wayfaring_witch's review against another edition
4.0
As with any collections, some are better than others. Overall, a great collection!
elusivity's review against another edition
4.0
A great collection, contains more above-average stories than is typical. Showcases both Chinese SF authors contemporary work, as well as Ken Liu's ability to translate fluidly from one to another. Highly recommended.
---
Chen Qiufan >>
- The Year of the Rat
4 STARS
Cynical. Neorats who--possibly due to hacked tempering--evolved way faster than expected, The feeling of being a meaningless cog in a machine, told to work hard at this one important task for the sake of a cookie-cutter "future", while bigger things are namelessly happening in the background, unseen, unheard-of, yet affecting all everything.
- The Fish of Lijiang
3.5 STARS
- The Flower of Shazui
3.5 STARS
Xia Jia >>
- A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight
5 STARS
Beautiful.
- Tongtong's Summer
5 STARS
Also beautiful, and very sweet, showing how technology can fit naturally into human life, not suppressing but complementing all our fears and loves and boredom and loneliness. Since when was SF associated with dark dystopian futures, with such relentless inevitability? I love this.
- Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse
2 STARS
A rusted horse-dragon wakes from long sleep to find the world empty of humans. It walks and walks and tries to understand its nature. Man-made, or mystical? A bit too whimsical for me; I wonder if the poetry reads better in Chinese.
Ma Boyong >>
- The City of Silence
2 STARS
I dislike stories that attempt to push a particular scenario toward extreme speculation in order to make some obvious point. It's too easy to push any innocuous scenario off the precipice into the dystopic. What else does this add, beyond describing a simplistic nightmare? Neither subtlety nor unexpected resolution nor surprising revelation.
Hao Jingfang >>
- Invisible Planets
3 STARS
Faithfully translated, yet lacking some abstraction of the original which paradoxically better implied the point behind each planet/scenario. English is a more precise language than Chinese, superb for simplicity and clarity yet compromising much in poetry. Just like that planet where people emitted more sound frequencies than they could hear, the process of translation can only ever capture/receive a small subsection of the original whole.
- Folding Beijing
4 STARS
Class stratification made concrete, literally. Very entertaining, not preachy in the least.
Tang Fei >>
- Call Girl
2 STARS
Hmm, no clue about this one.
Cheng Jingbo >>
- Grave of the Fireflies
1 STARS
Incoherent.
Liu Cixin >>
- The Circle
4.5 STARS
An ingenious alternative history, outlining an alternative--much more effective way--of bringing down an empire. Exploit the fears and anxiety of its leader.. through math!
- Taking Care of God
3.5 STARS
Kind of amusing?? but kind of not. Our mix of impatience and guilt with the elderly, their mix of indignant helplessness, mapped onto a civilization scale.
---
Chen Qiufan >>
- The Year of the Rat
4 STARS
Cynical. Neorats who--possibly due to hacked tempering--evolved way faster than expected,
Spoiler
showing intelligence, altruistic love for their babies,- The Fish of Lijiang
3.5 STARS
- The Flower of Shazui
3.5 STARS
Xia Jia >>
- A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight
5 STARS
Beautiful.
- Tongtong's Summer
5 STARS
Also beautiful, and very sweet, showing how technology can fit naturally into human life, not suppressing but complementing all our fears and loves and boredom and loneliness. Since when was SF associated with dark dystopian futures, with such relentless inevitability? I love this.
- Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse
2 STARS
A rusted horse-dragon wakes from long sleep to find the world empty of humans. It walks and walks and tries to understand its nature. Man-made, or mystical?
Spoiler
In the end its soul elevated to become spirit, like a thousand other such mish-mash creations.Ma Boyong >>
- The City of Silence
2 STARS
I dislike stories that attempt to push a particular scenario toward extreme speculation in order to make some obvious point. It's too easy to push any innocuous scenario off the precipice into the dystopic. What else does this add, beyond describing a simplistic nightmare? Neither subtlety nor unexpected resolution nor surprising revelation.
Hao Jingfang >>
- Invisible Planets
3 STARS
Faithfully translated, yet lacking some abstraction of the original which paradoxically better implied the point behind each planet/scenario. English is a more precise language than Chinese, superb for simplicity and clarity yet compromising much in poetry. Just like that planet where people emitted more sound frequencies than they could hear, the process of translation can only ever capture/receive a small subsection of the original whole.
