The Invincible
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- Create Date：2021-09-05 09:53:27
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Stanisław Lem
- ISBN：0262538474
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Summary
A space cruiser， in search of its sister ship， encounters beings descended from self-replicating machines。
In the grand tradition of H。 G。 Wells and Jules Verne， Stanislaw Lem's The Invincible tells the story of a space cruiser sent to an obscure planet to determine the fate of a sister spaceship whose communication with Earth has abruptly ceased。 Landing on the planet Regis III， navigator Rohan and his crew discover a form of life that has apparently evolved from autonomous， self-replicating machines--perhaps the survivors of a "robot war。" Rohan and his men are forced to confront the classic quandary: what course of action can humanity take once it has reached the limits of its knowledge？ In The Invincible， Lem has his characters confront the inexplicable and the bizarre: the problem that lies just beyond analytical reach。
In the grand tradition of H。 G。 Wells and Jules Verne， Stanislaw Lem's The Invincible tells the story of a space cruiser sent to an obscure planet to determine the fate of a sister spaceship whose communication with Earth has abruptly ceased。 Landing on the planet Regis III， navigator Rohan and his crew discover a form of life that has apparently evolved from autonomous， self-replicating machines--perhaps the survivors of a "robot war。" Rohan and his men are forced to confront the classic quandary: what course of action can humanity take once it has reached the limits of its knowledge？ In The Invincible， Lem has his characters confront the inexplicable and the bizarre: the problem that lies just beyond analytical reach。
Reviews
Jim
，
Another great sci-fi novel from Stanisław Lem， The Invincible posits a form of life very different from what we manage the beings in UFOs to be like。 The ship Invincible lands on a planet called Regis III in search of an earlier ship that was lost。 It turns out that the planet is infested with non-organic creatures like insects made of metal that attack in a swarm like a black cloud with black rain。 I have always thought that， if life exists on other planets， it will be not at all like what we a Another great sci-fi novel from Stanisław Lem， The Invincible posits a form of life very different from what we manage the beings in UFOs to be like。 The ship Invincible lands on a planet called Regis III in search of an earlier ship that was lost。 It turns out that the planet is infested with non-organic creatures like insects made of metal that attack in a swarm like a black cloud with black rain。 I have always thought that， if life exists on other planets， it will be not at all like what we are used to finding on earth。 Fortunately， Lem has the imagination to go well beyond our Terran expectations。 An excellent book。 。。。more
Marek Narozniak
，
If you like to know how people imagined the future of space exploration without overwhelming presence of computers， this book is definitely for you。 It also touches some pretty deep philosophical matters of evolution。
Chen Qiangpan
，
具有推理色彩的小说，属于莱姆早期作品（1962），这部的莱姆写作色彩（超脱叙事的思辨）并不是很强，反倒是更近似于传统的科幻范式，战斗场面极为刺激，难怪要改编成电子游戏了！结尾处主角孤身一人探索异星，其他船员在飞船等待的设定，令人不禁联想未来的作品。在这里，人性依然没有完全癫狂，希望还蕴含在人的能动性之中。
Warszawiak1917
，
Stanisław Lem’s Niezwyciężony from 1964， translated to English as “The Invincible” （though it can also be rendered as “The Undefeated”）， is yet another masterpiece of science-fiction from one of Poland’s best authors。 It is in some ways an easier read than Lem’s earlier Solaris and could even be adapted into an explosive blockbuster movie; it features in-depth descriptions of space exploration technology of the distant future， weapons of immense force and destruction， battles fit for an epic spa Stanisław Lem’s Niezwyciężony from 1964， translated to English as “The Invincible” （though it can also be rendered as “The Undefeated”）， is yet another masterpiece of science-fiction from one of Poland’s best authors。 It is in some ways an easier read than Lem’s earlier Solaris and could even be adapted into an explosive blockbuster movie; it features in-depth descriptions of space exploration technology of the distant future， weapons of immense force and destruction， battles fit for an epic space opera， etc。 However， even here there is a much deeper theme interwoven within the narrative （along with plenty of actual science， as is to be expected from the author）。Questions about humanity’s place in the cosmos， as well as regarding our relationship with different domains of both natural and synthetic life， are posed to the reader via the thought processes of the protagonist and discussions between other characters as they try to deal with never before encountered phenomena on an alien planet。 