Scan barcode
birte's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
jasonfurman's review against another edition
3.0
Broken Stars reads like an also ran to the excellent [b:Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation|28220730|Invisible Planets Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation|Ken Liu|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463570833s/28220730.jpg|48249401]. Both are collections of Chinese science fiction edited and mostly translated by Ken Liu. Both have many of the same authors. But where there is overlap, the stories in Invisible Planets seemed better (e.g., “Folding Beijing” was better than Hao Jingfang’s story in this collection, both Liu Cixin’s were better in the previous collection than in this one, the essays at the back were much better in the first, etc.) Several of the stories in Broken Stars are excellent, some feel distinctively Chinese (“What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear” by Baoshu) while others less so (“Goodnight, Melancholy” by Xia Jia and “Reflection” by Gu Shi), but overall a nice variety of styles and types.
Some specifics:
“Goodnight, Melancholy” by Xia Jia (5 stars). I can’t get enough of Turing Test stories and this is an excellent one, interspersing vignettes of a near-future autonomous agent with dialogues between Turing and a machine he created.
“Moonlight” by Liu Cixin (4 stars). Very good story with a simple or even simplistic message about the hazards of the unintended consequences of trying to reengineer human society to address problems.
“Broken Stars” by Tang Fei (2 stars). I just could not get into this story.
“Submarines” by Han Song (2 stars). A trifle of an allegory for I’m not sure what about poor people being forced to live in mini submarines while their children play in cages.
“Salinger and the Koreans” by Han Song (4 stars). Also a bit of a trifle, but inventive enough that it sustained its short length, an alternate history where the North Koreans conquered the world, crediting J.D. Salinger with their success. But the famous recluse won’t play along with them.
“Under a Dangling Sky” by Chang Jingbo (2 stars). Very impressionistic, could not get into it.
“What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear” by Baoshu (5 stars). Loved this. Science fiction with Chinese characteristics. It tells a relatively conventional life story, centering around a love story, against a historical Chinese backdrop. But the backdrop works in reverse. At first I thought the author made a mistake when 9/11, for example, came after the global financial crisis. But then all of the events of global history and especially Chinese history went into reverse, for example Mao succeeding Deng and bringing a stronger form of communism that undid market reforms etc. This works really well and drives home the point that there is nothing natural about the sequence of history, especially of Chinese history, and the logic of the events often works as well in the reverse as it does in the original.
“The New Year Train” by Hao Jingfang (4 stars). A short, whimsical hard sci-fi story about a train is lost in hyperspace.
“The Robot Who Liked to Tell Tall Tales” by (3 stars). A shaggy dog story about a bullshit artist of a king who wants to train a robot to exceed him in his fabulous tales. The robot heads out on a set of fantastical/fabricated adventures that get more and more epic.
“The Snow of Jinyang” by Zhang Ran. Started this, didn’t get into it, skipped it.
“The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Laba Porridge” by Anna Wu (2 stars). All the references to the original just showed the limitations of this story.
“The Emperor’s Games” by Ma Boyong (3 stars). A sleight story about an ancient emperor whose work ruling the kingdom and video game playing effectively merge together.
“Reflection” by Gu Shi (5 stars). Worthy of M. Night Shamalyan, a psychiatric researcher takes a student to see a clairvoyant and much reversal of time’s arrow ensues, followed by a deeper set of psychological explanations. I plan to re-read this one sometime.
“The Brain Box” by Regina Kanyu Wang (4 stars). A near future where you can get “brain boxes” implanted, like the black box in a plane, that record the last five minutes of your thoughts before death. A man gets these memories implanted from a woman who dies in a plane crash on the way to what was going to be his marriage proposal. It reverses everything the thought he understood. Relative slight but interesting.
“Coming of the Light” by Chen Quifan (2 stars). Did not get into this story about a near-future Beijing.
“A History of Future Illnesses” by Chen Quifan (3 stars). An interesting concept, a series of descriptions—almost Wikipedia style—of future illnesses starting with the more mundane (iPad addiction based on the Retina display) and becoming increasingly exotic (“chaotic chronosense” as people use general relativity to control the speed of their time and become increasingly disoriented), with much whimsy in between (“Controlled Personality Shattering”) about the way people alt tab between different personalities in different windows and how it can all shatter. No characters or plot, more in the style of some of Borges.
