In this bold and controversial examination of the past, present, and future of science fiction, Lem informs the raging debate over the literary merit of the genre with ten arch, incisive, provocative essays. Reflections on my life -- On the structural analysis of science fiction -- Science fiction : a hopeless case -- with exceptions -- Philip K. Dick : a visionary among the Charlatans -- The time-travel story and related matters of science-fiction structuring -- Metafantasia : the possibilities of science fiction -- Cosmology and science fiction -- Todorov's fantastic theory of literature -- Unitas oppositorum : the prose of Jorge Luis Borges -- About the Strugatsky's Roadside picnic