Reviews

Invisible Planets by Ken Liu

bentohbox's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

a fantastic collection of Chinese short story science fiction, though not quite 5 stars. I appreciate the effort Liu put into compiling a comprehensive perspective of modern Chinese literature, as well as providing essays that examine its development in the scope of Western influences, China's tumultuous 20th century history, and the reflections of the exclusively Chinese experience we can gather in these stories.

I think modern Chinese science fiction operates best in the space of near- and realist-futurism out of at least the East Asian countries, and Liu's writings and collection helps put that opinion in concrete perspective. It's worth a read, for sure.

oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition

4.0

A good strong range in this selection. Stories progressively get better and more genre bending. Particular standouts: Tongtong's Summer for a more positive AI/advanced robotics story; Night Journey of the Dragon Horse which a strange kind of folktale (both by Xia Jia)

Grave of the Fireflies by Cheng Jingbo for a high fantasy space opera.

The City of Silence by Ma Boyong for an imaginatively realised dystopia.

fishky's review against another edition

4.0

Its so hard to write a review for a compilation! I had to read a few of these several times before I started to understand them, because it's a wild ride to go from one imaginative world to the next. Year of the Rat reminded me (in a good way) of Duty After School by Ilkwon Ha. The Cixin Liu stories were almost formulaic, and I sort of wish we hadn't ended the anthology there. The essays were my favorite part: ken and the authors talk about the context of the stories vs the western analysis they received that reduces them to critiques of the Chinese government despite the clearly universal theme of human greed vs resilience (and where they intersect) in a variety of situations.

adamkennedy96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense

4.0

watersapphire's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Stāstu krājums, kam bonusā nāk ieskats Ķīnas zinātniskās fantastikas pasaulē. Ken Liu ir apkopojis visādus interesantus faktus, informāciju par autoriem, kuru stāsti ielikti šajā grāmatā, un beigās ir arī trīs esejas par tēmām, kas saistītas ar žanru.
Bija stāsti, kas man patika vairāk, bija tādi, kas patika mazāk, kā jau vienmēr, bet kopumā man ļoti patika. Mans lielākais ieguvums ir iepazīšanās ar "The Three-Body Problem" autoru un viņa darbiem (tajā skaitā nodaļu, kas paņemta un pielāgota īsajam stāstam no pašas "Three-Body" triloģijas), un to kādu negaidītu popularitāti tā radīja Ķīnā, kur zinātniskās fantastikas žanrs parasti tiek uzskatīts par diezgan bērnišķīgu padarīšanu. Ja pirms tam man bija bail ķerties klāt šai sērijai, domājot, ka būs grūti lasīt, tad tagad esmu pilnībā mainījusi savas domas, un ceru, ka drīz atradīsies laiks iesākt "The Three-Body Problem". 

cloudsovergeorgia's review against another edition

challenging inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

dhlunique's review against another edition

medium-paced

• 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? N/A

4.0

Excellent collection of SF short stories from Chinese authors.

megadeathvsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I loved this collection. Science fiction in translation is my favorite way to glimpse other cultures and societies.

karinlib's review against another edition

4.0

Thoroughly enjoyed this anthology of Chinese Science Fiction, translated and edited by Ken Liu. There are three essays at the end that discuss Chinese science fiction, and they are definitely worth reading. I am looking forward to reading more works by these authors.

clbabs45's review against another edition

5.0

Amazing book - I've already gone back and re-read several stories in it.