Invisible Planets - BokDraken

Inbunden, 383 sidor

På English

Publicerades 1 november 2016 av Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-8419-5
OCLC-nummer:: 961118723

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 …

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?.

1 utgåva

projectgus@bookwyrm.social recenserade Invisible Planets av Cixin Liu (Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation, #1)

Fantastic collection, expertly translated

4 stjärnor

Like any anthology it's unlikely every story will speak to you. However, the overall standard is very high and there's an abundance of interesting ideas and perspectives.

Björn recenserade Invisible Planets av Cixin Liu (Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation, #1)

None

3 stjärnor

Took me forever to finish this, which isn't really a reflection on any one of the participating authors (well, maybe one or two) but more that it doesn't really gel as a collection. Liu rightly warns against reading the stories here as comments on today's China - any author tries to comment on the world at large, not just what foreigners want to learn about their country. That the best of these stories still seem to share a lack of surprise at what very quickly imposed modernity will do to people doesn't make them any less relevant.

Not everything here clicks with me, some of it is much to derivative and didactic (Ma Boyong's Orwell rewrite "City of Silence" especially feels like a missed opportunity), but the best ones - Xia Jia's ensouling of technology as if it slotted right into an ongoing mythologizing of the world, Hao Jingfang's beautifully …

Took me forever to finish this, which isn't really a reflection on any one of the participating authors (well, maybe one or two) but more that it doesn't really gel as a collection. Liu rightly warns against reading the stories here as comments on today's China - any author tries to comment on the world at large, not just what foreigners want to learn about their country. That the best of these stories still seem to share a lack of surprise at what very quickly imposed modernity will do to people doesn't make them any less relevant.

Not everything here clicks with me, some of it is much to derivative and didactic (Ma Boyong's Orwell rewrite "City of Silence" especially feels like a missed opportunity), but the best ones - Xia Jia's ensouling of technology as if it slotted right into an ongoing mythologizing of the world, Hao Jingfang's beautifully lower-deck "Folding Beijing", Liu Cixin's hilarious "Taking Care of God" - ring true no matter what the background.

Chinese science fiction writers can no longer treat "Where are we going?" as an answered question. - Xia Jia

Ämnen

Science fiction, Chinese--Translations into English.
Short stories, Chinese--Translations into English.
Chinese fiction--20th century--Translations into English.