A review by whippycleric
Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation by Cheng Jingbo, Gu Shi, Zhang Ran, Xia Jia, Ma Boyong, Anna Wu, Mingwei Song, Regina Kanyu Wang, Baoshu, Chen Qiufan, Han Song, Hao Jingfang, Tang Fei, Cixin Liu, Fei Dao
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Very short review of each story. The average across them all for the rating comes to 3.8, so rounded to 4.
Goodnight Melancholy: Fictionalised history of Alan Turing juxtaposed with a modern look at living with AI. Not bad but not amazing, 3 stars.
Moonlight: phone calls from the future to save the world. Huge fun to read and entertainingly depressing. 5 stars
Broken Stars: Had no idea where this sashimi and was a little disappointed whilst reading it but the reveal at the end really made up for it. 4.5 stars
Submarines: It was a nice read but I couldn't grasp the hidden meaning and so it just felt like the story didn't go anywhere. 2 stars
Sallinger and the Koreans: Short, bizarre, but thought provoking. 3.5 stars
Under a Dangling Sky: A bit strange and to much fantasy for me. 2.5 Stars
What happened in kinder light appears: Longer than the others, very enjoyable read especially since I'm a fan of the alternative history genre,and this was it done well. 4.5 stars
The new year train: Very sorry, but itself not really a story but a very good premise to a novel I would read in a second. 4 stars
The robot who liked to tell tall tales: Found this one a little dull unfortunately. 2.5 stars
The snow of Jinyang: Time travel a la cosmonaut in king Arthur's court / Evil dead 3 is always fun and it's done very well here. 5 stars
The resruarant at the end of the universe: quite good but not really my style: 3.5 stars
The first emporrers game: Lots of fun references but not really much plot in my opinoin. 3 stats
Reflection: Strong premise, decent story telling. 4 stars
The brain box: A commentary on the mind vs soul vs body well done. 4.5 stars
Coming of the light: Future tech meats Buddhism and Fantasy, fun and easy to read. 4 Stars
History of future illnesses: A lot of fun and very insightful. 5 stars
Goodnight Melancholy: Fictionalised history of Alan Turing juxtaposed with a modern look at living with AI. Not bad but not amazing, 3 stars.
Moonlight: phone calls from the future to save the world. Huge fun to read and entertainingly depressing. 5 stars
Broken Stars: Had no idea where this sashimi and was a little disappointed whilst reading it but the reveal at the end really made up for it. 4.5 stars
Submarines: It was a nice read but I couldn't grasp the hidden meaning and so it just felt like the story didn't go anywhere. 2 stars
Sallinger and the Koreans: Short, bizarre, but thought provoking. 3.5 stars
Under a Dangling Sky: A bit strange and to much fantasy for me. 2.5 Stars
What happened in kinder light appears: Longer than the others, very enjoyable read especially since I'm a fan of the alternative history genre,and this was it done well. 4.5 stars
The new year train: Very sorry, but itself not really a story but a very good premise to a novel I would read in a second. 4 stars
The robot who liked to tell tall tales: Found this one a little dull unfortunately. 2.5 stars
The snow of Jinyang: Time travel a la cosmonaut in king Arthur's court / Evil dead 3 is always fun and it's done very well here. 5 stars
The resruarant at the end of the universe: quite good but not really my style: 3.5 stars
The first emporrers game: Lots of fun references but not really much plot in my opinoin. 3 stats
Reflection: Strong premise, decent story telling. 4 stars
The brain box: A commentary on the mind vs soul vs body well done. 4.5 stars
Coming of the light: Future tech meats Buddhism and Fantasy, fun and easy to read. 4 Stars
History of future illnesses: A lot of fun and very insightful. 5 stars