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paulaortuno's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Suicide, Police brutality, Colonisation, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Rape, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, and Classism
samdalefox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
It's hard to describe Ken Liu's writing style and subject matter. It's an easy to read, sci-fi, magical realism, literary, historical fiction, kind of genre. There were several times I looked up specific events referenced and learnt about Chinese and pan-Asian history. I found this incredibly enjoyable, the way history and culture are presented is informative, but in an appeasing way because it's told almost like a fairy tale. I also greatly appeciated the author's notes at the end of the stories with historical features explaining the references and pointing to further reading.
The stories cover difficult themes such as imperialism, industrialisation, migration and immigrant experience, ethical use/misuse and philosophical development of technology, revolution and nationalism, militarianism, philosophy of communication and memory, and censorship, all with respect to Chinese people.
"Every act of communication is a miracle of translation"
The book making habits of select species 4.25⭐
State change 4.75⭐
The perfect match 4.25⭐
Good hunting 4⭐
The literomancer 4.5⭐
Simulacrum 5⭐
The regular 4⭐
The paper menagerie 5⭐
An advanced reader's picture book of comparative cognition 4.25⭐
The waves 4.5⭐
Mono no aware 4.5⭐
All the flavours 3.5⭐
A brief history of the trans Pacific tunnel 4.25⭐
The litigation master and the monkey king 4.75⭐
The man who ended history: a documentary 5⭐
Average = 4.43
Moderate: Colonisation and Classism
Minor: Murder, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Genocide, Confinement, Hate crime, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Rape
The stories cover difficult themes such as imperialism, industrialisation, migration and immigrant experience, ethical use/misuse and philosophical development of technology, revolution and nationalism, militarianism, philosophy of communication and memory, and censorship all with respect to Chinese people.sofiadanielle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ken Liu is certainly an author who has undeniable power in his words. Each story has left an impact on me. He created worlds so complete that even the shortest stories included don’t leave the reader feeling not submerged in whatever the setting and plot is.
The intertwining of Asian folklore, futuristic creations and ideals, was something new for me to find in a singular story, never mind a series of them. Liu also doesn’t shy away from gruesome bits in the stories centered around real wars and global conflicts.
Definitely not for the faint of heart, as some topics are heavy and detailed, but I feel that despite these sometimes gory details, the heart of the story- reflectivity on society most of the time- always prevails.
Simply amazing and deeply moving. I won’t be forgetting this read for a long time.
Graphic: Death, Rape, Torture, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Racism, and Xenophobia
kalira's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
It took me a long time to read this anthology, largely because the stories are very good . . . and sometimes, so painful and heavy and immediate that upon finishing I needed to set the book aside and take some time. Both to process the story and to give myself a little emotional space to breathe.
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child death, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Trafficking, Vomit, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, War, Alcohol, Colonisation, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Chronic illness, and Grief
janiswong's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Violence and Death
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
ticktock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, and Suicide
huck's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Death, Racism, Rape, and Torture
Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
annaluzia's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think the themes of communication, story telling and heritage are some that I really love to read about. I also loved how Ken Liu obviously did his research on some of the topics - I am now really interested to know more about them.
some stories (especially the last one!) made me want to throw up. some were sad. some were really interesting thought processes. all in all, I can't say anything else about this book that that reading it was an experience (and that maybe you shouldn't do it like me and plan to read one story each before going to sleep - that's not going to work for different reasons)
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia