The Invincible
Encyclopedia
The Invincible is a science fiction
novel written by Stanisław Lem and published in 1964. It originally appeared as the title story in Lem's collection Niezwyciężony i inne opowiadania ("The Invincible and Other Stories"). A translation into German
was published in 1967; an English
translation by Wendayne Ackerman of the German translation was published in 1973. It was one of the first novels to exploit the idea of micro-robots (somewhat similar to the concept of nanobots), artificial swarm intelligence
and "necroevolution", or evolution of non-living matter.
, Condor. During the investigation, the crew finds evidence of a form of quasi-life, born through evolution
of autonomous, self-replicating machine
s, apparently left behind by an alien civilization that visited the planet a very long time ago. The evolution was controlled by "robot wars", and the only form that survived were swarms of minuscule, insect
-like micromachines. Individually, or in small groups, they are quite harmless to humans and capable of only very simple behavior. However, when bothered, they can assemble into huge swarms displaying complex behavior arising from self-organization
, and are able to defeat an intruder by a powerful surge of EMI
. Some members of the spacecraft crew suffered a complete memory erasure as a consequence. Big clouds of "insects" are also able to travel at a high speed and even to climb to the top of troposphere. The angered crew attempts to fight the perceived enemy, but eventually recognizes the meaninglessness of their efforts in the most direct sense of the word. The robotic "fauna" has become part of the planet's ecology, and would require a disruption on planetary scale (such as a nuclear winter
) to be destroyed.
The novel turns into an analysis of the relationship between different life domains, and their place in the universe
. In particular, it is an imaginary experiment to demonstrate that evolution may not necessarily lead to dominance by intellectually superior life forms. The plot also involves a Conrad
-like dilemma, juxtaposing the values of humanity and the efficiency of mechanical insects. In the face of defeat and imminent withdrawal of The Invincible, Rohan, the spaceship's navigator, undertakes a trip into the 'enemy area' in search of 4 crew members who went missing in action — an attempt which he and captain Horpach see as probably futile, but necessary for moral reasons. Rohan struck into mountains covered by metallic "shrubs" and "insects" and found these crewmen dead. He gathers some evidence and returns to the ship unharmed because of successful operation of the anti-detection device they managed to create for that purpose.
praised The Invincible as "sf in the grand tradition," saying "The Science is hard. The descriptions are vivid and powerful."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel written by Stanisław Lem and published in 1964. It originally appeared as the title story in Lem's collection Niezwyciężony i inne opowiadania ("The Invincible and Other Stories"). A translation into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
was published in 1967; an English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation by Wendayne Ackerman of the German translation was published in 1973. It was one of the first novels to exploit the idea of micro-robots (somewhat similar to the concept of nanobots), artificial swarm intelligence
Swarm intelligence
Swarm intelligence is the collective behaviour of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence...
and "necroevolution", or evolution of non-living matter.
Plot summary
A powerful sublight interstellar space ship, a "class two cruiser" called Invincible, lands on the planet Regis III which seems uninhabited and bleak, to investigate the loss of sister shipSister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
, Condor. During the investigation, the crew finds evidence of a form of quasi-life, born through evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
of autonomous, self-replicating machine
Self-replicating machine
A self-replicating machine is an artificial construct that is theoretically capable of autonomously manufacturing a copy of itself using raw materials taken from its environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. The concept of self-replicating machines...
s, apparently left behind by an alien civilization that visited the planet a very long time ago. The evolution was controlled by "robot wars", and the only form that survived were swarms of minuscule, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
-like micromachines. Individually, or in small groups, they are quite harmless to humans and capable of only very simple behavior. However, when bothered, they can assemble into huge swarms displaying complex behavior arising from self-organization
Self-organization
Self-organization is the process where a structure or pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning...
, and are able to defeat an intruder by a powerful surge of EMI
Electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference is disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit...
. Some members of the spacecraft crew suffered a complete memory erasure as a consequence. Big clouds of "insects" are also able to travel at a high speed and even to climb to the top of troposphere. The angered crew attempts to fight the perceived enemy, but eventually recognizes the meaninglessness of their efforts in the most direct sense of the word. The robotic "fauna" has become part of the planet's ecology, and would require a disruption on planetary scale (such as a nuclear winter
Nuclear winter
Nuclear winter is a predicted climatic effect of nuclear war. It has been theorized that severely cold weather and reduced sunlight for a period of months or even years could be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapons, especially over flammable targets such as cities, where large...
) to be destroyed.
The novel turns into an analysis of the relationship between different life domains, and their place in the universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
. In particular, it is an imaginary experiment to demonstrate that evolution may not necessarily lead to dominance by intellectually superior life forms. The plot also involves a Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
-like dilemma, juxtaposing the values of humanity and the efficiency of mechanical insects. In the face of defeat and imminent withdrawal of The Invincible, Rohan, the spaceship's navigator, undertakes a trip into the 'enemy area' in search of 4 crew members who went missing in action — an attempt which he and captain Horpach see as probably futile, but necessary for moral reasons. Rohan struck into mountains covered by metallic "shrubs" and "insects" and found these crewmen dead. He gathers some evidence and returns to the ship unharmed because of successful operation of the anti-detection device they managed to create for that purpose.
Reception
Theodore SturgeonTheodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
praised The Invincible as "sf in the grand tradition," saying "The Science is hard. The descriptions are vivid and powerful."
Polish
- MON,Warszawa 1964, 1965
- Iskry, Warszawa 1982
- Interart, Warszawa 1995
- Nowa, Warszawa 1995
- Świat Książki, Warszawa 1997
English
- Seabury Press, New York, 1973
- Ace Books, New York, 1973, 1975
- Seabury Press, 1973
- Seabury Press, 1976
- Penguin Books, 1976
- Penguin Books, 1982 (with Tales of Pirx the PilotTales of Pirx the PilotStanisław Lem's Tales of Pirx the Pilot , published in Poland in 1968, and translated to English in two parts in 1979 and 1982, is a series of short stories about a spaceship pilot named Pirx...
and Return from the StarsReturn from the StarsReturn from the Stars is one of the better known science fiction novels of Stanisław Lem, the most famous Polish science-fiction author. Written in 1961, it revolves around the story of a cosmonaut returning to his homeworld, Earth, and finding it a completely different place than when he left....
)
External links
- Information about the novel on the website dedicated to Stanislaw Lem