Fiasco by Stanisław Lem
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fiasco (1986), like Lem's most famous novel, Solaris (1961), is part adventure science fiction novel and part philosophical discourse. In my view, Solaris combines these two genres more successfully.

The plot is set in the distant future, when technology has advanced to such a degree that, for example, spaceships are able to use black holes to manipulate time so interstellar space travel does not take thousands of years, gravitation can be harnessed, power generation is a thousandfold more efficient than nuclear fission, and friendly AI reliably controls every aspect of any human endeavor.

A spaceship launched from our solar system travels to Quinta, the fifth planet of the sixth sun in the constellation Harpy, where signs of intelligent life might have been detected. The task of the human crew, assisted by nearly omniscient AI, is to establish contact with that civilization.

The novel poses several fascinating and difficult questions concerning SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) as well as attempts to contact that civilization and communicate with it (CETI). The central question is whether meaningful contact with an extraterrestrial civilization is possible at all. Several other deeper issues are touched, for instance, a sort of general theory of civilization development, the blinding role of anthropocentrism in selecting avenues of contact, and even a religious take on SETI.

While I greatly appreciate the serious themes of the novel, I do not believe that the development of the plot and, particularly, the characterizations are up to par. To me, the personas and actions of the crew members sound artificial and a bit cartoonish. I believe it is the first time ever that I criticize Lem, but my complaints concern the "action layer" of the novel only. The underlying philosophy and the message that the book conveys are first-class, as they always are in Lem's novels and stories.

One of my personal takes on the main point of Lem's novel is that we humans need to practice more humility when attempting CETI. After all, it is quite possible that Frank Zappa's quip about the basic building block of the universe (which is stupidity) applies only to our solar system.

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