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Ghost Cities
Ghost Cities – inspired by the vacant, uninhabited megacities of China – follows multiple narratives, including one in which a young man named Xiang is fired from his job as a translator at Sydney' s Chinese Consulate after it is discovered he doesn' t speak a word of Chinese and has been relying entirely on Google Translate for his work. How is his relocation to one such ghost city connected to a parallel odyssey in which an ancient Emperor creates a thousand doubles of Himself? Or where a horny mountain gains sentience? Where a chess-playing automaton hides a deadly secret? Or a tale in which every book in the known Empire is destroyed – then re-created, page by page and book by book, all in the name of love and art? Allegorical and imaginative, Ghost Cities will appeal to readers of Haruki Murakami and Italo Calvino.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2024
358 people are currently reading
3439 people want to read
About the author
Siang Lu
5 books53 followersSiang's fiction and literary reviews have appeared in Southerly and Westerly. He holds a Master of Letters from the University of Sydney. He has written for television on Malaysia's Astro network. In 2021, Siang won the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer for The Whitewash. He is based in Brisbane, Australia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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August 3, 2025
WINNER OF THE 2025 MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD
“When a memory eludes me, like the edges of a dream, where no matter what I try I can’t remember the details – only it was important and now I have lost it maybe forever – then I am dismembered.”
What an utterly strange, brilliant, and unexpectedly moving journey. Ghost Cities is the kind of novel that dances on the edge of absurdity while asking the biggest, sharpest questions about who we are and what stories we tell to survive.
Fresh off its well deserved Miles Franklin Literary Award win, Siang Lu’s novel is a razor edged satire with the soul of a fable. We follow Xiang, aka #BadChinese a man who somehow conned his way into a job at the Chinese Consulate despite not speaking Mandarin (thank you, Google Translate). After his inevitable downfall, he’s exiled to a “ghost city” in China, a surreal, half real film set where life is staged, identities are fluid, and nothing quite adds up.
Parallel to this, we get a sweeping, mythic narrative of an ancient emperor who becomes so paranoid about being overthrown that he creates thousands of doubles of himself. Mountains awaken, books are destroyed and recreated, and the nature of memory and authorship itself is up for grabs.
What’s astonishing is how effortlessly Lu moves between comedy and commentary. The humour is sharp, but there’s heart beneath it, a melancholy recognition of what it means to be caught between cultures, languages, selves. For all its playfulness, Ghost Cities is deeply philosophical, confronting themes of displacement, constructed identity, and the very act of storytelling as survival.
This book feels like it shouldn't work, but it does. It’s wildly original, utterly fearless, and exactly the kind of risk taking literature that deserves the Miles Franklin.
Bold, bonkers, and deeply human. I closed the last page feeling like I’d read something completely new and in a landscape full of books that blend together, that’s a rare and special thing.
My Highest Recommendation.
4.5
“When a memory eludes me, like the edges of a dream, where no matter what I try I can’t remember the details – only it was important and now I have lost it maybe forever – then I am dismembered.”
What an utterly strange, brilliant, and unexpectedly moving journey. Ghost Cities is the kind of novel that dances on the edge of absurdity while asking the biggest, sharpest questions about who we are and what stories we tell to survive.
Fresh off its well deserved Miles Franklin Literary Award win, Siang Lu’s novel is a razor edged satire with the soul of a fable. We follow Xiang, aka #BadChinese a man who somehow conned his way into a job at the Chinese Consulate despite not speaking Mandarin (thank you, Google Translate). After his inevitable downfall, he’s exiled to a “ghost city” in China, a surreal, half real film set where life is staged, identities are fluid, and nothing quite adds up.
Parallel to this, we get a sweeping, mythic narrative of an ancient emperor who becomes so paranoid about being overthrown that he creates thousands of doubles of himself. Mountains awaken, books are destroyed and recreated, and the nature of memory and authorship itself is up for grabs.
What’s astonishing is how effortlessly Lu moves between comedy and commentary. The humour is sharp, but there’s heart beneath it, a melancholy recognition of what it means to be caught between cultures, languages, selves. For all its playfulness, Ghost Cities is deeply philosophical, confronting themes of displacement, constructed identity, and the very act of storytelling as survival.
This book feels like it shouldn't work, but it does. It’s wildly original, utterly fearless, and exactly the kind of risk taking literature that deserves the Miles Franklin.
Bold, bonkers, and deeply human. I closed the last page feeling like I’d read something completely new and in a landscape full of books that blend together, that’s a rare and special thing.
My Highest Recommendation.
4.5
August 26, 2024
What a knockout! This is the kind of book I would not pick up off the shelf, but I would happily say to the author ‘yes please’. Why so? I like to broaden my horizons, that is why. I like to avoid being stuck. So, thank you, for sending me a copy my way. I am very much a creature of comfort, this sometimes impedes my experience, in reading and in life.
This was so bizarre, in a good way. Ghost Cities dwells in a league of its own. As I never read books in this genre (I don’t know what genre to apply) I probably have missed a lot of it. It was hilarious, both in the telling, and in the fact that it made me feel lost and funny all at once. Laughing more at myself here. Siang Lu is clever, this is brilliant writing, funny, outrageous and charming.
Precocious in the usage of over-the-top words, and a dual narrative that adds even more to the quirk of this unique book. Xiang is fired from his role as a translator, it turns out Google translate is his MO, he’s banished to a Ghost City and has become a #badchinese. I loved how frowned upon he was by those in power, but I liked him a lot. I felt the pretentious vibe all the way.
My attempt to synopsize this book is absolutely no good as I can’t do it justice, but I do recommend this as a witty and well written novel. On completion of this read I was in awe and sat quietly thinking. So many ways our interpretation can take us on a journey.
3.5-4 stars.
With my thanks to the author for sending me a copy to read and review.
This was so bizarre, in a good way. Ghost Cities dwells in a league of its own. As I never read books in this genre (I don’t know what genre to apply) I probably have missed a lot of it. It was hilarious, both in the telling, and in the fact that it made me feel lost and funny all at once. Laughing more at myself here. Siang Lu is clever, this is brilliant writing, funny, outrageous and charming.
Precocious in the usage of over-the-top words, and a dual narrative that adds even more to the quirk of this unique book. Xiang is fired from his role as a translator, it turns out Google translate is his MO, he’s banished to a Ghost City and has become a #badchinese. I loved how frowned upon he was by those in power, but I liked him a lot. I felt the pretentious vibe all the way.
My attempt to synopsize this book is absolutely no good as I can’t do it justice, but I do recommend this as a witty and well written novel. On completion of this read I was in awe and sat quietly thinking. So many ways our interpretation can take us on a journey.
3.5-4 stars.
With my thanks to the author for sending me a copy to read and review.
November 5, 2025
5★ - Winner, 2025 Miles Franklin Award
This is the most puzzling, outrageous, inventive and amusing social commentary I can ever remember experiencing. The premise is that Xiang Lu, an Australian of Chinese background, has been working as a translator, knowing only a smattering of Mandarin from his parents. He uses Google Translate, has been caught out, fired, and publicly tagged as #BadChinese.
