JAF%MIT-SPEECH@MIT-MC.ARPA (03/26/84)
From: Joseph A. Frisbie <JAF%MIT-SPEECH@MIT-MC.ARPA> Lem. The only book of Lem's that is as much fun as the Cyberiad is Star Diaries. It follows the less preachy of Ijon Tichy's adventures. I find two of his novels interesting, but the others rather turgid. They are The Futurological Congress, (available in paperback from Bard [Avon's international/translation division]) which is about a convention goer who is present during a terrorist attack. The terrorist use pharmaceutical weapons, and the rest of the story involves trying to figure out what is real and what isn't. Chain of Chance is a detective story with an interesting twist (that can't be divulged). The idea is similar to The Investigation, but the plot works much better. It is, or was published in paperback by Jove books. Stapledon. Olaf Stapledon is particularly interesting historically. He wrote in England in the thirties and forties while the pulps were being published in America. He could be called a father of science fiction. His works are much more detailed, more scientifically plausible, and less moralistic than Wells. Sirius is about who is as intelligent as a human and grows up as a member of the family. Odd John is about a super-human, John, who is a new species of mankind -- homo superior. He contacts other extra-normals and founds a colony. Last and First Men is a history of the entire human race from first man (us) to seventeeth man. Odd John and Sirius are together in one volume from Dover as are Last and First Men and Star Maker. This is truly first class stuff. The only difficulty one might have is that they are written using a classic English style (ala James) as so the narrator relates the story. Joe -------