Niezwyciężony was one of the first novels on Earth to have dealt with new topics like artificial swarm intelligence and microrobotics， plus it put forward the fascinating idea of “necroevolution” or “dead evolution” – the process of evolution for non-living matter。 Many other interesting concepts are explored within this book too。Despite its smart and often scientifically sound content， this story is also more accessible than Solaris thanks to the aforementioned elements of fast-paced action。 Perhaps this results in a somewhat more conventional novel， but Lem’s conventions are pretty unconventional and original to begin with。 In many aspects， Niezwyciężony was ahead of its time。 The first few pages reminded me greatly of Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien， when the vessel’s crew gradually wake from their slumber as the ship’s systems bring it all to life， but Lem’s creation came more than 15 years before the cinematic masterwork based on Dan O'Bannon’s script！ Some minor similarities to Scott’s later work can also be found。However， Lem speaks of extra-terrestrial places， creatures， and events in a much more profound manner than most other works of sci-fi could even aspire to。 Personally I can only speak for the original Polish language version when I say that it is written excellently and grips your full attention throughout。 An English translation of Niezwyciężony by Wendayne Ackerman was published in 1973， but it was based on the German version。 For a read closer and truer to the original， I would recommend the more recent direct translation （from Polish to English） by Bill Johnston。 。。。more
Intruder
，
9/10 - rewelacyjna。
Jerzy Baranowski
，
Po „Niezwyciężonego” sięgnąłem za namową @duzo3tam z IG。 I na razie zrobie sobie odpoczynek od Lema ;） Generalnie moje standardowe problemy dalej są。 We wszystkich książkach Lema， które dotąd czytałem bohater jest mniej lub bardziej biernym obserwatorem a nie aktorem kształtującym historię。 Fabuła jest potencjalnie ciekawa， ale znowu ahistorycznie z mojej strony， dla czytelnika z 2021 niespecjalnie oryginalna。 Nie mówiąc już o tym， że wiedza dotycząca techniki i AI posunęła się na tyle daleko od Po „Niezwyciężonego” sięgnąłem za namową @duzo3tam z IG。 I na razie zrobie sobie odpoczynek od Lema ;） Generalnie moje standardowe problemy dalej są。 We wszystkich książkach Lema， które dotąd czytałem bohater jest mniej lub bardziej biernym obserwatorem a nie aktorem kształtującym historię。 Fabuła jest potencjalnie ciekawa， ale znowu ahistorycznie z mojej strony， dla czytelnika z 2021 niespecjalnie oryginalna。 Nie mówiąc już o tym， że wiedza dotycząca techniki i AI posunęła się na tyle daleko od czasów Lema， ze pewne pomysły nie zestarzały się za dobrze。 Co do czytania to początek jest mocno nieprzystępny （pierwszy rozdział zwłaszcza） ale potem się rozkręca。 Na koniec co do wydania z @wydawnictwoliterackie okładka super， blurb makabrycznie spoilerujący。 Książkę kończy posłowie Jerzego Jarzębskiego， które nie wiele wnosi dla odbioru całej książki。 Jeśli ktoś lubi Lema to pewnie się spodoba。 Ja nie powiem ze to zła książka ale mnie nie urzekła。 。。。more
Wombatz2
，
90% of reading this is yelling “what are you doing？！” at it
Zach
，
Pretty much full-fledged action as far as Lem's novels go， The Invincible is still freaking awesome。 A serious page turner （perhaps the final scene in which Rohan descends into the ravine is a little drawn out）， and not without Lem's typical ponderous undertones。There's not much I can say because the real pleasure in this one is discovering the mysteries of Regis III along with the crew of Invincible。 But by god， Lem's musings on evolution and machines are just too good， and the way he delivers Pretty much full-fledged action as far as Lem's novels go， The Invincible is still freaking awesome。 A serious page turner （perhaps the final scene in which Rohan descends into the ravine is a little drawn out）， and not without Lem's typical ponderous undertones。There's not much I can say because the real pleasure in this one is discovering the mysteries of Regis III along with the crew of Invincible。 But by god， Lem's musings on evolution and machines are just too good， and the way he delivers this iteration of the overarching thought experiment that spans his body of work 。 。 。 well it's nothing short of masterful， insofar as I can presume the merit of the Polish。 I mean that cloud！ That's some scary shit。 But it all just kind of makes sense。 Inanimate you say。 。 。 。 but how 。 。 。 how do we 。 。 ？ It's useless， we'll never understand。 Fire。 And I love this cover art。 Good shit。 I'm super grateful that Bill Johnston's translation from the Polish was released in print （unlike his new translation of Solaris， which remains only available in digital or audio format） because of how critical Lem was of the broken telephone translations of Solaris （Polish to French to English） and The Invincible （Polish to German to English）。 