Tales of Pirx the Pilot
Overview
Stanislav Lem's Tales of Pirx the Pilot are a series of short and somewhat comic stories about a pilot called Pirx.
Plot
The novel is set somewhere in the XXIst-XXIInd centuries, in a futuristic Occidental world (as opposed to a Communist Utopia where some of Lem's other novels take place) in which Mankind is starting to colonize the Solar System, and has some settlements on the Moon and Mars. Pirx is a cadet, a pilot, and finally a captain of merchant spaceship, and the stories relate his life and various things that happen to him during his travels between the Earth, Moon and Mars.
List of the stories
<<<< Warning: here be spoilers >>>>
- The Test - Pirx is a cadet and goes on his first real flight... at least he thinks so
- The Conditional Reflex - Pirx goes on the Far Side of the Moon for some practice, and...
- On Patrol - Pirx is now a Patrol Pilot
- The Albatross - Pirx is a helpless witness to a space disaster.
- Terminus - Never trust a machine...
- The Hunt - A robot goes deranged on the Moon. Only problem : it is armed...
- Pirx's Tale - Pirx encounters an unidentified E.T. object...
- The Accident - This one is actually set in a slightly different context, where interstellar flight is a reality. Pirx takes part in a survey of another Earth-like world.
- The Inquest - Probably the best story, a complex plot about the role of robots in our life.
- Ananke - Pirx is on Mars and witnesses a terrible accient of a brand new ship.
Note: While Fiasco also features Pilot Pirx, it is actually a separate novel.