Some specifics:
“Goodnight, Melancholy” by Xia Jia (5 stars). I can’t get enough of Turing Test stories and this is an excellent one, interspersing vignettes of a near-future autonomous agent with dialogues between Turing and a machine he created.
“Moonlight” by Liu Cixin (4 stars). Very good story with a simple or even simplistic message about the hazards of the unintended consequences of trying to reengineer human society to address problems.
“Broken Stars” by Tang Fei (2 stars). I just could not get into this story.
“Submarines” by Han Song (2 stars). A trifle of an allegory for I’m not sure what about poor people being forced to live in mini submarines while their children play in cages.
“Salinger and the Koreans” by Han Song (4 stars). Also a bit of a trifle, but inventive enough that it sustained its short length, an alternate history where the North Koreans conquered the world, crediting J.D. Salinger with their success. But the famous recluse won’t play along with them.
“Under a Dangling Sky” by Chang Jingbo (2 stars). Very impressionistic, could not get into it.
“What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear” by Baoshu (5 stars). Loved this. Science fiction with Chinese characteristics. It tells a relatively conventional life story, centering around a love story, against a historical Chinese backdrop. But the backdrop works in reverse. At first I thought the author made a mistake when 9/11, for example, came after the global financial crisis. But then all of the events of global history and especially Chinese history went into reverse, for example Mao succeeding Deng and bringing a stronger form of communism that undid market reforms etc. This works really well and drives home the point that there is nothing natural about the sequence of history, especially of Chinese history, and the logic of the events often works as well in the reverse as it does in the original.
“The New Year Train” by Hao Jingfang (4 stars). A short, whimsical hard sci-fi story about a train is lost in hyperspace.
“The Robot Who Liked to Tell Tall Tales” by (3 stars). A shaggy dog story about a bullshit artist of a king who wants to train a robot to exceed him in his fabulous tales. The robot heads out on a set of fantastical/fabricated adventures that get more and more epic.
“The Snow of Jinyang” by Zhang Ran. Started this, didn’t get into it, skipped it.
“The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Laba Porridge” by Anna Wu (2 stars). All the references to the original just showed the limitations of this story.
“The Emperor’s Games” by Ma Boyong (3 stars). A sleight story about an ancient emperor whose work ruling the kingdom and video game playing effectively merge together.
“Reflection” by Gu Shi (5 stars). Worthy of M. Night Shamalyan, a psychiatric researcher takes a student to see a clairvoyant and much reversal of time’s arrow ensues, followed by a deeper set of psychological explanations. I plan to re-read this one sometime.
“The Brain Box” by Regina Kanyu Wang (4 stars). A near future where you can get “brain boxes” implanted, like the black box in a plane, that record the last five minutes of your thoughts before death. A man gets these memories implanted from a woman who dies in a plane crash on the way to what was going to be his marriage proposal. It reverses everything the thought he understood. Relative slight but interesting.
“Coming of the Light” by Chen Quifan (2 stars). Did not get into this story about a near-future Beijing.
“A History of Future Illnesses” by Chen Quifan (3 stars). An interesting concept, a series of descriptions—almost Wikipedia style—of future illnesses starting with the more mundane (iPad addiction based on the Retina display) and becoming increasingly exotic (“chaotic chronosense” as people use general relativity to control the speed of their time and become increasingly disoriented), with much whimsy in between (“Controlled Personality Shattering”) about the way people alt tab between different personalities in different windows and how it can all shatter. No characters or plot, more in the style of some of Borges.
missamanogawa's review against another edition
3.0
Seit Cixin Lius Trisolaris-Reihe ist chinesische Science Fiction auch bei uns im Westen heiß begehrt. Doch es gibt nicht nur den zweifachen Hugo-Award-Gewinner. Diese Sammlung umfasst Geschichten der bekanntesten Autoren Chinas, von denen wohl kaum einer von uns etwas gehört hat.
