Name: Robot
Rating: 3.5 (4 reviews)
ISBN: 9788374536660

Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg

Robot

Adam Wisniewski-Snerg

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

I seem to be on a Sci-fi kick. Its something about the confusion as to what’s going on and learning the internal workings of a whole new world. I found the first 60 pages of this pretty boring but after that it kicked into high gear with a fun world and campy characters. The plot keeps you on your toes having two mote questions crop up per one solved. The math and physics were hard to swallow sometimes, but if you just keep reading it eventually explains itself in plain terms. I thought the visits to the city of statues were kind of repetitive and boring and I tended to skim those chapters. When you get the twist of what has been happening in the background, that’s really fun. Lots of characters and it was surprisingly not hard to remember them. I actually did like that he was never too close to anyone and they would only interact briefly before going away again not to be mentioned again for another few chapters- it felt a little more realistic. It’s kind of like how friendship’s work on a college campus. The second to last chapter felt really boring after the previous chapters had been so exciting. It pivots to a more philosophical conversation that feels pretty rudimentary but goes on forever. There’s no excitement because the characters hardly ever disagree with each other and when they do it’s not for that long. There’s also some attempt at social commentary that feels a little lack-luster. The last chapter was kind of a bummer ending. Nothing felt all too complete for me. Overall, I really enjoyed it. I thought the story was very innovative and creative. I thought all the characters were enjoyable and so was the acute oddness of the world. 

Robot

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