The first English-language publication of one of the greatest Polish science fiction novels of all time

'We have given you life ... so that you could discover a fraction of the great secret.'

Is BER-66 a human or a robot? His controllers, known as 'the Mechanism,' tell him he is a living machine, programmed to gather information on the inhabitants of the strange underground world he finds himself in. But as he penetrates its tunnels and locked rooms, encountering mysterious doppelgangers and a petrified city, he comes closer to the truth of his existence. Considered one of the most important Polish science fiction novels of all time, Robot is a haunting philosophical enquiry into the nature of our reality and our place in the universe.

'An instant classic which catapulted Snerg to the rank of Poland's best sf authors' Science Fiction Encyclopedia

About the Author
Adam Wisniewski-Snerg (1937-95) was born on the outskirts of Warsaw. His science fiction writing is largely focused around the consequences of totalitarianism. Although largely unread during his lifetime, after his suicide in 1995 his work began to receive major critical attention. He is now considered to be, along with Stanislaw Lem, one of Poland's greatest science fiction writers.

Reviews
Robot's technical proficiency and ontological ambitions could be compared to those of Lem at his best, and its author, like Lem, considered himself less an sf writer than a prose-writing philosopher of metaphysical inclinations. With its powerful vision of a society of slaves controlled and abused by a mysterious Mechanism and a stimulating theory of Superbeings, Robot was almost immediately recognized as an instant classic which catapulted Snerg to the rank of Poland's best sf authors * Science Fiction Encyclopedia *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241485118
Author Adam Wisniewski-Snerg
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 196g
Dimensions(mm) 181mm * 111mm * 19mm