He sends out his resumé with an unfortunate typo, saying he is a "a highly driven, 'careen-minded' individual with great attention to detail." Oops. But he does get one response – an envelope with a ticket to a cinema. He goes – why not?
After the film, he discovers the man sitting next to him has left his wallet on the seat. There is a lanyard with a tag saying "Baby Bao, Director"
Xiang and the young woman he meets, Yuan, Baby Bao's official translator, are the main characters of the modern story.
The book opens, however, not with Xiang, but with some kind of ancient history of China with an Emperor, Lu Huang Du, and his wildly colourful ascent to the throne via treachery and violence, sentencing enemies (and friends) to the six levels of Hell.
Well, actually, that's exactly how Lu ascended, but ahead of his mild-mannered brother, Lu Dong Pu, and there's a long story about that, and more about wars and goodness knows what.
The time periods alternate and there is never the slightest doubt which world we're in, although it's easy to get lost, not only in the actual labyrinth, but in the intersecting paths of the several main characters in the ancient history: The Prolonger of Autumn, The Artisan, and four 'alternative' emperors, Mountain, Dragon, Trickster, and Child – or are they all actually the emperor?
I can imagine those who love intricate hierarchical storylines would love this – and I can imagine a complicated game based on it as well. Think of all those levels to avoid. What a ride!
Meanwhile, I've left Xiang and Yuan, who are being sent by Baby Bao to see his city. Xiang has unwittingly attracted a cult following as #BadChinese, and people want selfies with him. His fame (or infamy?) follows him to China.
When they visit Baby Bao's ghost city of Port Man Tou, I immediately thought of the word portmanteau, which I know as a double-sided suitcase (they open flat) and also seem to carry everything ('tout', in French, in my imagination, only). This is a two-hander of a story.
Portmanteau is also the term for a word made up of two words: brunch, bromance, and for China: smog.
I think this is a book you could read many times and keep picking up more wordplay and puns. A few of the things I enjoyed were the name of various cantons, the administrative areas.
"Canton of Western Façade", where there are no residents, only actors, who get "recast" (sent to be actor farmers) if they disobey or leave their scripts lying around.
"Port Man Tou Primary School – Canton of Print to PDF
Canton of Free Wi-Fi
Canton of Time's Uncertain Arrow
Canton of The Unwritten
Canton of Illegal Tender"
There's a lot to think about as the two young people try to make some sense of the madness they're caught up in. After visiting galleries and arguing about art (he admits silently that she's right), he mulls it over.
Both stories are equally compelling, for me. Xiang's and Yuan's is more like science fiction, told in the first person by Xiang, while the historical part is a different kind of world-building, ancient saga with a completely different language style.
Curious thoughts:
Lu is the surname of the ancient emperor/s, the modern main character, and the author. A chicken bone did in one of the emperor characters, and the main character had stomach trouble after eating a chicken bun. I don't recall the author elaborating on his own diet in his acknowledgements, but his wife's name is Yuan.
It is like nothing else I've read, but it has echoes of, or maybe nods to, an assortment of titles and authors, including, but certainly not limited to, the following… and I'm sure more will occur to me as this story continues to occupy mind-space.
Catch-22, The Arabian Nights, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass, Dante's Inferno, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Truman Show, The Rocky Horror Show, Game of Thrones, and my old favourite Stories from the Twilight Zone
A wild ride, as I said.
[The weird formatting is due to my own inexperience, not a Goodreads glitch.]
"Naturally, Chef Bei was skilled in all the disciplines, and could prepare any dish the Emperor so desired. But once in a while, he would serve up exquisite combinations – roasted duck, twice-cooked pork, lamb hotpot – only to reveal by meal's end, and to the Emperor's roars of laughter, that it had been tofu all along."
This is the most puzzling, outrageous, inventive and amusing social commentary I can ever remember experiencing. The premise is that Xiang Lu, an Australian of Chinese background, has been working as a translator, knowing only a smattering of Mandarin from his parents. He uses Google Translate, has been caught out, fired, and publicly tagged as #BadChinese.
He sends out his resumé with an unfortunate typo, saying he is a "a highly driven, 'careen-minded' individual with great attention to detail." Oops. But he does get one response – an envelope with a ticket to a cinema. He goes – why not?
After the film, he discovers the man sitting next to him has left his wallet on the seat. There is a lanyard with a tag saying "Baby Bao, Director"
Xiang and the young woman he meets, Yuan, Baby Bao's official translator, are the main characters of the modern story.
The book opens, however, not with Xiang, but with some kind of ancient history of China with an Emperor, Lu Huang Du, and his wildly colourful ascent to the throne via treachery and violence, sentencing enemies (and friends) to the six levels of Hell.
"He wanted no story of simple ascension, wanted nothing of the truth of how He had won that slippery throne. For the youth knew Himself to be Exceptional, and Exceptional Men (such as He) had Exceptional Stories. They came to be Emperors through cunning, ruthless strategy and force of will. They certainly did not do it by gawping as their purple-faced fathers clawed and sputtered on what would later be determined to be an awkwardly lodged chicken bone. Exceptional Men did not watch, frozen, unable or unwilling to help. Exceptional Men did not wait, in lacklustre fealty, for that final breathless minute to expire."
Well, actually, that's exactly how Lu ascended, but ahead of his mild-mannered brother, Lu Dong Pu, and there's a long story about that, and more about wars and goodness knows what.
The time periods alternate and there is never the slightest doubt which world we're in, although it's easy to get lost, not only in the actual labyrinth, but in the intersecting paths of the several main characters in the ancient history: The Prolonger of Autumn, The Artisan, and four 'alternative' emperors, Mountain, Dragon, Trickster, and Child – or are they all actually the emperor?
I can imagine those who love intricate hierarchical storylines would love this – and I can imagine a complicated game based on it as well. Think of all those levels to avoid. What a ride!
Meanwhile, I've left Xiang and Yuan, who are being sent by Baby Bao to see his city. Xiang has unwittingly attracted a cult following as #BadChinese, and people want selfies with him. His fame (or infamy?) follows him to China.
" 'This all feels so surreal,' I say. 'Three days ago I was in Sydney, wallowing in jobless solitude. Then I meet you, and it feels like I've known you my entire life. And now, I'm flying across an ocean, bound for China's most infamous ghost city.'
'You know,' she says, looking out the window, 'I have always had this silly thought that maybe, somehow, every city is the same. So when you go from one place to another, it's simply an illusion of flight. The take-off and landing is a simulation. In reality, you've never left the ground, or maybe you have, but are simply flying around in circles for hours, waiting for the new city to "load".'
'Is this why all airports look the same?' I ask.
She nods significantly. 'See? It takes longer for international flights because the city needs to undergo a more drastic change. But domestic flights are quicker. Why? Because the streets and buildings are already similar. They need less time to change.'"
