Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

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Brokenstar: Those kits were weak. They would have been no use to ShadowClan. If I hadn't killed them, some other warrior would have. I should have killed you when I had the chance. It seems I must have some of my father's softness. I was a fool to let you leave ShadowClan alive! Another excellent collection which was translated by Ken Liu but which includes various Chinese SF stories by an array of the writers who are currently making waves. The stories were diverse and mostly enjoyable, although a few were a little less interesting to me as a Western reader because I couldn't relate as easily to them as I had wanted to, but in general even these had a fascinating undertone to them. I give you the life for love of kin. And as a Clan leader, remember that every Clan cat is your kin.

Ultimately, there is still room for ambiguity at the end. Will Darryl and Markey somehow (and somewhat improbably) end up together? Will he kill her or just befriend her? What will happen next. Your mind is filled with such strange notions: submarines, the crystal sky, distant stars… are these the concerns of a dutiful child?’ And then there’s Chen Qiufan’s superbly written and intense story “A History of Future Illnesses,” which chronicles imaginary future ailments caused by excessive use of technology, such as “iPad Syndrome” and “Controlled Personality Shattering.” Like Hao Jingfang’s “Invisible Planets” (and Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities before it), as well as Vandana Singh’s “Ambiguity Machines,” Qiufan’s story deftly jumps from one disease to another like a doctor writing clinical narratives of patients with whom he’s quite familiar. Qiufan’s bold, elastic narrative style is endlessly engaging.He has been involved in multiple media adaptations of his work. The most recent projects include “The Message,” under development by 21 Laps and FilmNation Entertainment; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode of Netflix's breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC's Pantheon, which Craig Silverstein will executive produce, adapted from an interconnected series of short stories by Ken. Ken Liu openly states in his introduction that these stories are selected based on his tastes. There is a variety of some known Chinese science fiction writers, and some new voices. Most of them were new to me as I'm woefully behind on books like the Three Body Problem, among others. There is also an earlier volume of Chinese science fiction in translation that is probably worth the read. Anna Wu's Restaurant at the end of the Universe: Laba Porridge - 2*s. Better if you've read Douglas Adams, but even so not really my thing."

Ken is also the translator for Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem, Hao Jingfang's Vagabonds, Chen Qiufan's Waste Tide, as well as the editor of Invisible Planets and Broken Stars, anthologies of contemporary Chinese science fiction. Edited and mostly translated by Ken Liu, a sci-fi writer in his own right who is credited with bringing Liu Cixin's Three-Body Problem onto the world stage... The more compelling stories are those that relate to the unpredicted impacts of technological inventions' For readers interested in some context on Chinese SF, I’ve added three essays at the end from Chinese SF scholars (some of them are also authors). These essays focus on how the rising commercial and popular interest in Chinese SF has affected the community of fans and authors. I don’t know if I should be amazed at the brilliant concept and writing in this story or despair at the hopelessness of it all towards the end. But however I feel about the story, it’s major theme is that climate change is real and unless we do something to significantly change our dependence on fossil fuels, the future of earth is not good. Brambleclaw • Feathertail • Stormfur • Squirrelflight • Crowfeather • Tawnypelt • Leafpool • Hawkfrost • MothwingAnother deputy (Gentry), who has always admired Smeed, defends him to his girlfriend (Alvarado) but is astonished when Alvarado translates the written eyewitness account (from the Spanish) by Nachez. Smeed kidnaps Nachez, taking him to a mine, where he kills him and hides the body. Gentry shows up at the mine but is over-powered by Smeed, tied up, and left to be buried in a cave-in caused by Smeed setting a charge. Then Daryl goes to strangling Marlene, but then the film fades and we see Marlene waking up as if the whole thing is a dream. It is the weirdness of the movie that gets you to watch and I did like how the director Dave Schwep chose not to be graphic but implied things. Example: the hair pulling scene shows some hair being pulled out of Sydney's head but only a couple of clumps and her screaming and then cuts to another scene. Raggedstar always thought his son would make a great leader. He was blind to all of Brokentail's faults --his cunning, his ruthlessness, his violent nature.