Ken Liu

Readers at Tor and around the SF world have recently become familiar with Ken Liu and his Chinese translation work via the bestselling and award nominated novel The Three-Body Problem, by acclaimed Chinese author Cixin Liu. Readers who have developed a taste and excitement for Chinese SF by these means will be excited to hear that Ken Liu, the translator of that volume is assembling, translating, and editing an anthology of Chinese science fiction short stories.The thirteen stories in this collection are a strong and diverse representation of Chinese science fiction, including two by Liu Cixin. Some have won awards in translation, some have garnered serious critical acclaim, some have been selected for Year's Best anthologies, and some are simply Ken Liu's personal favorites.To round out the collection, there are several essays from Chinese scholars and authors, plus an illuminating introduction by Ken Liu.

Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

Invisible Planets

i am 100% sure this was the quote that pulled me to pick up this book and the whole short story itself is suuuuch an apt namesake for the collection. ty hao jingfang.

madina

Do you understand? When I am done telling you these stories, when you're done listening to these stories, I am no longer I, and you are no longer you. In this afternoon we briefly merged into one. After this, you will always carry a bit of me, and I will always carry a bit of you, even if we both forget this conversation.

At this critical historic moment, I am even firmer in my faith that reforming reality requires not only science and technology, but also the belief by all of us that life should be better—and 

 be made better—if we possess imagination, courage, initiative, unity, love, and hope as well as a bit of understanding and empathy for strangers. Each of us is born with these precious qualities, and it is perhaps also the best gift that science fiction can bring us.

There's no sound around her. Sunlight slices across her shoulders like a knife blade.

CHEN QIUFAN YOU'RE INSANE FOR THIS!!!!!!!

However, we now know that behind the practice of science lie ideological struggles, fights over power and authority, and the profit motive. The history of science is written and rewritten by the allocation and flow of capital, favors given to some projects but not others, and the needs of war.

While micro fantasies burst and are born afresh like sea spray, the macro fantasy remains sturdy.

i'm obsessed with the narrator for the fish of lijiang.

This is like the hook for some French film, I think, or maybe a dream, either sweet or terrifying.

favorites: chen qiufan's "the year of the rat", "the fish of lijiang"; ma boyong's "the city of silence"; tang fei's "call girl". also the essays at the end!

i really enjoyed the essays that accompany these short stories, & the caution ken liu raises about attributing these stories as allusions to the chinese govt rather than the world at large the same was we view anglosphere scifi. & of course it touched my heart how scifi writers just know so much of that intersection between arts & sciences - that progress for the sake of profit & "development" (for whom?) is not what needs to guide us, but it is love.

favorites: chen qiufan's "the year of the rat", "the fish of lijiang"; ma boyong's "the city of silence"; tang fei's "call girl". also the essays at the end!

i really enjoyed the essays that accompany these short stories, & the caution ken liu raises about attributing these stories as allusions to the chinese govt rather than the world at large the same was we view anglosphere scifi. & of course it touched my heart how scifi writers just know so much of that intersection between arts & sciences - that progress for the sake of profit & "development" (for whom?) is not what needs to guide us, but it is love.

Hellboy TCR

Katie Chua

particularly:
"Folding Beijing" 
"The Flower of Shazui"
"The City of Silence"

Chinese sci-fi is SO GOOD, y'all. Thank you Ken Liu, you are doing the English-reading world a huge service

Invisible Planets, edited by multi award-winning writer Ken Liu--translator of the bestselling and Hugo Award-winning novel The Three Body Problem by acclaimed Chinese author Cixin Liu--is his second thought-provoking anthology of Chinese short speculative fiction. Invisible Planets is a groundbreaking anthology of Chinese short speculative fiction. The thirteen stories in this collection, including two by Cixin Liu and the Hugo and Sturgeon award-nominated “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, add up to a strong and diverse representation of Chinese SF. Some have won awards, some have garnered serioius critical acclaim, some have been selected for Year’s Best anthologies, and some are simply Ken Liu’s personal favorites. To round out the collection, there are several essays from Chinese scholars and authors, plus an illuminating introduction by Ken Liu. Anyone with an interest in international science fiction will find Invisible Planets an indispensable addition to their collection. For more Chinese SF in translation, check out Broken Stars. Stories: “The Year of the Rat” by Chen Qiufan “The Fist of Lijian” by Chen Qiufan “The Flower of Shazui” by Chen Qiufan “A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight” by Xia Jia “Tongtong’s Summer” by Xia Jia “Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse” by Xia jia “The City of Silence” by Ma Boyong “Invisible Planets” by Hao Jingfang “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang “Call Girl” by Tang Fei “Grave of the Fireflies” by Cheng Jingbo “The Circle” by Liu Cixin “Taking Care of God” by Liu Cixin Essays: “The Worst of All Possible Universes and the Best of All Possible Earths: Three-Body and Chinese Science Fiction” by Liu Cixin and Ken Liu “The Torn Generation” Chinese Science Fiction in a Culture in Transition” by Chen Qiufan and Ken Liu “What Makes Chinese Science Fiction Chinese?” by Xia Jia and Ken Liu At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Alexia