When they visit Baby Bao's ghost city of Port Man Tou, I immediately thought of the word portmanteau, which I know as a double-sided suitcase (they open flat) and also seem to carry everything ('tout', in French, in my imagination, only). This is a two-hander of a story.
Portmanteau is also the term for a word made up of two words: brunch, bromance, and for China: smog.
I think this is a book you could read many times and keep picking up more wordplay and puns. A few of the things I enjoyed were the name of various cantons, the administrative areas.
"Canton of Western Façade", where there are no residents, only actors, who get "recast" (sent to be actor farmers) if they disobey or leave their scripts lying around.
"Port Man Tou Primary School – Canton of Print to PDF
Canton of Free Wi-Fi
Canton of Time's Uncertain Arrow
Canton of The Unwritten
Canton of Illegal Tender"
There's a lot to think about as the two young people try to make some sense of the madness they're caught up in. After visiting galleries and arguing about art (he admits silently that she's right), he mulls it over.
"What I was on the cusp of saying to her then, on the street, halfway between the gallery and the ruins of the neighbouring canton, and what I did say to her eventually, much, much later, once, after emerging from the shower, brow furrowed, eyes down, because it is much easier to remember the order of words like that, a mini-speech practised in my head, was this:
'If you are living a life aligned towards art – the making of it, the receiving of it – then the patterns you leave in your wake, whether you are aware of them or not, whether you intend them to be or not, will be indistinguishable from the art itself.'"
Both stories are equally compelling, for me. Xiang's and Yuan's is more like science fiction, told in the first person by Xiang, while the historical part is a different kind of world-building, ancient saga with a completely different language style.
Curious thoughts:
Lu is the surname of the ancient emperor/s, the modern main character, and the author. A chicken bone did in one of the emperor characters, and the main character had stomach trouble after eating a chicken bun. I don't recall the author elaborating on his own diet in his acknowledgements, but his wife's name is Yuan.
It is like nothing else I've read, but it has echoes of, or maybe nods to, an assortment of titles and authors, including, but certainly not limited to, the following… and I'm sure more will occur to me as this story continues to occupy mind-space.
Catch-22, The Arabian Nights, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass, Dante's Inferno, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Truman Show, The Rocky Horror Show, Game of Thrones, and my old favourite Stories from the Twilight Zone
A wild ride, as I said.
[The weird formatting is due to my own inexperience, not a Goodreads glitch.]
June 30, 2024
Ghost Cities gets a little weird – strong Italo Calvino vibes, for readers who like that sort of thing. I found myself most drawn to the Port Man Tou story, where the city-cum-film-set is revealed to be a contemporary panopticon that blurs the line between life and art. Even as the story grows increasingly surreal and dystopian, the tone remains sharp and wry, a tricky tightrope that only the most masterful storytellers can walk without falling.
My full review of Ghost Cities is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My full review of Ghost Cities is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
November 10, 2025
Book club: discussion was delayed by months so my recollections were poor, as was my impression of the book. To me it was a cross between The Truman Show and Yellow Face.
The book is about a phoney translator who doesn’t speak Chinese and becomes #badchinese. There’s a dual storyline set centuries earlier about a city that that was populated in a dodgy way. Similar things are meant to have happened in the modern and olden day.
The characters were unlikeable. The romance was the most confusing. No spark. To reason. Unless charity case that grows on you?!?
The others enjoyed the old timeline and not so much the new one. A good premise but not captivating. It took some effort to connect the timelines but there wasn’t enough interest to try. It wasn’t awful. Not sure how the book won awards. Could be a case of virtue signalling at the right time. Or we are a pack of demanding, hard-to-please whingers 😩😴🫥.
Ratings: 3, 3, 2.5, 2.5 and my 2 = 2.6 average but using my own rating.
The next one will qualify for LBC. 🦜🦜🪨.
The book is about a phoney translator who doesn’t speak Chinese and becomes #badchinese. There’s a dual storyline set centuries earlier about a city that that was populated in a dodgy way. Similar things are meant to have happened in the modern and olden day.
The characters were unlikeable. The romance was the most confusing. No spark. To reason. Unless charity case that grows on you?!?
The others enjoyed the old timeline and not so much the new one. A good premise but not captivating. It took some effort to connect the timelines but there wasn’t enough interest to try. It wasn’t awful. Not sure how the book won awards. Could be a case of virtue signalling at the right time. Or we are a pack of demanding, hard-to-please whingers 😩😴🫥.
Ratings: 3, 3, 2.5, 2.5 and my 2 = 2.6 average but using my own rating.
The next one will qualify for LBC. 🦜🦜🪨.
October 27, 2024
I think I missed the point
October 1, 2025
As the winner of this year's Miles Franklin award I was expecting more from this one. But written on two timelines in alternating chapters, especially as one of the streams concerned an arrogant, all powerful Chinese emperor from long ago, I was not engaged. In the present stream, the Chinese film director making the film, was also an arrogant prat. Such unlikable characters, just couldn't get into, gave up the ghost at 30%, library ebook.
June 19, 2024
4.5 stars
If Christopher Nolan wrote a novel it would be like this one. Or perhaps if Siang Lu directed a film it would be like a Christopher Nolan one.
Ghost Cities is a deliciously layered multi-narrative fable of power set in dual timelines. One in distant Imperial China and one in modern day Sydney and China.
This is a book that is both bonkers and deep, funny and thought provoking. It’s best read by letting it wash over you until the interconnections start to emerge. All the while marvelling at the mind of the author.
You’ll meet a cast including:
Xiang Lu who after being fired from his interpreter job at the Chinese Embassy Sydney for relying on Google Translate for his job sets of a #BadChinese meme.
The eccentric director Baby Bao, who has turned one of China’s Ghost Cities into a 24/7 film set.
The Imperial Emperor who has 1000 doubles.
The Imperial Swine.
An Imperial consort who writes out burned books by hand and by memory to allow them to live again.
A book that needs to be experienced rather than read about. The writing has echoes of Jennifer Egan or Rhett Davies Hovering yet with a Chinese mythology feel.
Thanks to UQP and Siang Lu for the gifted copy.
If Christopher Nolan wrote a novel it would be like this one. Or perhaps if Siang Lu directed a film it would be like a Christopher Nolan one.
Ghost Cities is a deliciously layered multi-narrative fable of power set in dual timelines. One in distant Imperial China and one in modern day Sydney and China.
This is a book that is both bonkers and deep, funny and thought provoking. It’s best read by letting it wash over you until the interconnections start to emerge. All the while marvelling at the mind of the author.
You’ll meet a cast including:
Xiang Lu who after being fired from his interpreter job at the Chinese Embassy Sydney for relying on Google Translate for his job sets of a #BadChinese meme.
The eccentric director Baby Bao, who has turned one of China’s Ghost Cities into a 24/7 film set.
The Imperial Emperor who has 1000 doubles.
The Imperial Swine.
An Imperial consort who writes out burned books by hand and by memory to allow them to live again.
A book that needs to be experienced rather than read about. The writing has echoes of Jennifer Egan or Rhett Davies Hovering yet with a Chinese mythology feel.
