A review by aweekinthelife
Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• 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

3.5

listened to this one on audio, which i don’t usually do with fiction so maybe that impacted my experience. went in with really high expectations (and really loved the translator’s notes at the beginning!) but ultimately didn’t love the alien/ancient culture thing.

once they met the alien, it felt like a long, long lecture. also didn’t really appreciate that the asked the alien their name and then immediately was like “ok we’re gonna give you a nickname because that’s too hard to say”

 

did enjoy the mix of Chinese philosophy and mythology in the world building and the discussions on AI but overall the writing felt blunt and more like a screenplay than a novel.