- Folding Beijing
4 STARS
Class stratification made concrete, literally. Very entertaining, not preachy in the least.
Tang Fei >>
- Call Girl
2 STARS
Hmm, no clue about this one.
Cheng Jingbo >>
- Grave of the Fireflies
1 STARS
Incoherent.
Liu Cixin >>
- The Circle
4.5 STARS
An ingenious alternative history, outlining an alternative--much more effective way--of bringing down an empire. Exploit the fears and anxiety of its leader.. through math!
- Taking Care of God
3.5 STARS
Kind of amusing?? but kind of not. Our mix of impatience and guilt with the elderly, their mix of indignant helplessness, mapped onto a civilization scale.
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
4.0
There are several essays in the back of this book such as one on ‘What Makes Chinese Science Fiction Chinese.’ I actually read these first before reading the stories and it allowed me to think more deeply about each one.
While I didn’t enjoy this as much as the translator Ken Liu’s own collection of own short stories, The Paper Menagerie this compilation gave a wonderful collection of stories from both male and female contemporary Chinese scifi authors. I particularly enjoyed his inclusion of so many women scifi authors and there were so many memorable stories in here. I think my favorite had to be Folding Beijing. It had a very ‘Inception’ quality about it. I also loved The Flower of Shazui - mostly for it’s richly portrayed setting in a towering slum and Tongtong’s Summer - where a robot comes to help her grandfather.
While I didn’t enjoy this as much as the translator Ken Liu’s own collection of own short stories, The Paper Menagerie this compilation gave a wonderful collection of stories from both male and female contemporary Chinese scifi authors. I particularly enjoyed his inclusion of so many women scifi authors and there were so many memorable stories in here. I think my favorite had to be Folding Beijing. It had a very ‘Inception’ quality about it. I also loved The Flower of Shazui - mostly for it’s richly portrayed setting in a towering slum and Tongtong’s Summer - where a robot comes to help her grandfather.
rujein's review against another edition
4.0
Collection of translated Chinese science fiction short stories, translated by Ken Liu.
In the Foreword, Liu is careful to caution against making any comparison to 'English science fiction', and against seeing the stories as a commentary on China and its politics (though I am not entirely sure if the latter is just meant to ward off potential censorship). Despite Liu's warning, I am unable to shake the feeling that the stories are somehow different, and that (at least some of) the stories are meant to critique Chinese politics/society (though perhaps not only Chinese politics/society but also other similar polities). There seem to be more harkening back to the past/history, a bigger role for the Government (and some sense that there is no going against the government), and more fantastical elements. Though of course, these differences may also be attributed to the specific authors chosen, or to Ken Liu's translations.
Some stories which stood out to me:
Fish of Lijiang offers a rather depressing portrait (or perhaps only logical end) of our rather efficiency-focused society, where everything is done to optimise productivity of workers and profit for companies. Experiments are carried out on employees without their knowledge to make them more efficient, and even a relaxing vacation at the company's expense is really a way to get the employee back to optimal function. Perhaps this non-sentimentality on the part of profit-maximising companies is understandable, but even the protagonist's love interest in the story is an adherent to this efficiency doctrine - her motive for getting close to the protagonist is really to return her inner biology to optimal level for working. At the end, the protagonist discovers that even the fish of Lijiang, which he treasured as one of the natural things which never changed in a technological world which keeps changing, are also simulated, suggesting that nothing can remain the same in the face of technology/the movement to optimise efficiency.
The City of Silence is set in a society similar to Wells' 1984, and in a way the story is much the same, except that it takes place in a modern context, referencing a regime which heavily censors online content (how can one not think of China given this plot!). Similar to 1984, the protagonist finds some relief from the oppressive regime in a small 'rebel' group, although it is quickly pointed out that the group is not really doing anything to actively oppose the Government or overthrow it. In the end, much like the ending of 1984, the rebel group is found out, and the inevitable conclusion is that all words end up being banned.