Thanks to UQP and Siang Lu for the gifted copy.
September 19, 2025
I did have a lot of laughs while reading this but there were also a lot of moments when I felt weary at the excessiveness of it. There was so many different things happening and diversions that I couldn’t absorb the content. It’s an interesting choice for the Miles Franklin award as I’m not fully convinced it feels deeply rooted in the Australian psyche. Maybe there were so many references to different things that I missed the overall point. This was definitely an experience to read but I’m not sure I would recommend it.
abandoned-on-hold
October 1, 2025I am abandoning books all over the place this week.
This one won the Miles Franklin and I was very interested in the concept of Ghost Cities but the style is too allegorical for my taste. Since the decent into madness has just commenced, its best we end things now :)
This one won the Miles Franklin and I was very interested in the concept of Ghost Cities but the style is too allegorical for my taste. Since the decent into madness has just commenced, its best we end things now :)
November 16, 2025
I was looking forward to this book; Australian award winning fiction plus the pull of a ghost city, especially one in China where there is such dense population. However, soon after I started reading, I started to do something I never do when I’m reading a book - I kept looking at reviews to see if I could find what I was missing within the writing. I failed to see what was funny (see cover) in this book and every time the writing began to flow for me I was back to the alternate story.
A good dual timeline novel should make you not want to put the book down; it should keep you wanting to go back to the alternate storyline over and over. When the storylines are poor it’s with a roll of the eyes you return to the other.
Generally I enjoy alternate timelines - they keep the love of reading the story strong and create anticipation. With this story however, this wasn’t the case, they were disjointed and banal. I thought about reading them separately, but still the flow just didn’t seem to be there even if I read them in this way. (I’ll note here that tautology and pleonasms always bother me, and overall I really didn’t like the way it was written).
I struggle to abandon books, but I would have stopped at the try hard passages (prose or an attempt at poetry? I don’t know, but it’s not good writing in my eyes) from p101 had this not been for book club. I’m going to need something super fun to read next to not make me never want to read again. Well, ok I may have read a fast paced fun book half way through to prevent this - I’ve had books take the joy of reading away before and I don’t want it to happen again!
There is no joy to be found in these pages. Every so often there is a glimmer of hope when the narrative flows, only to fall flat within a page or two.
I read that it was “risk taking” I’m sorry, but what? The only risk I see is that it’s an unengaging book. I read many times in reviews that the stories have no link, but I do see the links, the tyrannical leaders (the emperor and Bao) and yes, the tenuous links between past and present etc. Yawn. It’s all been done before, but better.
Allegories abound!! I get that it’s a commentary on bureaucracy, the diaspora, dictatorial leadership (veiled or otherwise), culture and belonging. I get that it’s meant to be satire, I get that he’s read Murakami (probably Kafka on The Shore) and Calvino’s Invisible Cities, (and maybe even Dante). I can even sometimes see where it’s supposed to be humorous, but it really missed the mark in so many ways.
Looking at the shortlist (and the long list) for the Miles Franklin this year I really struggled from the blurbs to see many stars amongst them - I’d read one other so far and didn’t like that much either (but more than this). There’s so many good books out there and my TBR list is massive - and Australian literary fiction is my most beloved of all, so my disappointment with this is huge. I look forward to reading the Stella winner soon and hopefully that will restore my faith in Australian literary awards.
Yes Hayley Scrivenor. I too wanted to crumple this novel in a ball, and swallow it whole, just so I could never see it again.
A good dual timeline novel should make you not want to put the book down; it should keep you wanting to go back to the alternate storyline over and over. When the storylines are poor it’s with a roll of the eyes you return to the other.
Generally I enjoy alternate timelines - they keep the love of reading the story strong and create anticipation. With this story however, this wasn’t the case, they were disjointed and banal. I thought about reading them separately, but still the flow just didn’t seem to be there even if I read them in this way. (I’ll note here that tautology and pleonasms always bother me, and overall I really didn’t like the way it was written).
I struggle to abandon books, but I would have stopped at the try hard passages (prose or an attempt at poetry? I don’t know, but it’s not good writing in my eyes) from p101 had this not been for book club. I’m going to need something super fun to read next to not make me never want to read again. Well, ok I may have read a fast paced fun book half way through to prevent this - I’ve had books take the joy of reading away before and I don’t want it to happen again!
There is no joy to be found in these pages. Every so often there is a glimmer of hope when the narrative flows, only to fall flat within a page or two.
I read that it was “risk taking” I’m sorry, but what? The only risk I see is that it’s an unengaging book. I read many times in reviews that the stories have no link, but I do see the links, the tyrannical leaders (the emperor and Bao) and yes, the tenuous links between past and present etc. Yawn. It’s all been done before, but better.
Allegories abound!! I get that it’s a commentary on bureaucracy, the diaspora, dictatorial leadership (veiled or otherwise), culture and belonging. I get that it’s meant to be satire, I get that he’s read Murakami (probably Kafka on The Shore) and Calvino’s Invisible Cities, (and maybe even Dante). I can even sometimes see where it’s supposed to be humorous, but it really missed the mark in so many ways.
Looking at the shortlist (and the long list) for the Miles Franklin this year I really struggled from the blurbs to see many stars amongst them - I’d read one other so far and didn’t like that much either (but more than this). There’s so many good books out there and my TBR list is massive - and Australian literary fiction is my most beloved of all, so my disappointment with this is huge. I look forward to reading the Stella winner soon and hopefully that will restore my faith in Australian literary awards.
Yes Hayley Scrivenor. I too wanted to crumple this novel in a ball, and swallow it whole, just so I could never see it again.
October 23, 2024
I was chuffed when Australian author Siang Lui contacted me and offered a copy of his latest book Ghost Cities. I had been wondering about it having seen it pop up on my feed a few times.
I read this book a few weeks ago and it's taken me a little time to compile my thoughts because it a hugely unique novel.
Part humorous satire, part dystopian world, part allegory, Ghost Cities is told in two timelines. In present day Australia Xiang is fired from his job as a translator when it is discovered he doesn't speak a word of Chinese and has been relying on Google Translate. He goes viral for this (#badchinese) and draws the attention of famous director Baby Bao who sweeps him away to one of China's empty mega cities which the Director has turned into a giant film set full of actors playing at real life.
How does this timeline compare to the storyline set in ancient China where an all-powerful Emperor rules his kingdom with an iron fist? The echoes of the ancient stories start to appear in the present day. We switch between ludicrous situations with the maniacal Baby Bao who appears to be setting himself up as the ruler of megacity Port Man Tou and fable like stories of the Emperor and his desire to rewrite history.
If this is sounding a little weird and disjointed yes it 100% was and yet I found myself turning the pages and becoming immersed in the whole crazy thing! I can see how some readers may have struggled to maintain the focus here but I really enjoyed it even if I'm not sure that I totally got it all.
Funny, weird, clever and compelling. If this sounds intriguing maybe give Ghost Cities a go.