Really I'm shocked publishers would do that; you inevitably lose who even knows how much in translation。 And Lem's writing， with his playful idioms and unavoidable neologisms， is already notoriously difficult to translate。 So thank you Bill。 But while Bill Johnston's translation is surely a significant improvement in terms of staying true to the Polish， this edition is crying for a strong editor to make it shine。 The copyright page credited Lem's son as the proofreader 。 。 。 like okay， that's cool I guess， but I'm sorry， the proofreading was awful。 There is a huge number of typos in this edition， and besides the translation was often quite clunky， like Johnston's frequent use of "the latter" when referring to only one person。 Overall these are minor issues， as the pages all but turned themselves in my reading， but there is a glaring need for improvement。All said， another stellar piece from my main man Lem。 And not to mention scary， brrr （'__'） But should we really be scared？ 。。。more
David
，
3
Hope Watson
，
A solid classic scifi story with the usual classic scifi silly stuff like technology way beyond what we can probably hope to achieve in centuries but they still use microfilm and develop photographs。 Also not a lot of character development， no lady characters out of over 100 people on this mission， not even thoughts of wives or whatnot back home。 That stuff's normal though for the time and I'm getting used to it I think。The ideas， like any good classic， are pretty interesting and unique for the A solid classic scifi story with the usual classic scifi silly stuff like technology way beyond what we can probably hope to achieve in centuries but they still use microfilm and develop photographs。 Also not a lot of character development， no lady characters out of over 100 people on this mission， not even thoughts of wives or whatnot back home。 That stuff's normal though for the time and I'm getting used to it I think。The ideas， like any good classic， are pretty interesting and unique for the time。 You mostly follow one man on this mission with a large crew of specialists and scientists as they try to determine what could have happened to their sister ship on a seemingly lifeless planet。 What they find there horrifies them and defies all of their expectations。 I thought I had it all figured out in the beginning but was pleasantly surprised to see that it went in a little different of a direction than I thought it would。 The beginning and the end lag a little but it was pretty exciting with some nice scifi horror elements and themes on the nature of intelligence。 。。。more
Piky
，
Lectura muy recomendable si te gusta la ciencia ficción y explorar planetas en apariencia inhabitados。
César Niño Rey
，
Escrita en plena madurez， «El invencible» （1964） es otro ejemplo de la brillantez y la voz singularísima de Stanislaw Lem （1921-2006）。 También del potencial inmenso de la ciencia ficción para combinar la aventura y la metafísica， la especulación científica y el asombro， la poesía y la materia。
Jakub Balawejder
，
Ta książka nie ma żadnych wad。 Jest krótka， a przy tym treściwa。 Fabuła świetna， pewnie trzeba trochę siedzieć w temacie， choć opisy różnych pojazdów i technologii działają na wyobraźnię bardzo pobudzająco。 Język Lema jest naprawdę bardzo plastyczny i obrazowy。 Dostałem tę książkę 9 lat temu od mojego ś。p。 dziadka i dopiero teraz ją przeczytałem od deski do deski。 Wspaniała przygoda， gorąco polecam jako lekturę dla odpoczynku， ale przy okazji nie jest to lektura banalna。
Luca Mirenda
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Non è così invincibile
MateuszCh
，
Satyra z epopei kosmicznych z dodatkiem pięknych opisów oraz wątkiem filozoficznym， który bawi i skłania do refleksji。
Miruna
，
Wow， what a read！ I enjoyed The Invincible a lot！
Cafonso
，
Golden years of scifi！
Francisco Noct
，
El Invencible， un crucero de segunda clase —la mayor de las naves de las que disponía la base en la constelación de Lira—， avanzaba a propulsión fotónica por el cuadrante más alejado de la galaxia。 Los ochenta y tres miembros de la tripulación dormían en el hibernador de la cubierta principal。 Como la travesía era relativamente corta， en lugar de la hibernación total se había optado por un sueño profundo en el que la temperatura del cuerpo no descendía por debajo de los diez grados。 En el puente El Invencible， un crucero de segunda clase —la mayor de las naves de las que disponía la base en la constelación de Lira—， avanzaba a propulsión fotónica por el cuadrante más alejado de la galaxia。 Los ochenta y tres miembros de la tripulación dormían en el hibernador de la cubierta principal。 