…
on “Ultralight, strong, and self-reprogrammable mechanical metamaterials” ↗I'd recommend Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, or maybe His Master's Voice. You'll get a fascinating blend of psychological realism and eastern-euro science fiction, which I find fascinating (it is much more analog/mechanical, and also refreshingly real about scientific progress…
on “Ask HN: Sci-fi recommendations by non-western authors?” ↗Comparing to old sci fi. (For anyone who still cares!) Chiang can be pitched as today's Stanislaw Lem. (And maybe a modern PK Dick but with much less insanity.) I'm thinking especially of His Master's Voice, which is my favorite Lem story and maybe his most Chiangian. Very cerebral and great storytelling. The Chiang story where the mathematician discovers the horrible truth that 1+1=3 while her husband…
on “Ted Chiang: The Secret Third Thing” ↗