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Invincible Ignorance: Some thoughts on Stanislaw Lem's The Invincible and Solaris

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I just finished Stanislaw Lem’s novel, The Invincible (1964) and thought it might be interesting to compare it briefly to his better-known Solaris (1961). This is not a book review. Nor is it an academic essay. What follows are simply some (hopefully) coherent thoughts on the nature of – and the relationship between – the two works … On one level, the two books have much in common. Both begin with human beings encountering an alien intelligence that they are ultimately unable to fathom. In both texts, Lem is interested in the limitations of the human mind; particularly in the perils of anthropomorphism. Humans have a tendency to interpret the unknown in terms that are familiar. That tendency is, however, often an impediment to genuine understanding. In Solaris , the alien in question is actually the titular planet’s living ocean; an intelligence so radically different than anything human beings have ever encountered that a century of scientific study and exploration has produced litt...
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"A World of Wonder" and Top Shelf Literary Magazine

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  I mentioned a few posts ago how exciting it was to have one's work published in a particular venue for the first time. Well, it's even more exciting when your work is selected for the inaugural issue of an entirely new publication. My story, A World of Wonder , appears this month in the first-ever issue of Top Shelf Literary Magazine . I must say, the magazine itself looks great. As for my contribution ... it's a Don Quixote inspired tale that plays with the idea that the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance may have been right after all. His neighbors, maybe, are the ones deluded about the nature of the world around them. Check it out and enjoy the other stories as well. There are some very, very good ones. 
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Solaristics: A Tentative Bibliography (Based on Stanislaw Lem's Solaris)

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Jorge Luis Borges famously stated that it was far better to pretend that long books already existed than it was to actually write them. In his classic 1961 novel, Solaris , Sci-Fi author Stanislaw Lem seems to have taken Borges’ advice. In the book, the psychologist Kris Kelvin spends a great deal of time in the station library consulting texts and notes in an effort to understand – and perhaps even communicate with – the titular ocean planet. Tracking those materials is, to me, one of the most entertaining elements about the novel.  (The world-building in the novel is not accomplished by narrating physical exploration of Solaris but rather by citing -- fictional -- texts which detail the findings of such exploration. An interesting, even post-modern, idea.) I thought it might be amusing, therefore, to start a bibliography of materials consulted and/or referenced by Kelvin in his research. I’m sure that I haven’t managed to list all of them so … anyone reading this is welcome to ...
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"Venous" and Weird Plants ... with a little Lovecraft thrown in for good measure

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Venous , a story of mine about a botanist who brings a plant specimen back from an Amazonian expedition has just been published as an Editor’s Choice selection on Freedom Fiction Journal . Without giving too much away, let’s just say, that the aforementioned plant has a mind of its own. (The illustration that accompanies the story is fabulous.) Although “Venous” has a decidedly Lovecraftian feel, the more proximate inspiration was the book, Weird Plants by botanist Chris Thorogood. The author catalogs an amazing array of unusual and downright outré plants from around the world. In fact, the places where many of these specimens can be found are as exotic as the plants themselves. The suggestive manner in which Thorogood classifies the plants in his book gives you a sense of their characteristics even before you begin reading – Vampires, Killers, Fraudsters, Accomplices, Jailors, Hitchhikers and Survivors. Those with – and without – green thumbs should enjoy both my story and Thoro...
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Master Muraabi & The Mirror (Original Short Fiction)

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  Master Muraabi and The Mirror by James C. Clar © 2026 “… the visible universe is an illusion … Mirrors  and fatherhood are hateful because they multiply  and proclaim it.”  Jorge Luis Borges* Master Muraabi always held that mirrors were an abomination. In addition to “abetting” one’s vanity, he frequently expressed the belief that reality was nothing more than an illusion to be overcome. As such, mirrors were to be abhorred since they “multiplied and sustained that illusion infinitely.” It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Master Muraabi had all mirrors removed from his estate when he took possession of the property. It was not, of course, possible to cleanse the premises of all reflective surfaces, how could it be? Nevertheless, the master’s ban extended to all objects whose express purpose was to allow one to gaze at one’s image or which, in his judgment, multiplied the physical surroundings of (or objects in) a room to an “unreasonable or unseemly de...
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The Strange Tale of Drs. Tumblety & Blackburn (Exterminating Angel Magazine Summer 2026)

