Reviews

After reading Ken Liu's first short story collection, The Paper Menagerie, I followed him into the world of Chinese Sci-Fi by way of The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu. Broken Stars is Ken Liu's second volume of Chinese SF in translation, but I read it before Invisible Planets. I was fascinated to see the breadth of attitudes and approaches towards technology and the future that in many ways is an embodiment of everything I love about science fiction as a genre. While some of the stories were in my opinion, weaker or rough around the edges, Liu mentions that he is more interested in stories that do one thing very well, rather than stories that do many things not as well. I would agree with that, and had a fantastic time reading through this book.

hughburger's review against another edition

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4.0

Great collection. Not every story was to my taste. Some were a little too fantasy-leaning, but it was interesting to learn about how the classifications of the genre work, from the essays in the back.

The majority of the stories were terrific and a few will make me seek out more from their authors. Several of the stories touched on culture and politics in ways that were new to me.

I guess I'm turning into a huge fan of chinese sci fi. That's a twist I didn't see coming.

seoul0613's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

dearhi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

monicasboeken's review against another edition

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I read one story and it was amazing!

espeon's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

overall i recommend the anthology, but i will note some stories are hits and some are definite misses for me. my ratings of individual stories range from 5 starts to 1 star. but the overall anthology is mostly on the better end. so 4 stars from me

ingridm's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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