“If you haven’t met star-traveler Ijon Tichy, clear a little room in your heart: he’s moving in.
Stanisław Lem is probably best known as the author of Solaris, but his stories about space voyager Ijon Tichy are his true gems. A critic in the ’70s wrote that Stanisław Lem was the most-read sci-fi writer in the world, and Lem is likely the most translated Polish sci-fi/fantasy author (though Andrzej Sapkowski, with the help of a certain white-haired Witcher, is rapidly closing the gap!).
But despite Lem’s enduring popularity, quiet Ijon—“Tichy” is a play on the word for “quiet” in Czech and Russian, stemming from an ancestor who remained silent throughout his own trial—remains a stranger to many readers today. And that’s a shame: Ijon Tichy is a lovable bumbler and a clear-eyed comedian. He represents the victory of a goodhearted, collegial comic over cynicism and solipsism. He may be more of a quiet observer than most heroes, but here are just a few reasons why Tichy is a sci-fi protagonist you’ll be very pleased to meet…”
Alex Przybyla, writing in Reactormag
“https://reactormag.com/stanislaw-lems-greatest-character-an-introduction-to-ijon-tichy/“
A good place to start is Lem’s Star Diaries
The Adelaide Fan Review 
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