The Cyberiad

Fables for the Cybernetic Age

By: Stanislaw Lem

Narrated by: Scott Aiello

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

A brilliantly crafted collection of stories from celebrated science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem.

Trurl and Klaupacius are constructor robots who try to out-invent each other. Over the course of their adventures in The Cyberiad, they travel to the far corners of the cosmos to take on freelance problem-solving jobs, with dire consequences for their unsuspecting employers.

Playfully written, and ranging from the prophetic to the surreal, these stories demonstrate Stanislaw Lem's vast talent and remarkable ability to blend meaning and magic into a wholly entertaining and captivating work.

©1974 The Continuum Publishing Corporation (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

I wanted to like this, I really did

I was recommended this book on reddit and unfortunately it fell short of my expectations. whilst I understand this is a book of fables, too often the story and the foibles of the author make this a hard read. oftentimes seems like the author just wants to monologue vs narrate

pros:
--some funny parts
--imaginative in odd, new ways

cons:
--lack of depth in the stories or characters, which leads to it being
--boring, for the most part
--settings are intergalactic yet feudal (like, what?)
--said settings are not really elaborated on (common in sci fi) bbuuutt then author proceeds to use technical and cybernetic jargon native to the setting without explaining it. context clues only help so much
--characters whom are presumably hyper intelligent fall into the same "trap" (i.e. king: make me something, character: without knowing payment? sure!---king then tries to kill them).

honestly wouldn't recommend

It's Aesop's Fables for Robots

This is one sci-fi book I never, ever tire of reading and re-reading (or listening to in this case). Short stories, read and "acted" by the narrator with personality and verve, each with a hidden (or not so hidden) moral, word pun, math puzzle, or general exposé on the vagaries of human (and robot) folly.

Ingeniously humorous

Stanislaw Lem’s The Cyberiad is a collection of tales about two ‘constructors’ who are basically uber-engineers who seem capable of building almost anything. They always end up getting into some sort of trouble either due to their creations themselves or as a result of others trying to cheat them for their efforts. Their universe is organized along medieval lines with royalty running the show.

Lem offers a light-hearted, comical collection of tales that is full of belly laughs. In particular, while most individual names have a Latinized version, they are all created tongue-firmly-in-cheek. Under-neath the various plots, Lem provides critical commentary on cultural, social, and political affairs that merit the additional attribute of satire.

The narration is very good with solid character distinction. Pacing is smooth and a tad brisk.

If Dr. Suess Wrote Science Fiction...

Any additional comments?

This is the first book I have read by Stanislaw Lem, so I'm not sure he always writes in this style, but there was something about this book that strongly reminded me of the style of Dr. Suess. Lem often refers to objects in the future by names in which sound nothing like modern day items. The result is a world full of Zitts, Zotts, Orplaws & Rooses (often with no explanation to what a "Zott" might be).

The book itself was a collection of highly entertaining futuristic fables that follow around two inventors of robots/machines as they do everything they can to one-up the other. Each story is different from the last and seems to be JUST the right length for what it is.

I really look forward to my next Stanislaw Lem book to see if it stacks up to this one. If it does, he may soon become one of my favorite sci-fi authors.

9.2 / 10

Worth reading for one chapter, rest not so much

I knew going in that people said this was similar in some ways to Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide", but I guess I still expected a bit more gravitas to the stories here. This is more like a set of Looney Tunes bits, but less funny.

The narration was terrible. A better narrator might have saved this book, for me.

The one very bright spot in this book is a sequence in which an AI computer invented by one of the characters must write some poetry. The poetry written by the AI (but really by Stanislaw Lem, of course) is so great that it's worth reading the book, just to read this poetry in context.

There are a few other good bits, but for the most part, I cannot say I really liked this book.

Top notch translation and narration

I'm a big fan of Staslaw Lem and have read The Cyberiad in two translations other than English. I first thought that listening to it in a language far from the original Polish will be a downhill experience as Lem's writing style often ties together linguistics and context [see the example below]. Boy, was I wrong! Once again I was captivated by this book as this translation feels as Lem as the other two and the narration style of Scott Aiello is just superb! Thank you for making this available.

[example]: In the first fable the machine that makes anything starting with "n" is asked to make, among other things, "nature". However, in the original it is asked to make "nauka" which translates from Polish as "science".

This is a great book!

I highly recommend this if you are a Lem fan. I really liked The Truth and Other Stories. This is intellectual, funny, and very human at its core. The narrator does a really good job.

Narration nonpareil

Never has a narrator so nimbly nudged such nonsensical natterings into nicely notable, nay, noble nuance. Neglecting this nugget of narrative necromancy would be naive.

Baroque science-fantasy comedy

If you could sum up The Cyberiad in three words, what would they be?

Picaresque baroque comedy

What other book might you compare The Cyberiad to and why?

The style is similar to Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" series in its tongue-in-cheek picaresque mix of satire and adventure.

What does Scott Aiello bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The voice of Klepaucius is hilarious.

not just for children!

such a great set of stories, and a nice translation. although the Polish version is longer. they’re full of humor and not just for children, definitely revealing of human nature itself. i loved it. and the narrator is excellent!