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A review by chrysemys
The Wandering Earth by Cixin Liu
3.0
3.5*
Just what I needed. Lighter fare than I've been consuming lately.
In general, the science fiction is fairly consistent with work from the "golden age of science fiction." More smooth, thankfully, and without that irritating hokiness that seemed to pervade fiction of the 1950s and 60s. Less sexist? Possibly, although there are no major female characters--the closest we come to an important female character is in "The Micro-Era" in which the leader of post-apocalyptic Earth who is not only microscopic but also acts like a child. Oh- and there's the super-victimy character in "With Her Eyes." Liu mostly steers away from political topics, which is nice... although it is probably a necessity for him. I looked for differences between Anglo-American science fiction and Liu's work to try to figure out if there are any particular hallmarks of Chinese sci-fi... aside from the sexism, all I came across were some subtle differences in attitude that I am unable to articulate.
In any collection, some stories will be better than others. I really enjoyed "The Wandering Earth," "Sun of China," and "Curse 5.0" although the end of "Sun" got a bit obnoxious in the manner described below and the author cast himself as a character in "Curse."
As is the case with a lot of science fiction, many of these stories are thought experiments. Liu, unfortunately, is lazy about how he sets them out, frequently employing a character to deliver a very long monologue to explain to dumbass earthlings (and the reader) how things work in his realm of existence. I cannot express how much I hate this form of exposition. Liu is a particularly egregious offender.
Just what I needed. Lighter fare than I've been consuming lately.
In general, the science fiction is fairly consistent with work from the "golden age of science fiction." More smooth, thankfully, and without that irritating hokiness that seemed to pervade fiction of the 1950s and 60s. Less sexist? Possibly, although there are no major female characters--the closest we come to an important female character is in "The Micro-Era" in which the leader of post-apocalyptic Earth who is not only microscopic but also acts like a child. Oh- and there's the super-victimy character in "With Her Eyes." Liu mostly steers away from political topics, which is nice... although it is probably a necessity for him. I looked for differences between Anglo-American science fiction and Liu's work to try to figure out if there are any particular hallmarks of Chinese sci-fi... aside from the sexism, all I came across were some subtle differences in attitude that I am unable to articulate.
In any collection, some stories will be better than others. I really enjoyed "The Wandering Earth," "Sun of China," and "Curse 5.0" although the end of "Sun" got a bit obnoxious in the manner described below and the author cast himself as a character in "Curse."
As is the case with a lot of science fiction, many of these stories are thought experiments. Liu, unfortunately, is lazy about how he sets them out, frequently employing a character to deliver a very long monologue to explain to dumbass earthlings (and the reader) how things work in his realm of existence. I cannot express how much I hate this form of exposition. Liu is a particularly egregious offender.