A review by elusivity
Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation by Ken Liu
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.
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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.
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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.