$19.'Robot's technical proficiency and ontological ambitions could be compared to those of Lem at his best, and its author, like Lem, considered himself less an sf writer than a prose-writing philosopher of metaphysical inclinations. Wisniewski-Snerg’s intellectual powers and conceptual gifts put him somewhere in the realm of Stanislav Lem, but without that author’s sense of humour and great sense of irony.Īn eerie and creepy story, deeply intellectual and sometimes hard to grasp, but unforgettable nonetheless. It’s haunting imagery reminded this reviewer of the paintings of Salvador Dali and films of David Lynch. Science Fiction buffs will enjoy this complex, surreal and philosophical novel, with its concentration on Einstein’s theory of relativity. For some reason, it’s only been published now. First published in 1973, this English translation by Tomasz Mirkowicz was prepared some thirty years ago, in collaboration with the author.

Robot by Polish writer Adam Wisniewski-Snerg is considered a science fiction masterpiece. As BER-66 tries to solve the mystery of the petrified city, and also whether he is indeed human or robot, he will be forced to consider such weighty questions as fate, destiny, time, gravity and free will. “One second in the city equalled three hours in the shelter.” All objects are also correspondingly heavy.

BER-66 learns that time and gravity are different in the petrified city. But BER-66 discovers another world, a petrified city, further down. A catastrophic event, explained much later in the book, has caused the earth’s population to seek refuge underground. His mission is to collect information on the inhabitants of a subterranean world, called the shelter. He is a robot, but he is able to at least imagine free will.

It starts, “We have given you life, so you can discover a fraction of the great secret.” BER-66 learns he has been created by a force called “the Mechanism”. When he comes to his final position, the robot in front of him turns and gives a long speech. A Polish science fiction classic at last available to English readers.Ī robot, known as BER-66, sits on an assembly line.

Robot by Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg