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onamoonbeam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
my favorite stories in this collection were paper menagerie, bookkeeping habits, and the waves. monkey king was so fun but also i was listening to my audiobook on my morning commute and i was not expecting so many stories to have graphic depictions of torture! an important topic esp in the context of historical erasure! not what i was expecting!
oh i am so tired when writing this i nearly forgot about good hunting (first saw it in love death and robots! i actually like the og better even if the animation is gorgeous) and state change
sometimes the sauce is good sometimes the sauce gets lost in so much extensions of history and context
Graphic: Torture, Colonisation, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, and Suicide
mikeypwest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
These stories cover all sorts of genres: magical realism, sci-fi, fantasy (more fantasy-lite), alternate history, and historical fiction (and sometimes a mix of these). Important topics/themes that are touched upon here:
culture (especially when cultures collide), sacrifice, loss, death, identity, unrighteous authority, moral duty, xenophobia, humanity, and relationships.
Most of Liu's stories touch on aspects of Chinese culture in some way. (Liu is a Chinese American). Many touch on the Chinese/American culture dynamic. Others are influenced by Chinese history (and/or Japanese in a couple of cases). A lot of his stories made me dive a bit deeper into that history (and he does provide references for some of them). While I still feel ignorant of much of Chinese history, these stories definitely taught me more than I previously knew.
Liu is a master at what he does here. Each story was compelling in its own way and a few stories here are straight-up haunting. Warning: he does incorporate some HEAVY topics (torture, murder, racism, sexual violence, genocide) as part of his story-telling, but they are not there for shock value but to open our eyes to the broader philosophical and moral meanings/context. I feel like I could spend hours on some of these stories just researching the historical context as well as musing on the moral and philosophical meanings that are present.
Overall, I wouldn't call this book outright "entertaining", but the stories within are at an artistic/literary level that I feel is unmatched (at least I can't remember reading anything so artistically captivating). I will say while not a popcorn read, all of the stories did grab my interest - some in a very intense way. (There is a sci-fi detective story that I felt was a little more of a popcorn story, but it was the outlier here). There are some REALLY fascinating sci-fi premises for his stories as well. All in all, if you want to read some stuff that may make you feel uncomfortable and make you think about the complexities (and dark side!) of humanity, I cannot recommend this book more.
My favorites: Waves, All the Flavors, Mono No Aware, The Man Who Ended History, and The Regular (as an honorary mention).
Moderate: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Violence
starrynight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Medical content, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Torture, Colonisation, Murder, Racism, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Suicide and Animal cruelty
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
These stories incorporate real places and history into science fiction and fantasy. They are raw, unique, heartbreaking, and in many ways, eye opening. While a couple were a bit long or not for me, I had quite a few that I thoroughly enjoyed and could still find appreciation for all of them.
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
erinreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Gore
maneatingbadger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, and Gun violence
Minor: Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
alexhaydon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, and Torture
readandfindout's review against another edition
4.25
2023 reread: 4.25 stars overall
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species: 5 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
State Change: 4 stars (2017), 4.5 stars (2023)
The Perfect March: 3 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
Good Hunting: 4.5 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Literomancer: 5 stars (2017 and 2023)
Simulacrum: 2 stars (2017), 3.5 stars (2023)
The Regular: 4.5 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Paper Menagerie: 4.5 stars (2017), 5 stars (2023)
An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition: 3 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Waves: 5 stars (2017), 3.5 stars (2023)
Mono No Aware: 5 stars (2017), 4.5 stars (2023)
All the Flavors: 3 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel: 2.5 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King: 4 stars (2017), 5 stars (2023)
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary: 5 stars (2017 and 2023)
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Xenophobia, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Grief, Colonisation, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, War, Body horror, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide, Racism, and Death of parent
Minor: Racial slurs