Broken Stars

Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

by

464 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2019 by Head of Zeus.

ISBN:
978-1-78854-811-3
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4 stars (4 reviews)

A new anthology of Chinese short-fiction by award winning author Ken Liu. Here are sixteen short stories from China's groundbreaking SFF writers, edited and translated by award-winning author Ken Liu.

In Hugo award-winner Liu Cixin's 'Moonlight', a man is contacted by three future versions of himself, each trying to save their world from destruction. Hao Jingfang's 'The New Year Train' sees 1,500 passengers go missing on a train that vanishes into space. In the title story by Tang Fei, a young girl is shown how the stars can reveal the future.

In addition, three essays explore the history and rise of Chinese SFF publishing, contemporary Chinese fandom, and how the growing interest in Chinese SFF has impacted writers who had long laboured in obscurity.

5 editions

Another fascinating anthology of Chinese SFF in translation

4 stars

A pretty fascinating anthology of stories by writers of China that shows the wide range of fiction that is coming out from them. With stories ranging from the fantastic and absurd to those where technology is front and centre, it would be hard for a reader to enjoy all the stories. But readers should find a few that catch their fancy. For me, the alternate history tale by Baoshu was a highlight of the anthology.

  • “Goodnight, Melancholy” by Xia Jia: the story is concerned with people interacting with apparently intelligent AI machines for therapy. Told as two connected tales, one is a modern day interaction with a toy, while the other imagines a conversation between Alan Turing and a conversation bot that Turing might have created.

  • “Moonlight” by Liu Cixin: a tragic comedy tale about a man responsible for energy policy who apparently gets calls and messages from his future …

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4 stars

Subjects

  • Science fiction
  • Fantasy fiction