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Title: Brilliant but Boring
Review: In reading His Master's Voice at times the reader should be staggered by the powerful intellect of the author. Lem's understanding of psychology, and philosophy are greater than his considerable scientific knowledge. As an unorthodox textbook on those first two subjects I would recommend this book. As a Sci-Fi novel, however, I think it falls flat. There just isn't enough entertainment value in His Master's Voice to make it worth your while.I regret saying this because the laugh, ultimately, is on me. It seems obvious throughout the book that one of it's main purposes is to satirize "Western" Sci-Fi as mindless escapism. Lem was often critical of popular Sci-Fi authors and their readers for not using the genre to create stories that ask deeper questions and created a more meaningful culture around them. By declaring this book, "not entertaining enough" I'm only proving him right.Sorry Lem.
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