Solaris Author Stanislaw Lem, 84, Dies in Krakow

A writer of comical as well as morally and philosophically complex science fiction, the Polish author Stanislaw Lem gave the world books that stand comparison with those of Phillip K. Dick and William Gibson.

He stopped writing sci-fi in 1989 after the collapse of communism, turning instead to a more overtly political form of speculative writing, one in which he attempted to predict the near futures of governments and massive organisations or institutions. One of Lem's key interests, and a subject of many of his latter essays, was the internet's (apparent) democracy and the ethical puzzle posed by the web's seemingly unstoppable, unchecked expansion.

The novel Solaris was probably Lem's most famous work in the West, due in part to the Tarkovsky film version of 1971 but probably more so to Soderbergh's 2002 interpretation. Incredibly, all three iterations of the story offer their own unique wonders, the best of each version appreciated that bit more when one is familiar with it's brothers. This is a strange relationship for an adapted book to have with the films that it triggers, but then, so few books are turned into such strong films as Solaris has been - which is precisely because so few films are based upon books as rich in possibilty and inspiration as Lem's Solaris.

Nobody has yet filmed Lem's Cyberiad stories, so I'm afraid you'll actually have to read them. You won't regret it.