The Invincible
What is the Invincible? It is a spaceship. What does this spaceship look like? Easy as candy, thanks to the miracle of metaphor:
“The spaceship hovered like a fire-spewing volcano balanced on its head.”
Robot Scouts
Like almost all of Lem’s literature, robots are plentiful in this novel. They do all of the heavy work once the domain of human beings. Like, for instance, being sent ahead as scouts. And, being machines, they can do much more impressive things than human scouts:
“One could almost believe the flying robot had set the dunes aflame with an invisible fire. The swirling dust cloud lingered in the still air, marking with a puffy reddish line the direction taken by the expedition.”
The View from Space
Distance and perspective are somewhat ironically made more literally comprehensible through the use of a metaphorical comparison. The view from space is one of those things impossible to comprehend until one has been really been there. Or has a strong imagination:
“Do you have any idea what a rocket looks like seen from sixty miles altitude, even with the best tele-lens? The head of a pin would be as big as a huge mountain next to it.”
Location, Location, Location
Similes are a powerful tool for conveying setting. This is especially true in genres like fantasy and science fiction where worlds are constructed entirely from the imagination. To describe such things almost requires a comparison with something tangibly familiar:
“the planet had turned into an expanse of land. Sickle-shaped dunes stood out, whipped by a strong wind. Strands of lava radiated from a nearby crater like the spokes of a wheel, reflecting the fiery glow of the rocket jets, and almost blotting out the sunlight.”
More Robots
As previously indicated, robots are plentiful in the novel. And they do not all share the same physical appearance. Some, in fact, are more worthy of metaphorical imagery than others:
“The robot waddled ahead with firm strides, like a giant duck. It had been outfitted with absurd-looking monstrous flat feet, reminiscent of snowshoes, for just this purpose.”