Como la travesía era relativamente corta， en lugar de la hibernación total se había optado por un sueño profundo en el que la temperatura del cuerpo no descendía por debajo de los diez grados。 En el puente de mando solo trabajaban autómatas。 En su campo de visión， en el retículo del visor， se encontraba el disco de un sol no mucho más cálido que una simple enana roja。 Cuando su circunferencia ocupó la mitad de la superficie de la pantalla， la reacción de aniquilación fue detenida。 Durante unos instantes， una calma chicha se apoderó de toda la nave。 Los climatizadores y las máquinas de computación trabajaban en silencio。 Cesó cualquier vibración， por ligerísima que fuera， de las que acompañaban poco antes a la emisión en la parte de popa del chorro de luz que a modo de espada de una infinita longitud atravesaba las tinieblas propulsando la nave。 El Invencible， inerte， silencioso y aparentemente vacío， avanzaba a una velocidad estable， cercana a la de la luz。Más tarde， las luces empezaron a intercambiar pequeños guiños desde los cuadros de mando， bañados por el rosáceo resplandor del lejano sol que aparecía en la pantalla central。 Las cintas ferromagnéticas se pusieron en marcha， los programas fueron reptando poco a poco hacia el interior de los diferentes aparatos， los conmutadores soltaron chispas y la electricidad corrió por los circuitos con un zumbido que nadie alcanzó a oír。 Los motores eléctricos， venciendo la resistencia de lubricantes solidificados hacía ya mucho tiempo， arrancaron y pasaron de un sonido bajo a un agudo gemido。 Las barras mates de cadmio asomaron desde los reactores auxiliares， las bombas magnéticas bombeaban sodio líquido en la serpentina del sistema de refrigeración， recorrió las planchas de las cubiertas de popa una vibración， y al mismo tiempo， se pudo escuchar un ligero crujido en el interior de las paredes， como si camparan a sus anchas manadas enteras de pequeños animales que golpeaban con sus garras el metal。 Todo indicaba que los autorreparadores móviles ya habían empezado una ronda de varios kilómetros para comprobar el estado de todas las soldaduras de las vigas， la hermeticidad del casco， la integridad del ensamblaje metálico。 La nave entera se iba llenando de ruidos y de movimiento， iba despertando， y únicamente la tripulación seguía durmiendo 。。。more
David
，
This was a pretty good short novel about a starship crew from Earth that arrives on a distant planet to find out what happened to the last ship that was sent there。I was a tense mystery on a dangerous planet。My only gripe was maybe that it was told in a fairly disconnected voice—doing a great deal of telling rather than showing， at least for about half the novel。 Eventually a couple characters emerged and actual scenes developed。 Otherwise it was just a narrator explaining everything。
Ihor Kolesnyk
，
Цю книгу прочитав ще у школі。 Можливо у молодших класах - точно не скажу， але враження залишила дуже сильні - науково-фантастичний трилер-горор， у якому розум всетаки проявив власну силу пояснення。 Це зараз я можу сказати， що у світі сконструйованому Лемом， Лем же і визначає відповідність фактів цілого всесвіту інтерпретації його персонажів。 У постнекласичному всесвіті науки， залишу за собою право визначати і залишати різні формати прочитання цієї книги。
Israel Guilló
，
Una de las mejores historias de "primer contacto" que he leído。 Dentro de la ciencia ficción este subgénero， si es que se le puede llamar así， me fascina。 Solaris es， además， uno de mis libros favoritos。 Y éste no le anda a la zaga。 La verdad es que es una historia muy oscura， con una serie de ideas que te vuelan la cabeza y tan bien contada como en Lem es habitual。 Me parece infinitamente mejor que la mayoría de novelas de ciencia ficción que se publican en la actualidad y con tan sólo 200 pági Una de las mejores historias de "primer contacto" que he leído。 Dentro de la ciencia ficción este subgénero， si es que se le puede llamar así， me fascina。 Solaris es， además， uno de mis libros favoritos。 Y éste no le anda a la zaga。 La verdad es que es una historia muy oscura， con una serie de ideas que te vuelan la cabeza y tan bien contada como en Lem es habitual。 Me parece infinitamente mejor que la mayoría de novelas de ciencia ficción que se publican en la actualidad y con tan sólo 200 páginas: no hace falta una trilogía para contar una buena historia de ciencia ficción。 。。。more
Vladimir
，
нихуевый у вас сайфай тут такой
Cecilia Lazzaroni
，
Lirico。 L'impatto dell'uomo sul/sui pianeti。La relazione uomo - macchina e l'evoluzione dell'intelligenza artificiale。La resa dell'uomo come speranza。Molto chiaro soprattutto in luce del monologo di Rohan sull'inutilità della conquista。 Lirico。 L'impatto dell'uomo sul/sui pianeti。La relazione uomo - macchina e l'evoluzione dell'intelligenza artificiale。La resa dell'uomo come speranza。Molto chiaro soprattutto in luce del monologo di Rohan sull'inutilità della conquista。 。。。more