Now I know I definitely have to read more Chinese Sci-Fi!

Here’s the story-by-story rating:

Chen Qiufan
The Year of the Rat: 2
The Fish of Lijiang: 3
The Flower of Shazui: 3

Xia Jia
A hundred ghosts parade tonight: 3.5
Tongtong’s Summer: 4.5
Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse: 4

Ma Boyong
The City of Silence: 3.5

Hao Jingfan
Invisible Planets: 5
Folding Beijing: 3.5

Tang Fei
Call Girl: 3

Cheng Jingbo
Grave of the Fireflies: 4

Liu Cixin
The Circle: 2.5
Taking Care of God: 5

Boothby

Chrystal Giordano

Science fiction readers the world over have recently become familiar with Ken Liu’s Chinese translation work via The Three-Body Problem, the bestselling and Hugo award-winning novel by acclaimed Chinese author Cixin Liu. Ken Liu has now assembled, translated, andedited an anthology of Chinese science fiction stories, the most comprehensive collection yet available in the English language, sure to thrill and gratify readers developing a taste and excitement for Chinese SF. Thethirteen stories in this collection, including two by Cixin Liu and the Hugoand Sturgeon Award-nominated “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, add up to astrong and diverse representation of Chinese SF. Some have won awards, some have garnered serioius critical acclaim, some have been selected for Year’s Best anthologies, and some are simply Ken Liu’s personal favorites. To roundout the collection, there are several essays from Chinese scholars and authors, plus an illuminating introduction by Ken Liu. Anyone with an interest in international science fiction will find Invisible Planets an indispensable addition to their collection.

Stef

Kelsey Lynn

Jerald Lim

Here are thirteen short stories from the new frontiers of Chinese science fiction, selected and translated by Hugo, Nebula, Locus and World Fantasy Award-winner Ken Liu. Hao Jingfang's Hugo-Award-Winning 'Folding Beijing' takes place in a near-future dystopia where the title city's buildings fold into and out of the earth, allowing three different strata of society to spend part of the day above ground. Xia Jia's 'Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse' describes a post-apocalyptic world where machines have outlived the humans who engineered them. In 'Taking Care of God' by Liu Cixin – author of The Three-Body Problem, the first translated novel to win the Hugo Award – a race of white-haired, white-robed beings arrive on Earth, claiming they are God, creators of everything who now want to spend their retirement years with us... Including an introduction by Ken Liu and three essays exploring Chinese science fiction, this is a phenomenal collection of strange worlds, hypnotic landscapes and unbridled imagination.

Ary Tebeka

Evan Huang

Allison King

13 visions of the future from China, translated by Hugo award winning translator and author Ken Liu. Award-winning translator and author Ken Liu presents a collection of short speculative fiction from China. Some stories have won awards; some have been included in various 'Year's Best' anthologies; some have been well reviewed by critics and readers; and some are simply Ken's personal favorites. Many of the authors collected here (with the obvious exception of Liu Cixin) belong to the younger generation of 'rising stars'. In addition, three essays at the end of the book explore Chinese science fiction. Liu Cixin's essay, The Worst of All Possible Universes and The Best of All Possible Earths , gives a historical overview of SF in China and situates his own rise to prominence as the premier Chinese author within that context. Chen Qiufan's The Torn Generation gives the view of a younger generation of authors trying to come to terms with the tumultuous transformations around them. Finally, Xia Jia, who holds the first Ph.D. issued for the study of Chinese SF, asks What Makes Chinese Science Fiction Chinese? .

Invisible Planets Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

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