Peace on Earth [Hardcover]

Stanislaw Lem (Author), Elinor Ford (Translator), Michael Kandel (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1994

Sent by the Lunar Agency on a mission to the moon to save the world, Ijon Tichy becomes the target of autonomous, self-adapting, intelligent weapons, who sever his brain in two, leaving him to make war on himself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lem's latest futuristic satire sends his redoubtable protagonist Ijon Tichy-hero of The Futurological Congress, among other works-to the moon, which has been given over to intelligent, self-evolving war machines in a kind of super-detente. Weapons are banned on Earth, while each nation's robot army runs an arms race on the moon. When the governments of Earth become concerned that the machines are planning an invasion of the mother world, the Lunar Agency dispatches Tichy and several remote-controlled robots to investigate. What Tichy finds on the moon provides Lem with a first-class opportunity to skewer military thinking and arms-race politics (it's to the author's credit that his deft takeoff of the Cold War in no way seems dated). Even stranger, however, is what happens to Tichy himself-a bizarre encounter with an unusual weapon results in a unique twist on the theme of split personalities. Humor and a breathless pace create a delightful and thought-provoking read.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

While engaged in a clandestine operation on the moon's surface, agent Ijon Tichy suffers a mishap that severs the connections between his right and left brains, rendering himself his own worst enemy. Poland's premier sf writer offers a resounding send-up of modern society in his latest novel. Readers familiar with the author's wildly funny yet discerningly articulate speculations will not be disappointed. A good choice for general and sf collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company; 1st edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151715548
• ISBN-13: 978-0151715541
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,286,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stanislaw Lem is the most widely translated and best known science fiction author writing outside of the English language. Winner of the Kafka Prize, he is a contributor to many magazines, including the New Yorker, and he is the author of numerous works, including Solaris.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great work by Stanislaw Lem!, March 13, 2005

By 

Vahania63 (Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peace on Earth (Paperback)

This is another novel in a series of stories about Ijon Tichy, space traveller. Ijon Tichy' stories are always fun to read, no exception here - some kind of combination of absurd and science fiction genres (of course, Stanislaw Lem has so much more than this). This is the later work by this master and I do believe it's not his strongest - but even so it is very good. At the same time, for somebody new to Stanislaw Lem I wouldn't recommend to start his journey here - there are better starting points. This book will be better appreciated by somebody already familiar with Lem books in general and with Ijon Tichy stories, in particular.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bisected Brain, January 11, 2007

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Peace on Earth (Paperback)

Even at this late stage of his career, Stanislaw Lem was still delivering sharp satire that skewered not just the human condition, but also the archetypes of science fiction. Here, the droll antihero Ijon Tichy is the victim an enemy attack that has severed the connection between the left and right sides of his brain, resulting in the weirdest behavior you'll ever see from a sci-fi secret agent. Meanwhile, Tichy is assigned by Earth authorities to dig up some dirt on what's happening with proxy warfare on the moon. In the most biting aspect of Lem's satire, the nations of the Earth are self-righteously proclaiming "Peace on Earth" when they have merely exported warfare to the Moon, where it is conducted by self-replicating robots and nanotechnology. It turns out that these tech gadgets have evolved on their own in ways their human creators could never comprehend, and some portions of this book are mindbendingly surreal as Tichy tries to infiltrate bizarre mutant technological landscapes. How these technologies end up threatening their Earthbound masters, who had designed them for falsely peaceful purposes, allows Lem to ruminate brutally on the fallacy of war and the pitfalls of technology. The master of sci-fi satire strikes again. [~doomsdayer520~]

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hardly Lem's Best, therefore is merely great SF, May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Peace on Earth (Paperback)

This is a new book by one of the most important authors in the 20th century, but the above review is too slick to be trusted. Indeed, die-hard Lem fans will be thrilled by a new book and will no doubt enjoy seeing Ijon Tichy again. But this book, though magnificent on speculation and satire, will not be the one to explain to all the non-Lem fans why we Lem fans go bonkers over him. This book is for people with an acquired taste for Lem. If that's not you, don't despair. Try "The Cyberiad" or "Solaris" (his most famous book) or "Fiasco".