Unvoreingenommen kann man somit diverse Geschichten lesen, die sowohl Zukunftsszenarien als auch Gesellschaftskritik beinhalten. Oder die Auseinandersetzung mit der Landesgeschichte.
Jede Geschichte liest sich unterschiedlich. Mal liegt die Betonung auf der Gefühlswelt, mal auf der futuristischen Zukunft. Eines haben sie aber gemeinsam: sie sind einzigartig.
Was mir jedoch wirklich sauer aufstößt, ist die Tatsache, dass ein namhafter Autor als Mittel der PR genutzt wird, um dieses Buch zu vermarkten. Insbesondere weil seine enthaltene Geschichte kurz und wenig prägnant ist. Sie war nicht herausragend. Natürlich will man die Verkaufszahlen dadurch ankurbeln. "Seht her, von dem habt ihr schon was gelesen. Der ist hier enthalten." Funktioniert sicherlich auch. Aber ich bin schwer enttäuscht.
Zwei Geschichten habe ich komplett übersprungen, ich wurde mit ihnen einfach nicht warm. Wer wenig über die Geschichte und Kultur Chinas weiß, würde wohl wie ich handeln.
Die kurzen Essays zum Schluss bieten eine Einsicht in die Geschichte der Science Fiction in China und die Hürden, die sie überwinden musste, um heute international bekannt zu werden.
Es war interessant, andere Autoren kennenzulernen, ihre Geschichten zu lesen, etwas Neues zu erfahren. Aber wirklich berauschend war die Sammlung leider nicht.
Unvoreingenommen kann man somit diverse Geschichten lesen, die sowohl Zukunftsszenarien als auch Gesellschaftskritik beinhalten. Oder die Auseinandersetzung mit der Landesgeschichte.
Jede Geschichte liest sich unterschiedlich. Mal liegt die Betonung auf der Gefühlswelt, mal auf der futuristischen Zukunft. Eines haben sie aber gemeinsam: sie sind einzigartig.
Was mir jedoch wirklich sauer aufstößt, ist die Tatsache, dass ein namhafter Autor als Mittel der PR genutzt wird, um dieses Buch zu vermarkten. Insbesondere weil seine enthaltene Geschichte kurz und wenig prägnant ist. Sie war nicht herausragend. Natürlich will man die Verkaufszahlen dadurch ankurbeln. "Seht her, von dem habt ihr schon was gelesen. Der ist hier enthalten." Funktioniert sicherlich auch. Aber ich bin schwer enttäuscht.
Zwei Geschichten habe ich komplett übersprungen, ich wurde mit ihnen einfach nicht warm. Wer wenig über die Geschichte und Kultur Chinas weiß, würde wohl wie ich handeln.
Die kurzen Essays zum Schluss bieten eine Einsicht in die Geschichte der Science Fiction in China und die Hürden, die sie überwinden musste, um heute international bekannt zu werden.
Es war interessant, andere Autoren kennenzulernen, ihre Geschichten zu lesen, etwas Neues zu erfahren. Aber wirklich berauschend war die Sammlung leider nicht.
procrasreader's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
tronella's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good. I skimmed a few that required more knowledge of Chinese history than I possess. (The notes preceding one story even say "liberal use of Wikipedia may be necessary for some readers" but that doesn't really seem like an enjoyable experience to me.)
doctortdm's review against another edition
3.0
Waited and waited for the release of this book, very disappointed in the content. The first 3 stories are great as well as Reflections but most are just current prattle - sounding cool and up to date with superficial content and poorly executed themes.
dallin_aben's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jawjuhh's review against another edition
Hard to rate since I read these stories over 2 years! The standout piece to me was What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear. Most of these stories and essays I did enjoy, but The Snow of Jinyang singlehandedly kept me from picking this book up for like a year. It just didn’t work for me. The broad project of sci fi in China is one that remains interesting to me and I look forward into exploring more from these authors.
14bellini's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ledge's review against another edition
3.0
For my tastes too editorial/lecturing, too reliant on knowledge of Chinese culture and history, too much magical realism.