The Star Diaries

Ijon Tichy encounters bizarre civilizations and creatures in space, satirizing science, the rational mind, theology, and other icons of human pride.

A space explorer travels undercover to a robot world, joining an organization to clean up world history through time travel. The universe may never be the same . . .

"Tichy bumbles and stumbles around the cosmos running out of gas between stars, sneaking around in cybernetic drag on a planet of mad robots, trying to duplicate himself (in a tail-chasing time loop near a 'gravitational vortex') long enough to do a two-man rudder repair job, botching up the course of human events in a history-salvaging operation. Lem veers between joyous slapstick, freewheeling satire, and insanely involuted logical paradoxes—with surprisingly serious excursions into issues of will and faith. Funny, unexpected, tantalizing." —Kirkus Reviews

"Part satire, part imaginative play, and part thought experiment, The Star Diaries is a collection of stories—voyages to be precise—telling of the space man Ijon Tichy's adventures and encounters across the universe and through time. Tongue in cheek throughout, it's only a question of how much the cheek bulges in each . . . hilarious, witty, and philosophical all at once." —Speculiction

"Lem's Star Diaries have a special place among his story-cycles, since they span most of his career and reflect his changing concerns. Still, they have a common theme: the presumptuousness of the intellect." —Science Fiction Studies

"Tichy's twelve voyages are told as a philosophical satire on technology, theology, intelligence, and human nature." —Inclover Magazine