Thank you so much @sianglu for my #gifted copy.
I read this book a few weeks ago and it's taken me a little time to compile my thoughts because it a hugely unique novel.
Part humorous satire, part dystopian world, part allegory, Ghost Cities is told in two timelines. In present day Australia Xiang is fired from his job as a translator when it is discovered he doesn't speak a word of Chinese and has been relying on Google Translate. He goes viral for this (#badchinese) and draws the attention of famous director Baby Bao who sweeps him away to one of China's empty mega cities which the Director has turned into a giant film set full of actors playing at real life.
How does this timeline compare to the storyline set in ancient China where an all-powerful Emperor rules his kingdom with an iron fist? The echoes of the ancient stories start to appear in the present day. We switch between ludicrous situations with the maniacal Baby Bao who appears to be setting himself up as the ruler of megacity Port Man Tou and fable like stories of the Emperor and his desire to rewrite history.
If this is sounding a little weird and disjointed yes it 100% was and yet I found myself turning the pages and becoming immersed in the whole crazy thing! I can see how some readers may have struggled to maintain the focus here but I really enjoyed it even if I'm not sure that I totally got it all.
Funny, weird, clever and compelling. If this sounds intriguing maybe give Ghost Cities a go.
Thank you so much @sianglu for my #gifted copy.
June 24, 2025
Not for me. The book comprised two quite separate narratives (unless they were actually connected somehow?) - one now and one fable. The "now" story was a quite interesting and reasonably well told parable of China and capitalism. I simply couldn't understand the fable - I couldn't keep track of the dozens of characters - but maybe it would be more rewarding if read slowly and taking notes along the way. Certainly a unique novel; very literary.
August 16, 2025
I just didn’t get it. I tried and tried but got lost and gave up. Not sure why it won the Miles Franklin when an average reader like me can’t keep up. It wasn’t just the story, it was the writing. I found myself skipping huge chunks of text. It’s just not the book for me. I can’t even pretend it is. Each to their own. Just because it didn’t connect with me doesn’t mean it won’t for you.
May 27, 2024
I feel... judged! Yes, I've to admit I'm 'Bad Chinese' But truly, my parents should have continued to speak to me in Chinese if they wanted me to retain it. I also didn't make much of an effort so it's partly my fault too.
However, after that session at Sydney Writer's Festival this morning with Viet Thanh Nguyen, I actually don't feel that badly. He notes that we, of the diaspora, just can't win whichever language we speak but that doesn't stop us from reading about the history and culture of our parents' origins. I have to admit that I'm not great at this either! I don't read much non fiction...
Which brings me to my next point in that I probably missed a LOT of Chinese inferences to be drawn from this novel by Siang Lu. While I could draw inferences with English / western literature which I'm obviously quite wrong (thanks, Roz, for attending his panel at Melbourne Writers Festival & sharing with me how I'm just so wrong). Therefore, I probably did not get as much out of this novel as per the author's goals. I did, however, take a leaf out of his book (literally) by whipping out my phone and using Google lens to Google translate the Chinese characters found in this novel.
Both Roz and I were quite surprised at the beginning of this novel. It was humorous and really quite clever! However, as we are both lean towards the 'Bad Chinese' characteristics, we lost steam around the middle of the novel because we just weren't able to extrapolate what we were meant to. I'm keen to hear the author's talk though, whenever he makes it to Sydney, so I can understand better.
So that my perspective of our buddy read and you can check Roz's on her post
My thanks to UQP + author gifting me a copy of this book in exchange of my honest thoughts
However, after that session at Sydney Writer's Festival this morning with Viet Thanh Nguyen, I actually don't feel that badly. He notes that we, of the diaspora, just can't win whichever language we speak but that doesn't stop us from reading about the history and culture of our parents' origins. I have to admit that I'm not great at this either! I don't read much non fiction...
Which brings me to my next point in that I probably missed a LOT of Chinese inferences to be drawn from this novel by Siang Lu. While I could draw inferences with English / western literature which I'm obviously quite wrong (thanks, Roz, for attending his panel at Melbourne Writers Festival & sharing with me how I'm just so wrong). Therefore, I probably did not get as much out of this novel as per the author's goals. I did, however, take a leaf out of his book (literally) by whipping out my phone and using Google lens to Google translate the Chinese characters found in this novel.
Both Roz and I were quite surprised at the beginning of this novel. It was humorous and really quite clever! However, as we are both lean towards the 'Bad Chinese' characteristics, we lost steam around the middle of the novel because we just weren't able to extrapolate what we were meant to. I'm keen to hear the author's talk though, whenever he makes it to Sydney, so I can understand better.
So that my perspective of our buddy read and you can check Roz's on her post
My thanks to UQP + author gifting me a copy of this book in exchange of my honest thoughts
September 25, 2024
This novel is inspired by the vacant, uninhabited megacities of China, and follows multiple narratives many years apart. In the present day, Xiang is fired from his job as a translator at Sydney’s Chinese Consulate and is dubbed #BadChinese after it’s discovered he’s been using Google Translate. This is alternated with stories from the past of a dictatorial Imperial Emperor and his escapades.
This is such a unique, genre-bending, witty, hilarious albeit slightly chaotic novel! I’ve never read anything like this at all, it’s completely original, which is intended as a compliment. The dystopian-esque Truman Show vibes were so fascinating and drew me in immediately. The satire and humour was fabulous, especially all the quirky characters - Siang is a very talented and clever writer!
I found I was more interested and could relate more to the present day storyline. Especially, with Xiang’s experience of not being Chinese enough but also not being Australian enough - (perhaps a bit of a different experience for me being biracial). I thought this was explored very well, and realistically. Siang made an at times difficult topic, lighthearted and easily accessible.
I did enjoy aspects of the timeline set in the past, some were absolutely absurd (in the best way possible). However, there were times where I felt like I wasn’t following properly or missed something. I guess the best way to explain this, is it felt like I wasn’t quite getting what the author intended out of the novel. I feel like I need to reread this one in the future because there’s definitely a lot I missed!
I quite enjoyed this one and do recommend checking out this 3.75⭐️ read. It’s such an entertaining read that will keep you deeply engrossed, and on your toes!
Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy 💌
This is such a unique, genre-bending, witty, hilarious albeit slightly chaotic novel! I’ve never read anything like this at all, it’s completely original, which is intended as a compliment. The dystopian-esque Truman Show vibes were so fascinating and drew me in immediately. The satire and humour was fabulous, especially all the quirky characters - Siang is a very talented and clever writer!
I found I was more interested and could relate more to the present day storyline. Especially, with Xiang’s experience of not being Chinese enough but also not being Australian enough - (perhaps a bit of a different experience for me being biracial). I thought this was explored very well, and realistically. Siang made an at times difficult topic, lighthearted and easily accessible.
I did enjoy aspects of the timeline set in the past, some were absolutely absurd (in the best way possible). However, there were times where I felt like I wasn’t following properly or missed something. I guess the best way to explain this, is it felt like I wasn’t quite getting what the author intended out of the novel. I feel like I need to reread this one in the future because there’s definitely a lot I missed!
