SFF

Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

by Ken Liu
Tor. Nov. 2016. 384p. ed. by . tr. from Chinese by Ken Liu. ISBN 9780765384195. $24.99; ebk. ISBN 9780765384188. SF
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Before Liu Cixin won the Hugo Award in 2015 for The Three-Body Problem, most Americans would probably have had trouble naming a Chinese sf author. Hoping to change this lack of awareness, editor and translator Liu (The Wall of Storms) begins this collection with a useful introduction to the big names in the genre. Chen Qiufan's three stories all feature melancholic protagonists; in "The Flower of Shazui," the hero helps a prostitute to atone for his past crime. Xia Jia's stories are dreamier, with "A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight" featuring a young boy raised on a street of ghosts, and "Tongtong's Summer," which explores the possibility of remote-controlled androids through the POV of a little girl. There are also two contributions from Cixin.
VERDICT The 13 tales here demonstrate a wide range of styles. Most have won awards in China, but some are just Liu's favorites. Additional essays provides context for readers new to Chinese sf.
Reviewed by Megan M. McArdle , Nov 15, 2016
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