Aleksander Nowinski
，
No kurczę， niby taki klasyk a tak dobrze wchodzi。 Czytałem już chyba ze dwa razy， ale ponad dwadzieścia lat temu więc postanowiłem sobie przypomnieć。 Trochę inna forma （tym razem audiobook - konieczność ze względu na długie spacery z covidowym pieskiem） pomogła mi pogłębić lekturę。 Muszę przyznać， że niektóre opisy serwowane przez Lema， jak choćby cała początkowa sekwencja lądowania "Niezwyciężonego" są po prostu fascynujące， zarówno plastycznością obrazu jak i złożonością opisu technicznego （ch No kurczę， niby taki klasyk a tak dobrze wchodzi。 Czytałem już chyba ze dwa razy， ale ponad dwadzieścia lat temu więc postanowiłem sobie przypomnieć。 Trochę inna forma （tym razem audiobook - konieczność ze względu na długie spacery z covidowym pieskiem） pomogła mi pogłębić lekturę。 Muszę przyznać， że niektóre opisy serwowane przez Lema， jak choćby cała początkowa sekwencja lądowania "Niezwyciężonego" są po prostu fascynujące， zarówno plastycznością obrazu jak i złożonością opisu technicznego （choć nieco trącącego myszką）。To co mnie zaskoczyło， a przeoczyłem wcześniej， to widać， że Lem （pisał zresztą tę książkę w Zakopanem） wyraźnie znał się na wspinaczce， a niektóre fragmenty， zwłaszcza ostatniej części， ewidentnie odnoszą się do popularnych w owym czasie technik wspinaczkowych - takich jak zjazd w kluczu， dziś zastąpiony zmyślnymi patentowymi dynksami。Jednocześnie sam pomysł - trudno o nim mówić nie spojlerując potężnie - kiedy zastanowić się przez chwilę， jest ciągle genialny。 Inspirowane nim pomysły na konstrukcje robotów wciąż są podejmowane z coraz większym powodzeniem， choć miejmy nadzieję， że ostatecznie nie uda się stworzyć tego， co opisuje Lem。 。。。more
Przemek
，
sci fi ok， ale jednak mało epickie w porównaniu do innych współczesnych。 Książka jest skromna : ）
Dzmitry Yashyn
，
Человечество ожидает увидеть жизнь на других планетах в привычных ему формах， но что если она окажется не биологической？ Нужно ли уничтожать то， что мы не можем понять и что несет нам угрозу или стоит принять эту сущность какой она есть и не мешать ей существовать дальше？ Человек будет достоен космоса， только когда перестанет мнить себя центром Вселенной。 Обожаю Лема за то， что заставляет задумываться над подобными вопросами。 Эта книга - очень классный триллер， который держит саспиенс и， при это Человечество ожидает увидеть жизнь на других планетах в привычных ему формах， но что если она окажется не биологической？ Нужно ли уничтожать то， что мы не можем понять и что несет нам угрозу или стоит принять эту сущность какой она есть и не мешать ей существовать дальше？ Человек будет достоен космоса， только когда перестанет мнить себя центром Вселенной。 Обожаю Лема за то， что заставляет задумываться над подобными вопросами。 Эта книга - очень классный триллер， который держит саспиенс и， при этом， является примером очень качественной научной фантастики。 。。。more
Milena
，
I enjoyed this story but felt like it ended before it should have。
Noah Goats
，
This is an awesome science fiction novel。 If you ask me， Lem was the greatest science fiction novelist of the 1950s and 60s， and his books tend to hold up remarkably well。 He excels at stories about humans discovering new worlds with strange life forms。 I won't ruin the plot of this one by saying anything about the lifeform in this book， but its a cool one。In some ways this novel is similar to Lem's novel Solaris， with humans trying to understand the alien that confronts them。 It has much of Sol This is an awesome science fiction novel。 If you ask me， Lem was the greatest science fiction novelist of the 1950s and 60s， and his books tend to hold up remarkably well。 He excels at stories about humans discovering new worlds with strange life forms。 I won't ruin the plot of this one by saying anything about the lifeform in this book， but its a cool one。In some ways this novel is similar to Lem's novel Solaris， with humans trying to understand the alien that confronts them。 It has much of Solaris's eerie sense of the unknown and the mysterious， but it packs much more excitement into the plot。 。。。more
MrJohann06
，
*mild spoilers*Read today this is a fantasticly "retro" sci-fi of the genre: land space ship on planet， meet danger， lose most of the crew figuring out what's going on。The book is famous is some quarters for the ideas around robots being able to evolve but for a 60s book Lem also does a great job of envisenging how remote drones might work alongside AI robots and interact with humans。The alien concepts are nicely alien （rather than just bug eyed） and the book touches on a philosophical idea that *mild spoilers*Read today this is a fantasticly "retro" sci-fi of the genre: land space ship on planet， meet danger， lose most of the crew figuring out what's going on。The book is famous is some quarters for the ideas around robots being able to evolve but for a 60s book Lem also does a great job of envisenging how remote drones might work alongside AI robots and interact with humans。The alien concepts are nicely alien （rather than just bug eyed） and the book touches on a philosophical idea that in some cases it would be best for humans to leave something well alone and that the quest for knowledge may be of too great a risk to ourselves but more importantly to another race of beings。Crew interactions are at times a little "Star Trek" （Pro or con， you decide！）。 。。。more