I quite enjoyed this one and do recommend checking out this 3.75⭐️ read. It’s such an entertaining read that will keep you deeply engrossed, and on your toes!
Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy 💌
August 24, 2025
"Ghost Cities is a Miles Franklin Literary Award Winner by Siang Lu, perfect for fans of Haruki Murakami. Ghost Cities is a highly imaginative novel that cleverly draws on Chinese history to explore the absurdity of modern life and work." This award-winning book is one for the literary aficionado or perhaps a reader with an interest in new versus ancient cultures, folklore stories and bizarre events. There are several different threads and it was hard for me to pinpoint a general theme apart from the obvious tales entwined with modern times. Sometimes it was like time-travelling with Dr Who. Chinese Consulate translator Xiang, or #Bad Chinese, is at the core of the book and ‘works’ in the Ministerial Office Complex Canton of the Unwritten with movies to make, but is overshadowed by ancient characters with hair-raising stories from the past. I found the book riveting and will probably go back and read it again to fully understand the context. There is an Emperor, Imperial Artisan, Baby Bao, a brutal chess game, disparate characters etc, and of course Yuan with Xiang a modern romance. My favourites are chapter 13 The Imperial Consort Wuer; chapter 21 The Six Levels of Hell (shudder); chapter 36 a satirical official decree from the Department of Industrial Affairs to the citizens of Port Man Tou. Truly a book which cleverly entwines old with the new. My tip is to read slowly over a long period of time to absorb the essence. The final Coda is calmly brilliant.
August 4, 2024
I say this all the time in reviews and I really mean it - I never expect books to be completely original. With the unfathomable number of books out in the world, you could recreate any book by pulling pieces from a thousand others if you tried hard enough (and that’s not criticism!).
So when you find something truly unique, it’s so special. At no point did I know what was going to happen yet and it was riveting.
Ghost Cities is inspired by the uninhabited mega cities in China, and follows two tales many years apart. In the present, Xiang is fired from his job as a Chinese translator after it’s discovered he’s being fulfilling his role entirely using Google Translate. Thus he is labeled #BadChinese and attracts the attention of an eccentric filmmaker who has an offer to make him. We also follow The Imperial Emperor and his escapades, in a time of concubines, Royal decrees and the need for a taster of the taster.
Xiang is incredibly endearing and sharp, and the author created great chemistry between characters. We get more than a few belly laughs and a sweet blossoming love despite the dystopian-esque setting at times.
Siang Lu has crafted a totally immersive parallel of identity, corruption, and the circles history runs in. On top of powerful commentary, Ghost Cities is a thoroughly entertaining page-turner and I can’t wait to read more from this author.
So when you find something truly unique, it’s so special. At no point did I know what was going to happen yet and it was riveting.
Ghost Cities is inspired by the uninhabited mega cities in China, and follows two tales many years apart. In the present, Xiang is fired from his job as a Chinese translator after it’s discovered he’s being fulfilling his role entirely using Google Translate. Thus he is labeled #BadChinese and attracts the attention of an eccentric filmmaker who has an offer to make him. We also follow The Imperial Emperor and his escapades, in a time of concubines, Royal decrees and the need for a taster of the taster.
Xiang is incredibly endearing and sharp, and the author created great chemistry between characters. We get more than a few belly laughs and a sweet blossoming love despite the dystopian-esque setting at times.
Siang Lu has crafted a totally immersive parallel of identity, corruption, and the circles history runs in. On top of powerful commentary, Ghost Cities is a thoroughly entertaining page-turner and I can’t wait to read more from this author.
May 31, 2024
Thank you Siang for gifting us a copy to read and review.
Parallels of past and present intertwine in the adaptation of Chinese history and life in a modern Chinese ghost city.
The absurdity and despotism highlighted in both eras.
Xiang lives in Sydney and works for the Chinese consulate.
His inability to read or write Mandarin was exposed after staff had set little traps to belittle him and then sack him.
The mockery continued as a derogatory hashtag created infamy and unwanted attention.
Landing a job with self proclaimed number one Chinese film director Baby Bao is just the start of a crazy journey.
Living and working in the ghost city with all its staged population.
Among the craziness, a romance blossoms and while production is in jeopardy.
Not a conventional plot by any stretch but one that invites intrigue and interest in both time periods as it delves into China’s political follies and ironies.
For me it is rare insight into this power house of a country and its people.
I love a thought provoking story with a difference .
Parallels of past and present intertwine in the adaptation of Chinese history and life in a modern Chinese ghost city.
The absurdity and despotism highlighted in both eras.
Xiang lives in Sydney and works for the Chinese consulate.
His inability to read or write Mandarin was exposed after staff had set little traps to belittle him and then sack him.
The mockery continued as a derogatory hashtag created infamy and unwanted attention.
Landing a job with self proclaimed number one Chinese film director Baby Bao is just the start of a crazy journey.
Living and working in the ghost city with all its staged population.
Among the craziness, a romance blossoms and while production is in jeopardy.
Not a conventional plot by any stretch but one that invites intrigue and interest in both time periods as it delves into China’s political follies and ironies.
For me it is rare insight into this power house of a country and its people.
I love a thought provoking story with a difference .
August 28, 2025
I have to question the criteria for this winning the Miles Franklin. You can't simply name streets and landmarks in Australia and meet the bloody criteria... I found myself bored in many parts of this - I enjoyed the Pig as Emperor though and that's a good enough reason for a star. The characters had no depth and the relationship between the central characters had all of the emotion of a cardboard box.
Want to read
June 24, 2024here for the horny mountain
July 5, 2024
"That’s just how I feel. It is very like you, I think, to search for patterns in the paint. To rearrange meaningless things until they become significant. You construct theories about things, the world, and latch tightly on to examples that will prove your theories beyond doubt, ignoring any troublesome pieces that don’t fit and therefore might harm your theories."
I had interpreted the reviews I had read of this to mean it would be clever but frivolous, which was all wrong. This is clever and funny and often just very silly, but it is anything but superficial. It takes a while to see all the patterns that Lu is creating through the novel, but when you do the depth of what he has to show is dazzling. Ghost Cities is a denouncement of totalitarianism, an exploration of the ways illusion and reality intersect, a tender, understated love story, a sly satire on various aspects of both Chinese and colonial cultures and just a set of really delightful fables that manage to feel inevitable and totally surprising all at once.
You can't see all this at first - there is a point in the middle of the book where all the mirrors between the various elements become apparent (others may, of course, catch on faster than I), and you can see how each slice refracts, reflects, distorts and illuminates the others.