Folding Beijing follows a tradition of stories where social inequality is manifested very concretely in physical space (and in this particular story, in time!). In this Beijing, the infrastructure of the city is built so that it 'folds' between First/Second/Third Space, so that it can rotated at regular intervals for different segments of the population to use the city and its space. Residents are generally not allowed to transverse the different spaces. Our protagonist Lao Dao from Third Space (of course) is on a mission to get to First Space to pass a message to the lover of someone in Second Space, to earn a good amount of money (for Third Space). Lao Dao's journey allows the author to describe the environment in the different spaces which contrast each other, particularly the amount of space (and time) available to residents of each space. The perilous nature of Lao Dao's journey, in comparison to the rather banal mission he has been given, also highlights the disparity in the lives of the inhabitants of different spaces, as does the attitudes of the residents of different 'Spaces' towards money. In spite of his banal mission, Lao Dao manages to find out a quite major change which will take place which will affect all the inhabitants of his space but, fitting in with the message of some of the other short stories, comes back to a rather depressing but more urgent reality, and realises that he has no power to change whatever is happening and (dis)contents himself with addressing his personal concerns instead.
Invisible Planets is a bit similar to 1001 nights, with an unknown storyteller and an unknown (single, possibly child) audience. Each story juxtaposes two planets or two civilisations on the same planet. I'm not too sure how to understand the stories, but I liked the message at the end that telling/hearing these stories connected the storyteller and listener for some time, and they are irrevocably changed after this interaction, each going away with a piece of the other.
Taking Care of God seemed to be an allegory about the value of filial piety, using the metaphor of a dying civilisation. In the story, an alien race which claims to have created the human race comes back at the end of its lifespan (more accurately, they also created us at the end of their lifespan, just before they came back) and demands (or requests, depends on how you look at it) to be supported by us, their descendants. Seems to be a thinly-veiled metaphor for the parent-child relationship, with God being the parent and us being the children who never asked to be created but now have the moral obligation to support God.
Think the story does a good job of showing the two sides of the coin - the parent-figure as the 'villain' leeching off the child's resources, but also the child-figure as being ungrateful and immature. The title of 'God' given to the parent figure is revealing - parents (in Asian culture) are as God, their children are in awe to them and must bow to their wishes. This is concretised in the society in the story through a law that mandates that families must support their gods. As the story unfolds (perhaps mirroring how children's perspective of their parents change as they age), we see that God is rather selfish, creating us for the purpose of supporting them in their old age, and are really rather pathetic, instead of all-powerful. They have all this science and technology which their once-mighty civilisation created, but are unable to maintain them or even understand them. At the same time, the children are shown to be rather mercenary, treating gods well when there was a chance of benefitting from them, and changing their tune completely when it became evident that there was no benefit to be extracted (at least not immediately). And God in the end also show that they are perhaps not as weak as they let themselves appear to be, and do not mean to burden their children, but rather wish for their children to grow and continue "the glory of their creators" (although to me this is also paternalism). This is a lesson which Mankind seems to take to heart, as they speak kindly (reverently?) of the gods after they leave, but the ending sentence leaves us wondering if this is a false epiphany - Qiusheng's father, whose relationship with his own son Qiusheng has been juxtaposed to Mankind's relationship with their creators, concludes that the lesson is that Mankind needs to find a way to support themselves in old age.
In the Foreword, Liu is careful to caution against making any comparison to 'English science fiction', and against seeing the stories as a commentary on China and its politics (though I am not entirely sure if the latter is just meant to ward off potential censorship). Despite Liu's warning, I am unable to shake the feeling that the stories are somehow different, and that (at least some of) the stories are meant to critique Chinese politics/society (though perhaps not only Chinese politics/society but also other similar polities). There seem to be more harkening back to the past/history, a bigger role for the Government (and some sense that there is no going against the government), and more fantastical elements. Though of course, these differences may also be attributed to the specific authors chosen, or to Ken Liu's translations.
Some stories which stood out to me:
Fish of Lijiang offers a rather depressing portrait (or perhaps only logical end) of our rather efficiency-focused society, where everything is done to optimise productivity of workers and profit for companies. Experiments are carried out on employees without their knowledge to make them more efficient, and even a relaxing vacation at the company's expense is really a way to get the employee back to optimal function. Perhaps this non-sentimentality on the part of profit-maximising companies is understandable, but even the protagonist's love interest in the story is an adherent to this efficiency doctrine - her motive for getting close to the protagonist is really to return her inner biology to optimal level for working. At the end, the protagonist discovers that even the fish of Lijiang, which he treasured as one of the natural things which never changed in a technological world which keeps changing, are also simulated, suggesting that nothing can remain the same in the face of technology/the movement to optimise efficiency.
