Rating: 
Summary: Dazzling!
Review: Imagine a mixture of Borges, Calvino, Saint-Exupéry, Pynchon, Douglas Adams, Samuel Beckett, L. Frank Baum, Dr. Seuss, Lewis Caroll, and perhaps a little Philip K. Dick. That's what this is like, sort of. It is a collection of stories, some profound, others 'merely' entertaining, written by a man who was clearly drunk on sheer linguistic exuberance. The sheer virtuosity of the language is breathtaking: the book is packed to the gills with puns, rhymes, nonsense words, and general verbal japery. Huge amounts of credit must of course go to the translator, Michael Kandel, on this score. I wish the book included translation notes; he must have had to rebuild innumerable language formations from scratch in order to make them work--and work dazzlingly well--in English. Particularly impressive in this regard are 'The Fifth Sally (A), or Trurl's Prescription,' a delightful bit of frippery driven almost entirely by verbal dexterity; and an extraordinary mathematical love poem related in 'The First Sally (A), or Trurl's Electric Bard.' The centerpiece of the collection, however, must surely be the 'Tale of the Three Storytelling Machines of King Genius,' which, as you would expect, includes a flurry of internal stories, some of which in turn have stories inside them. One of these internal stories, that of Mymosh the Self-Begotten, is in my opinion the book's highlight. If Sam Beckett had turned his hand to science fiction, this is what he would have written. It's as strange and unsettling as any of Sam's short novels. Finally, some mention must be made of the highly stylized illustrations by Daniel Mroz scattered throughout the book; they complement the action to perfection. Lem is clearly having fun with The Cyberiad, and it's contagious. I had tried, some time ago, to read Tales of Pirx the Pilot, but I found the first tale so mind-numbingly dull that I couldn't bring myself to finish it. This, on the other hand, is a truly excellent collection, and you can rest assured tha I'll be checking out more of Lem in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: one of a kind
Review: Lem captures a subtle interplay between human and artificial intelligence which I have never encountered before, and he accomplishes it with humor. This novel stands as a literary achievement, science fiction or not.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest SF books of all time
Review: Lem is great at between-the-eyes satire, roll-on-the-floor humor, and just page-turning writing in general. Kandel's translation is excellent in honoring the wit and genius that went into this book. -Greg
Rating:
Summary: Simply incredible!
Review: Like an earlier poster, I ran into Lem while reading Hofstadter's The Minds Eye and was absolutely amazed by the technical sophistication of a story that, on the surface, looks like random words thrown together. Lem's ability (no doubt assisted by his very able English translator) created a universe that has so many layers that I found myself rereading most of this most enjoyable book. Lem's work is much more significant than much of the SciFi pantheon (e.g. Bradburry, Asimov) because beyond his stories, there's a good amount of philosophy underneath the cybernetic construct.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant...unlike anything else I've ever read
Review: More like Kipling's "Just So" fables than a SF novel, the Cyberiad is a series of related short stories which entertain, bemuse and elevate the reader's imagination. I have to buy this book *again* because I've given away yet annother copy of it. One of the best things I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Kandel is as amazing as Lem
Review: My first encounter with Lem was with Ijon Tichy starring in the simply indescribable The Star Diaries. Lem's unusual viewpoint, combined with a superlative brilliant literary technique, is evident on every page of The Cyberiad. The author was said to have explained that his name does not stand for Lunar Excursion Module. ;-) If you think you're supposed to enjoy Eco as much as his reputation promises and feel a little short-changed, then instead read Lem; he's the real genius. And Kandel! How does he do it?
Rating: 
Summary: mixed bag
Review: Overall I thought this book was very good and worth the purchase. The problem is that not all of the stories and not all of the writing is of the same quality. Like many collections of short stories there is very little overall coherence. The last story, for instance, features neither Trurl nor Klapaucius, who are the stars of every other story. The characterization of Trurl and Klapaucius doesn't seem very firm. Sometimes Trurl doesn't come off as very bright. Other times he seems exceptionally wise. Sometimes Klapaucius seems bumbling, other times quite capable. In my opinion, the book starts out well but finishes poorly. The first few stories are very good, but after about the half way point in the book I began to get more and more bored. The stories seemed to take on a slightly more "moralizing" tone (i.e. the story about the H.P.L.Ds). I preferred the stories that were more "adventure" oriented rather fable-like. The two best scenes, IMHO, were the poetry-writing machine and the creation of the hunting device. In the end, the best stories rate 5 stars but the other stories and the overall aimless feel of the book bring down the final rating to 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Reading all of the other reviews, I realize there are things I missed in my first read-time to go back and reread. It's a wonderful book, parts read like Monty Python skits which is what caught my eye on the first read-A machine that can create anything as long as it begins with an 'n' ends up almost destroying the fabric of the universe. A computer that can perform only one computation (and that effort is wrong) stubbornly maintains its correctness. A poetry composer that has to absorb the complete history of the universe before it can compose. Lem shows a wealth of ideas and a remarkable flare for satire in this book. My only problem-since this is my first Lem, do I start rereading immediately or do I go find his other works?
Rating: 
Summary: "Fables for the cybernetic age"
Review: The Cyberiad is more than just "a brilliantly funny collection of stories for the next age," as the back cover claims. The tales within blend philosophy, mathematics, and computer science with cruel kings, pugnacious pirates, and improbable dragons. They chronicle the exploits of the robots Trurl and Klapaucius, renowned constructors who offer their services to the robot kings that rule the robot kingdoms comprising their universe. So great is their knowledge of the universe that they build a royal advisor that never errs, a perfect mechanical poet, a machine that can model anything in existence, and a machine that can fabricate anything beginning with the letter 'n'. Of course, their creations don't always work out quite the way they hope, but in edifying and entertaining ways. This combination of fanciful adventure and academia, often laced with delightfully clever wordplay, makes the Cyberiad well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: "Fables for the cybernetic age"
Review: The Cyberiad is more than just "a brilliantly funny collection of stories for the next age," as the back cover claims. The tales within blend philosophy, mathematics, and computer science with cruel kings, pugnacious pirates, and improbable dragons. They chronicle the exploits of the robots Trurl and Klapaucius, renowned constructors who offer their services to the robot kings that rule the robot kingdoms comprising their universe. So great is their knowledge of the universe that they build a royal advisor that never errs, a perfect mechanical poet, a machine that can model anything in existence, and a machine that can fabricate anything beginning with the letter 'n'. Of course, their creations don't always work out quite the way they hope, but in edifying and entertaining ways. This combination of fanciful adventure and academia, often laced with delightfully clever wordplay, makes the Cyberiad well worth reading.
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