It also takes a while to become immersive, as the satire and slapstick style also creates distance I mean, the ghost city is called Port Man Tou, one of many jokes, anachronisms and absurdities. These remind us that we are reading a construction and that the author is well aware that we have expectations, which are shaped by who we are and the baggage we bring. This becomes very much part of what the novel says but also jars us out of the created worlds. The passage which starts this novel provides a challenge, for example, to the way we are now reading this novel and the way Lu has written it. However, this breaking of the wall is offset by the delicacy of the connection between our only two human-sized characters, Yuan and Xiang. In some ways this reminded me of the love story at the heart of 1984, a device which creates a fierce association of reality and humanity amid deliberate absurdity. Unlike 1984, however, Lu commits to the liberating power of love and connection. These two are not concerned with salvation, progress, social change or vengeance. They just want to be happy and loved. Their connection has, it is implied, authenticity - a concept which everywhere else is dubious. It gives the novel heart, as well as a brain.
But in addition to those two things, Lu is simply having fun a lot of the time. The narrative plays games, exercises various stylistic flourishes, and commits very, very deeply to a couple of jokes. Lu brings a playfulness to the narrative. The intricate, interlocking structure of the ancient sections of the book becomes just a pleasure to read. A lengthy section describing a character's progress through a mythical, levelled prison becomes gripping reading. The eventual pay-off plays with expectation and evokes emotion as a result. Elements that appear to be major points are abruptly ended, while subtle details take centre stage. There are elements of this that could be terrifying - Lu is very much exposing the dangers of a constructed reality, a world in which you need a Department of verisimilitude and in which it cannot be trusted. But he has the subtlety to play with the idea that we all, in ways, build illusions out of our realities, and realities arise from our illusions. Such things are built on longing and insecurity, and a desire to escape. I will be thinking about this book for a long time, clearly, and I suspect I will change my mind about some of this as I do.
This is touted as good for fans of Murakami. I loath him, and loved this, so I would like to challenge that. It is certainly surreal, but much fiercer and, honestly I think, with a bit more to say.
July 20, 2024
A young man named Xiang is fired from his job as a translator at Sydney’s Chinese Consulate after it is discovered he doesn’t speak a word of Chinese and has been relying entirely on Google Translate for his work. He is relocated to one such ghost city connected to a parallel odyssey in which an ancient Emperor creates a thousand doubles of Himself, or where a chess-playing automaton hides a deadly secret.
I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. All I knew was the intriguing synopsis and the captivating concept of ghost cities to represent the uninhabited megacities of China. Little did I know that I was going in for a ride! It was historical fiction, contemporary, urban fantasy, and satire all at the same time.
I loved the alternating timelines between modern and ancient China. The imperial period storyline gave me a nostalgic feeling as I grew up watching a lot of imperial drama! Siang managed to emulate the classic Chinese storytelling style well, with a lot of metaphors involving nature and geometric shapes.
Also, this book was unexpectedly a cracker! I’m a hashtag-badchinese myself because I can’t speak mandarin, even though I can understand some phrases. As I listened to the audiobook, I often cackled out loud, especially when I could understand what Baby Bao was saying before the translation came. The jokes landed twice for me!
The audiobook narrator was perfectly cast. Keith Brockett’s delivery matched the vibe of the book really well. Having read the physical book as well as listening to the audiobook, I can say the audiobook was the superior experience.
All in all, this was a masterpiece. It was unique, fresh, funny and nothing like I had ever read before. I’m a new fan of Siang Lu and his imaginative brilliant brain!
(Thanks to the author for a gifted physical copy in exchange for an honest review)
See my bookstagram review.
I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. All I knew was the intriguing synopsis and the captivating concept of ghost cities to represent the uninhabited megacities of China. Little did I know that I was going in for a ride! It was historical fiction, contemporary, urban fantasy, and satire all at the same time.
I loved the alternating timelines between modern and ancient China. The imperial period storyline gave me a nostalgic feeling as I grew up watching a lot of imperial drama! Siang managed to emulate the classic Chinese storytelling style well, with a lot of metaphors involving nature and geometric shapes.
Also, this book was unexpectedly a cracker! I’m a hashtag-badchinese myself because I can’t speak mandarin, even though I can understand some phrases. As I listened to the audiobook, I often cackled out loud, especially when I could understand what Baby Bao was saying before the translation came. The jokes landed twice for me!
The audiobook narrator was perfectly cast. Keith Brockett’s delivery matched the vibe of the book really well. Having read the physical book as well as listening to the audiobook, I can say the audiobook was the superior experience.
All in all, this was a masterpiece. It was unique, fresh, funny and nothing like I had ever read before. I’m a new fan of Siang Lu and his imaginative brilliant brain!
(Thanks to the author for a gifted physical copy in exchange for an honest review)
See my bookstagram review.
June 26, 2024
What. A. Book!
I dont actually know what it is that I have read, I have so many questions
That was nuts, in the best possible way
Ghost Cities flips between now, Xiang Lu’s story and past, Emperor Lu Huang Do
The now, about Xiang who just been sacked from his job at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, having been discovered by his colleagues to not be able to speak Chinese (he uses Google translate to complete his work) and before he knows it, he becomes an internet meme complete with his own #BadChinese hashtag
The past centres around The Emperor, who is a selfish and arrogant leader. He rules with no boundaries and is always fearful his subjects are secretly trying to plot his death
I am torn between which story I enjoyed more, the present featuring ‘the armpit of the armpit’ or the past featuring ‘the Imperial Artisan’ or ‘the taster to the taster’
A thought provoking satire, with perfectly placed humour throughout. And now has initiated the #snortlaughter.
I really enjoyed reading this very original story
Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy of your book to review 🫶
I dont actually know what it is that I have read, I have so many questions
That was nuts, in the best possible way
Ghost Cities flips between now, Xiang Lu’s story and past, Emperor Lu Huang Do
The now, about Xiang who just been sacked from his job at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, having been discovered by his colleagues to not be able to speak Chinese (he uses Google translate to complete his work) and before he knows it, he becomes an internet meme complete with his own #BadChinese hashtag
The past centres around The Emperor, who is a selfish and arrogant leader. He rules with no boundaries and is always fearful his subjects are secretly trying to plot his death
I am torn between which story I enjoyed more, the present featuring ‘the armpit of the armpit’ or the past featuring ‘the Imperial Artisan’ or ‘the taster to the taster’
A thought provoking satire, with perfectly placed humour throughout. And now has initiated the #snortlaughter.
I really enjoyed reading this very original story
Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy of your book to review 🫶
May 31, 2024
Ghost Cities is narrated through a dual timeline.
Present Day: Xiang Lu is sacked from his translator job with the Chinese Consulate in Sydney when they find out he can’t actually speak Chinese. When the hashtag badchinese goes viral Xiang is picked up by producer Baby Bao who sees the perfect opportunity to exploit Xiang in his new movie set in China’s ghost city.
Imperial China: Emperor Lu Huang Do rules with an iron fist forever paranoid that everyone is out to kill him.
I totally enjoyed both timelines however I think the story of Lu Huang Do and His loyal subjects drew me in more. It was totally absurd and I loved how it went round and round in circles.
Ghost Cities is an imaginative story about myths, superstitions, power, desire fear and corruption, wrapped around lashings of humour and pathos.