The City of Silence is set in a society similar to Wells' 1984, and in a way the story is much the same, except that it takes place in a modern context, referencing a regime which heavily censors online content (how can one not think of China given this plot!). Similar to 1984, the protagonist finds some relief from the oppressive regime in a small 'rebel' group, although it is quickly pointed out that the group is not really doing anything to actively oppose the Government or overthrow it. In the end, much like the ending of 1984, the rebel group is found out, and the inevitable conclusion is that all words end up being banned.
Folding Beijing follows a tradition of stories where social inequality is manifested very concretely in physical space (and in this particular story, in time!). In this Beijing, the infrastructure of the city is built so that it 'folds' between First/Second/Third Space, so that it can rotated at regular intervals for different segments of the population to use the city and its space. Residents are generally not allowed to transverse the different spaces. Our protagonist Lao Dao from Third Space (of course) is on a mission to get to First Space to pass a message to the lover of someone in Second Space, to earn a good amount of money (for Third Space). Lao Dao's journey allows the author to describe the environment in the different spaces which contrast each other, particularly the amount of space (and time) available to residents of each space. The perilous nature of Lao Dao's journey, in comparison to the rather banal mission he has been given, also highlights the disparity in the lives of the inhabitants of different spaces, as does the attitudes of the residents of different 'Spaces' towards money. In spite of his banal mission, Lao Dao manages to find out a quite major change which will take place which will affect all the inhabitants of his space but, fitting in with the message of some of the other short stories, comes back to a rather depressing but more urgent reality, and realises that he has no power to change whatever is happening and (dis)contents himself with addressing his personal concerns instead.
Invisible Planets is a bit similar to 1001 nights, with an unknown storyteller and an unknown (single, possibly child) audience. Each story juxtaposes two planets or two civilisations on the same planet. I'm not too sure how to understand the stories, but I liked the message at the end that telling/hearing these stories connected the storyteller and listener for some time, and they are irrevocably changed after this interaction, each going away with a piece of the other.
Taking Care of God seemed to be an allegory about the value of filial piety, using the metaphor of a dying civilisation. In the story, an alien race which claims to have created the human race comes back at the end of its lifespan (more accurately, they also created us at the end of their lifespan, just before they came back) and demands (or requests, depends on how you look at it) to be supported by us, their descendants. Seems to be a thinly-veiled metaphor for the parent-child relationship, with God being the parent and us being the children who never asked to be created but now have the moral obligation to support God.
Think the story does a good job of showing the two sides of the coin - the parent-figure as the 'villain' leeching off the child's resources, but also the child-figure as being ungrateful and immature. The title of 'God' given to the parent figure is revealing - parents (in Asian culture) are as God, their children are in awe to them and must bow to their wishes. This is concretised in the society in the story through a law that mandates that families must support their gods. As the story unfolds (perhaps mirroring how children's perspective of their parents change as they age), we see that God is rather selfish, creating us for the purpose of supporting them in their old age, and are really rather pathetic, instead of all-powerful. They have all this science and technology which their once-mighty civilisation created, but are unable to maintain them or even understand them. At the same time, the children are shown to be rather mercenary, treating gods well when there was a chance of benefitting from them, and changing their tune completely when it became evident that there was no benefit to be extracted (at least not immediately). And God in the end also show that they are perhaps not as weak as they let themselves appear to be, and do not mean to burden their children, but rather wish for their children to grow and continue "the glory of their creators" (although to me this is also paternalism). This is a lesson which Mankind seems to take to heart, as they speak kindly (reverently?) of the gods after they leave, but the ending sentence leaves us wondering if this is a false epiphany - Qiusheng's father, whose relationship with his own son Qiusheng has been juxtaposed to Mankind's relationship with their creators, concludes that the lesson is that Mankind needs to find a way to support themselves in old age.
