I recently played the video game adaptation of this, and when I was done I still had so many questions that I knew I needed to read the book.
I still have so many questions and I am learning to embrace that that is quite literally the point. This book was such a great exploration of the need to understand coupled with ego.
The massive space ship, the Invincible, and its team lands on a planet called Regis III with a goal to find and save the last team that went missing here, the Condor. Within days they find The Condor abandoned, completely wrecked in ways they can’t explain, and the entire team dead along with numerous other anomalies. Life on Regis III is also non-existent which is odd for a planet comprised of all the things necessary for life to grow.
After an encounter with a large and strange cloud of “flies” that leaves team members alive but losing all functions of their brain, the scientists begin to theorize about necro-evolution — the evolution of non-living entities.
Lem does a great job making the in-depth science that goes into understanding new discoveries feel approachable. I felt like I was there on Regis III experiencing these anomalies alongside, Rohan, the story’s protagonist and lead navigator
of the Invincible.
Rohan is this avenue for connection to the complex, and the perfect person to sympathize with as he struggles with the thought of how much loss is worth the “win” of returning home with a tangible discovery and explanation for everything that has occurred.
