In this bold and controversial examination of the past, present, and future of science fiction, internationally acclaimed grand master Stanislaw Lem informs the raging debate over the literary merit of the genre with ten arch, incisive, provocative essays. Lem believes that science fiction should attempt to discover what hasn’t been thought or done before. Too often, says Lem, science fiction resorts to well-worn patterns of primitive adventure literature, plays empty games with the tired devices of time travel and robots, and is oblivious to cultural and intellectual values. An expert examination of the scientific and literary premises of his own and other writers’ work, this collection is quintessential Lem