| The Magellanic Cloud | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Stanisław Lem |
| Original title | Obłok Magellana |
| Country | Poland |
| Language | Polish |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Iskry |
| Publication date | 1955 |
| Pages | 422 |
| LC Classification | PG7158.L399 O2 |
| Preceded by | The Astronauts |
| Followed by | Sezam |
The Magellanic Cloud (Polish title: Obłok Magellana) is a science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem (1955). By this novel was inspired the Czech film Ikarie XB-1.
The novel is set in the Thirty-second Century, in a communistic Utopian future. Humanity have colonized all of the Solar System, and now have to attempt the first interstellar travel.
Aboard a vessel called Gaia, 227 men and women leave the Earth for the Alpha Centauri system.
After almost eight years of travel, they find signs of organic life on a planet orbiting around Proxima Centauri, possibly coming from another planet within the Centauri system.
One of the planets orbiting Alpha Centauri turns to be inhabited by an advanced civilization...
The expedition meets a lifeless human ship of "Atlants", which turns out to be an old artificial war satellite of the USA and its NATO allies, carrying still active biological weapons and nuclear warheads, which had accidentally left the Earth orbit and got lost in space during the Cold War era.
When the novel was first published, some parts of it were censored by Communist authorities. Lem famously denounced the censored version, calling it too optimistic about Communism. At the time, this was a bold sign that demonstrated Lem's confidence in that his singular status as a Polish author of international renown would protect him from state repression. A full version was published in the 1990s after the fall of Communism.
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