Ritz
，
A foray into a classic sci-fi novel by one of the seminal authors of the genre。 My first read of Stanislaw Lem's works and was something I was definitely looking forward to given Lem's novels are frequently touted as shining examples of Hard sci-fi， of which I am a particularly big fan。 That said， as the rating to the book exemplifies， The Invincible did not strike me as the best sci-fi I've read but it was certainly an interesting read with portions of genuine intrigue and engagement。One of the A foray into a classic sci-fi novel by one of the seminal authors of the genre。 My first read of Stanislaw Lem's works and was something I was definitely looking forward to given Lem's novels are frequently touted as shining examples of Hard sci-fi， of which I am a particularly big fan。 That said， as the rating to the book exemplifies， The Invincible did not strike me as the best sci-fi I've read but it was certainly an interesting read with portions of genuine intrigue and engagement。One of the less consequential but still noteworthy aspects is the fact that the lead character has an Indian origin name 'Rohan' which came a surprise， and a welcome one at that。 Following through with that statement， it has to be said that the name did not beget any characterization that would seem unique to Indians， meaning all the thoughts and actions of this character would have been fully plausible with a name derived from any other part of the world - and all the better for it because we need far future sci-fi to grow beyond the cultural attributes and indeed restraints that separate us today。 Rohan is the only character aside from perhaps the Captain who is explored， a lot of the story is channeled through Rohan's eyes and we do get an inside look into his head， but the lack of a backstory or history to the character certainly prevents him from being fully realised imo。 All the other characters each have a unique name but for all intents and purposes are endlessly interchangeable。Evolution is in itself a fascinating idea and its extrapolation to the progression of life of an alien robot species creates an enthralling concept at the heart of the novel。 There is delightful inevitability to the implications that blurs the line between what we conceive of as "natural" life and machine intelligence。 This is where the book serves a lot of food for thought in its pondering of evolution of life on an alien planet - highlighting just how little we know and can even assume to know about a species that is fundamentally different from anything that we have known， and the morality of our actions towards policing（read destroying） such creatures。 The book sustains the underlying suspense of the native inhabitants of the planet up until the halfway point， but post that， once the initial theories on the nature of the creatures are revealed， surprisingly instead of any further game changing revelations， the story contents itself with confirming the previously suggested hypotheses， which while not an issue from a plot standpoint， certainly affects the draw of the book in its final chapters。 It loses the suspense that was propelling the plot forward， especially exemplified by the final chapter in which Rohan goes on a solitary mission to attempt to save some of the members of the ship。 This is the longest chapter I think and sheds very little light on what we already knew。 Additionally， the last pages of the novel have Rohan remarking on the invincibility of his home spaceship， glorifying the unimpeachable might of the human race， which seemed like an odd note to end the book on， given how formidable the native life form was identified to be。Lastly， emblematic of the sci-fi prevalent in the 60s， there isnt a single female character in the book and its certainly affected by it。 Character interactions might have benefitted far more with the diversity， but well atleast this is something that is definitely getting better。 All in all， The Invincible is an engaging hard sci-fi novel that has an interesting premise but could have used better characters and denouement。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Invincible
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Invincible&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Invincible&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0