The Invincible was written by Stanislaw Lem in German in 1967, and published in English in 1973. It's a pretty straightforward adventure story about an alien encounter, but the quality of the writing lifts this book far above standard fare. The alien life form is truly alien, and the book is about the crew of the Invincible trying to comprehend it's nature. The tension in the book escalates, and the end confrontation with the alien "cloud of biots", Lem outdoes himself with some beautiful writing. The writing is atmospheric because the alien is atmospheric:
"Not with horror, but rather with numbed awe and great admiration had he participated in the fantastic spectacle that had just taken place. He knew that no scientist would be capable of sharing his sentiments, but now his desire was no longer merely to return and report what he had found out about their companions' deaths, but to request that this planet be left alone in the future. Not everything has been intended for us, he thought as he slowly descended."
This book is a real gem.
The book was not written in German. It was written in Polish, then translated to German, and then translated to English from the German translation, interestingly.
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