Science Fiction: Broken Stars Curated By Ken Liu

(Drivebycuriosity) - China`s star is rising. There are about 1.3 billion people who are gaining more global influence, not alone because of their sheer number. Such a huge country has a legion of talented people of course. No wonder that China`s science fiction writers are getting more and more interesting and important. The anthology "Broken Stars",  16 short stories by different authors curated by Ken Liu, gives an glance into China`s contemporary scifi scene (Amazon).

I found 3 gems even Isaac Asimov & Arthur C. Clark would be proud of: 

 

In "Reflection” by Gu Shi the narrators meets a clairvoyant, a 14 year girl, who can see the future but with handicaps. Even though the story is told in a casual way there are deep philosophical implications. Entertaining & thought provoking ( this is a spoiler free blog).

 

In “The New Year Train” by Hao Jingfang people have disappeared who were traveling with a vehicle based on advanced technologies & phenomena .like quantum mechanics and black holes.  The very short story is cutting edge hard science fiction and much better than her Hugo awarded novella "Folding Bejing" (available in the compilation "Invisible Planets" here my  review) 

 

In “The Brain Box” by Regina Kanyu Wang people can get brain boxes implanted which store some minutes of thoughts before they die. A man uses this device to acquire the last thoughts of his late wife.

The anthology has more strong stories:

 

"What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear” by Baoshu is set in an alternate universe where history of China & US proceeds backwards.  The story is told in first person full with a lot dramatic & romance.

“Moonlight” by Cixin Liu, known for his "The Remembrance of Earth`s Past" trilogy (here my review), deals with the question how to stop climate change and presents the consequences of different solutions in a kind of time travel story.

 

"Goodnight, Melancholy” by Xia Jia focuses on a woman who is teaching 2 learning machines, known as AIs. She treats these machines, who have bodies,  can walk & talk, like children, while being inspired by the works of computer pioneer Alan Turin. Nothing happens here, but I liked this story better than her paranormal stories in "Invisible Planets".

 

“A History of Future Illnesses” by Chen Qiufan is a selection of very short stories with a lot of interesting ideas about what could get wrong with technological progress.

I had much fun with some fairy tales. The surreal novella “The Robot Who Liked to Tell Tall Tales” by Fei Dao reminds of Stanislaw Lem`s robots stories, medieval fairy tales by Brothers Grimm and Alice  in Wonderland" - hilarious but also philosophical.

In “The First Emperor’s Games” by Ma Boyong an ancient Chinese emperor plays today´s computer games.

“Submarines” by Han Song focuses on poor people who live in submarines in a river.

The fictional stories are followed by 3 essays about Chinese scifi. I found "A Brief Introduction to Chinese Fiction and Fandom" by Regina Kanyu Wang interesting.

10 good stories (60%) out of a collection of 16 is a very strong crop.