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It’s always exciting to have one’s work appear in a new venue. I’m proud that the summer edition of Exterminating Angel Magazine includes my story, The Strange Tale of Drs. Tumblety and Blackburn . Tumblety and Blackburn were very strange characters indeed and it occurred to me that their stories were ripe for some creative intervention. Both men (if they were in fact separate individuals) were charlatans but their history is much, much darker than that.  Both were linked, albeit inconclusively, to London’s infamous Whitechapel murders and hence, the legend of Jack the Ripper . Admittedly, I play fast and loose with the facts here – all in the interests of making a good story even better … of course!
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The Epidemic (Original Flash Fiction)

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  I've written (and rewritten) versions of this story over the years. I think this is the best so far ... The Epidemic by James C. Clar © 2026 “Hey, listen,” I said, aiming for calm and landing somewhere just short of pleading. “We can work this out here if we’re all reasonable.” I hadn’t seen or heard them arrive. One moment I was bent over my work; the next, they were simply there, encircling the battered oak table I used as a desk, hemming me in with a patience that felt rehearsed. The cow with the broken leg went first. “Reasonable,” she repeated, tasting the word as if it might be spoiled. She limped forward with measured steps. The bell at her neck gave a dull, steady clang, less a jingle than a fateful warning. “You don’t even know what that means anymore.” Her gaze swept the room, then settled back on me. “Look around. You probably don’t even realize the damage you’ve caused.” I did look – really looked – and wished I hadn’t. There was the pig with the torn ear....
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Some New Short Fiction Published in the Last Week or So ...

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  A number of stories of mine have been published in the last week or so. Thought I'd take a minute or two here and provide a quick rundown: Another Curry ( Sudden Flash Magazine ) is a tale about a rather enterprising supply steward on a train in India during the waning days of Britain's colonial rule. Prep School ( Topiary Stories ) is set in an elite Jesuit college preparatory school where things are not quite what they seem. Another Ship, Another Captain ( Topiary Stories ) is another Moby-Dick inspired story in which Ahab, too, survives the sinking of the Pequod . Just for fun, I gave it a Sci-Fi setting. Finally, There Be Dragons  ( Topiary Stories ) is yet another take on Don Quixote and the idea that the intrepid knight may not have been quite as mad as everyone thought.
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Dune: The Intersection of Science Fiction & Philosophy

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This essay was published exactly one year ago this month (June, 2025) in Metastellar Magazine . In keeping with the sci-fi theme of my last post, I thought I would reprint it here ... The Intersection of Science Fiction and Philosophy by James C. Clar  © 2025 Science Fiction and Philosophy have a dynamic and long-standing relationship that stretches at least as far back as the nineteenth  century in works by the likes of Verne, Wells and Conan Doyle. The two fields have often informed, enriched and commented upon one another in many interesting and intriguing ways. Consider, for example, that Philosophy often uses thought experiments to explore complex and abstract ideas. Science Fiction takes those concepts and gives them narrative life. In Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep , to cite merely one example, questions about the nature of humanity and the importance of empathy are explored. The reader is thereby asked to consider whether androids with memories a...
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The Martian Chronicles or What We Deserve

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  Revisiting a Classic I’ve read nearly all of Ray Bradbury over the years but only recently returned to The Martian Chronicles in its entirety. I first encountered the book as a teenager in 1973. This time, I was struck by themes I perhaps recognized then but could not fully appreciate until now. Published in 1950, the book remains one of the most hauntingly poetic works of science fiction ever written. Calling it science fiction, however, seems like a misnomer. Bradbury was not primarily interested in technology, engineering, or the physics of space travel. For him, Mars was less a planet than a mirror reflecting humanity’s anxiety, desires and, especially, its arrogance and prejudices. Reading it again in 2026, what strikes me is not just Bradbury’s lyrical prose, but the disturbing relevance of this themes. As “dated” as parts of the book may seem, those themes feel very contemporary indeed. The Comfort and Delusion of Nostalgia One of Bradbury’s most persistent and...
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