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
3.0
The thing about short story collections is that you never quite know what you are going to get — and Invisible Planets is like that. There are some good stories in this collection alongside some really perplexing ones. Compared to Ken Liu's other short story collection, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, this one falls somewhat short on the emotional resonance. Granted, Liu did not write any of the stories in this collection. Instead, he dons the editor's hat this time, curating a list of Chinese science fiction for foreign readers.
Stories of particular note are: Tongtong's Summer, The City of Silence (love the echoes of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984), Folding Beijing and Taking Care of God. Then there are the stories that did not quite work out for me, such as anything by the author Chen Qiufan, the other two stories by Xia Jia, and Call Girl. Some of these I couldn't even be bothered to finish.
With that said, I would still recommend this book because it also comes with three very interesting essays on Chinese science fiction at the back. In fact, the three essays almost redeems the stories that don't work in this collection. Very glad that I pulled through this particular read, even though some of the stories didn't quite work out.
Stories of particular note are: Tongtong's Summer, The City of Silence (love the echoes of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984), Folding Beijing and Taking Care of God. Then there are the stories that did not quite work out for me, such as anything by the author Chen Qiufan, the other two stories by Xia Jia, and Call Girl. Some of these I couldn't even be bothered to finish.
With that said, I would still recommend this book because it also comes with three very interesting essays on Chinese science fiction at the back. In fact, the three essays almost redeems the stories that don't work in this collection. Very glad that I pulled through this particular read, even though some of the stories didn't quite work out.
leasky's review against another edition
5.0
Ken Liu is quickly becoming one of my favourite people, with his wonderful Dandelion Dynasty novels and shining a bright light on Chinese science fiction for western readers, including his translation of Liu Cixin's hard sci-fi Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy and now translating this wonderful collection of short science fiction stories written by some exceptionally talented Chinese sci-fi writers. What a guy!
Anyway, enough gushing about Ken! I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and I'm very excited about the next installment, Broken Stars, as I need more! Chen Qiufan stories are dark and slightly depressing, with some exceptional social commentary that really makes you think. Ma Boyong's The City of Silence is a brilliant, modern homage to 1984 and was utterly terrifying! Liu Cixin's Taking Care of God is such an inventive piece of work that in such few words adds historical context to the story and could easily be turned into a full novel. I didn't appreciate his story The Circle as this was an adaptation of a chapter in The Three Body Problem that I didn't want to think about again as it's hurts my brain! Cixin is clearly a very intelligent man in addition to being a wonderful story crafter.
But...I have to give the most praise to Xia Jia. Tongtong’s Summer is a sweet story about using technology to help combat that feeling of loneliness and redundancy that a lot of people can feel in their old age, told through the eyes of a little girl watching her grandfather flourish with this new tech. Brought a tear to my eye! However, Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse was my absolute favourite, about a mechanical Dragon-Horse navigating a human-free, post-apocalyptic land and making a friend along the way. The sweetness of this story was amazing. I loved it!
5 massive stars!
Anyway, enough gushing about Ken! I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and I'm very excited about the next installment, Broken Stars, as I need more! Chen Qiufan stories are dark and slightly depressing, with some exceptional social commentary that really makes you think. Ma Boyong's The City of Silence is a brilliant, modern homage to 1984 and was utterly terrifying! Liu Cixin's Taking Care of God is such an inventive piece of work that in such few words adds historical context to the story and could easily be turned into a full novel. I didn't appreciate his story The Circle as this was an adaptation of a chapter in The Three Body Problem that I didn't want to think about again as it's hurts my brain! Cixin is clearly a very intelligent man in addition to being a wonderful story crafter.
But...I have to give the most praise to Xia Jia. Tongtong’s Summer is a sweet story about using technology to help combat that feeling of loneliness and redundancy that a lot of people can feel in their old age, told through the eyes of a little girl watching her grandfather flourish with this new tech. Brought a tear to my eye! However, Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse was my absolute favourite, about a mechanical Dragon-Horse navigating a human-free, post-apocalyptic land and making a friend along the way. The sweetness of this story was amazing. I loved it!
5 massive stars!
lordtrips's review against another edition
1.0
el único escritor que salvo de la antología es a Chen Qiufan. Especial énfasis (incluso podría decir que más que de sus cuentos del volumen) en su ensayo La generación dividida: la ciencia ficción china en una cultura de transición.