This was a fiasco of a read. Well, not that bad. But in the end i was not satisfied with this book. Which is often considered to be Lem’s one of the best. I guess based on the overarching idea of humanity not being ready or able to communicate with a completely different form of living/intellectual life forms as compared to humans. That idea is being bashed to your head very actively and i would say too much. But my main gripe with this book was the overall disjointment of its parts and questionable story lines and characters. I got stuck really quick with this book while reading the first part on Titan and i just don’t get it why it was there and why it was so long and why Titan’s icy valleys had to be described in so many boring details. I have read in English, maybe i have missed some nuance, but i don’t get it. Then there is again a strange plot angle with reviving some folks. As i have read one critic on the internet, it doesn’t seem plausible that a very important and expensive expedition to another star system would halt to revive some unknown person, who also might not have any memory in the process. It’s like author haven’t come up with any better way to tie in a shadow of a character from the first part into continuation of the story. And it is not like this character was that important to the whole story. And then the expedition to that system with probable civilization. This is where it starts to get more interesting, although again, some say all the gravitational tech described is complete fantasy. But as i am not a scientist, i bought it and it sounded interesting enough. Also, it was interesting to read about challenges dealing with onboard AI, in the light of all the AI craze in our world now. There were points where it seemed like arguing with ChatGPT and dealing with its hallucinations. The last part with alien civilization and their planet was alright i guess. At that point i started to feel that we will never actually get to see or interact with actual aliens. The whole thing with humans trying to force communication at all costs is although somewhat expected, but for the most part not very believable, especially with blowing up stuff and the last pages of the book. Ending also felt abrupt and i had to reread it a few times and go to the internet to confirm i got it right. Not a satisfying ending (not because of what happened, but how it was presented, written). And not a really satisfying read. 6/10