MASCARA

Exquisitely refined, profound, and original, the stories collected in *The Mask* reveal Lem at the height of his powers. He is a writer of the highest order ... a cult figure worthy of a place in the pantheon of modern literature, transcending genres and labels. *Mask* brings together thirteen stories by the Polish science fiction master Stanislaw Lem, recovered for the *Los Aerolitos* collection. Written over the course of a lifetime and never before anthologized, these tales showcase Lem at his best: radical, visionary, irreverent, and fiercely intelligent ... the Lem of *Solaris* and *A Perfect Vacuum*. The volume offers immense diversity: from the humorous, grotesque alien-invasion parody "The Invasion from Aldebaran," through the feverish delirium of "The Rat in the Labyrinth" and the dark nightmare of "Mold and Darkness," to the collection...s centerpiece ... the complex, philosophical title story "The Mask," which tells of an artificial intelligence seeking to escape its destiny and exercise it free will.