Present Day: Xiang Lu is sacked from his translator job with the Chinese Consulate in Sydney when they find out he can’t actually speak Chinese. When the hashtag badchinese goes viral Xiang is picked up by producer Baby Bao who sees the perfect opportunity to exploit Xiang in his new movie set in China’s ghost city.
Imperial China: Emperor Lu Huang Do rules with an iron fist forever paranoid that everyone is out to kill him.
I totally enjoyed both timelines however I think the story of Lu Huang Do and His loyal subjects drew me in more. It was totally absurd and I loved how it went round and round in circles.
Ghost Cities is an imaginative story about myths, superstitions, power, desire fear and corruption, wrapped around lashings of humour and pathos.
October 12, 2025
I've heard an account about a ghost city from someone who had actually spent some time in one but this story is a nothing like it. Two parallel stories, one in ancient times revolving around a merciless, fatuous emperor and a modern one with a haughty, bullying director, who operates a ghost city. The former storyline was more interesting with almost fable like vignettes. Droll. Quirky. But overall the book was like a ghost city itself.
November 20, 2025
4.5 stars.
Finally an Australian work of fiction that replicates the story telling techniques of contemporary Chinese writers (such as Can Xue). A complex tapestry of a novel (or is it two novels? Or more? A hall of mirrors) that approaches innumerable modern concerns, surveillance, authoritarianism, capitalism, the futility of work, sweatshops, cultural integration, multiculturalism, and so much more.
If you’re after a standard (yawn) narrative arc (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) then this probably not your cup of tea. Wanna read something that excites and make little explosions in your brain? Then grab it.
Finally an Australian work of fiction that replicates the story telling techniques of contemporary Chinese writers (such as Can Xue). A complex tapestry of a novel (or is it two novels? Or more? A hall of mirrors) that approaches innumerable modern concerns, surveillance, authoritarianism, capitalism, the futility of work, sweatshops, cultural integration, multiculturalism, and so much more.
If you’re after a standard (yawn) narrative arc (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) then this probably not your cup of tea. Wanna read something that excites and make little explosions in your brain? Then grab it.
July 30, 2024
If I could give this book 6 stars I would - it sits in a category all of its own, defined by limitless imagination and literary genius.
From chickens with traitorous bones to the six levels of hell in a monstrous labyrinth*, Ghost Cities offers a highly satisfying satirical mental workout that will sharpen your wit, test your memory and make you laugh out loud at the absurd adjuncts seasoning the storyline.
The main narrative features a young Chinese translator Xiang fired from his job for not being able to speak a word of Chinese, and who is subsequently accused by his doctor to be suffering from a disorder called 'Taikophobia' (fear of Chinese people). He is catapulted to fame for all the wrong reasons (headlined by trending hashtag #BadChinese) and thrust onto the streets of Port Man Tou, China, a former ghost city turned film set where reality is obscured by hidden cameras and untrustworthy souls. Think The Truman Show on crack and you're almost there.
Ghost Cities dares to go where no other book has - right into the guts of the vacant, uninhabited megacities of China, embroiled with mystery and confusion, excitement, greed and ego. The multiple narratives are dotted along parallel timelines featuring imperial traitors, ancient empires, modern failures and crazed Directors and Dictators - each as hilariously outrageous as the other. Each carefully placed word acts as a lure loaded with creative bait, testing and teasing the reader to imagine the unimaginable.
I almost didn't feel intelligent enough to be reading this book, until I realised it was making me smarter! I learnt a great number of new words to contribute to my vocabulary, such as 'sagacious', 'fealty', 'strategem' and 'ambage'; and I felt that the simple act of reading this book activated a part of my brain that had lay dormant for many lifetimes.
Thank you Siang Lu, for enlightening that small part of my brain responsible for intelligence, enabling my ego to feel slightly smarter and my smile brighter. The most brilliantly original novel I have read in a long time!
'And what if, after all this, it's a bad novel?'. No chance.
*The author dedicates an entire 30 page chapter (see chapter 21) to describing the six levels of hell in intricate detail using poem-like verse, written in the perspective of a royal turned prisoner. Impressive!
From chickens with traitorous bones to the six levels of hell in a monstrous labyrinth*, Ghost Cities offers a highly satisfying satirical mental workout that will sharpen your wit, test your memory and make you laugh out loud at the absurd adjuncts seasoning the storyline.
The main narrative features a young Chinese translator Xiang fired from his job for not being able to speak a word of Chinese, and who is subsequently accused by his doctor to be suffering from a disorder called 'Taikophobia' (fear of Chinese people). He is catapulted to fame for all the wrong reasons (headlined by trending hashtag #BadChinese) and thrust onto the streets of Port Man Tou, China, a former ghost city turned film set where reality is obscured by hidden cameras and untrustworthy souls. Think The Truman Show on crack and you're almost there.
Ghost Cities dares to go where no other book has - right into the guts of the vacant, uninhabited megacities of China, embroiled with mystery and confusion, excitement, greed and ego. The multiple narratives are dotted along parallel timelines featuring imperial traitors, ancient empires, modern failures and crazed Directors and Dictators - each as hilariously outrageous as the other. Each carefully placed word acts as a lure loaded with creative bait, testing and teasing the reader to imagine the unimaginable.
I almost didn't feel intelligent enough to be reading this book, until I realised it was making me smarter! I learnt a great number of new words to contribute to my vocabulary, such as 'sagacious', 'fealty', 'strategem' and 'ambage'; and I felt that the simple act of reading this book activated a part of my brain that had lay dormant for many lifetimes.
Thank you Siang Lu, for enlightening that small part of my brain responsible for intelligence, enabling my ego to feel slightly smarter and my smile brighter. The most brilliantly original novel I have read in a long time!
'And what if, after all this, it's a bad novel?'. No chance.
*The author dedicates an entire 30 page chapter (see chapter 21) to describing the six levels of hell in intricate detail using poem-like verse, written in the perspective of a royal turned prisoner. Impressive!
August 25, 2024
An innovative, linguistically agile novel that satirizes megalomaniacs attempting to use their power to control the populace. Like the author of Ghost Town, author Siang Lu uses a narrator with a phonetically similar sounding name - Xiang Lu- to tell us about a place where history repeats and spectres abound. The ghost city of Port Man Tou (portmanteau and man tou the bun - homophone) is where director Baby Bao (in Chinese, this would become Bao bao bao -another linguistic joke) has chosen as a gigantic set for filming. Cameras are rolling all the time and citizen actors are encouraged to improvise while under constant surveillance and receiving official increasingly absurd proclamations. This mirrors an unspecified time in ancient China with a paranoid emperor who churns out ludicrous royal proclamations and uses body doubles, imperial tasters to avoid assassinations. The jacket cover superimposes the two overlapping images - from far away, it appears to be a classic ink brush mountain painting with red seals (the significance explained in the novel) and closer, the mountain resolves into a modern city landscape with high-rise buildings. Mountain is a character and so is Jokester and Dragon.
Australian Chinese Xiang Lu is the unlikely resister of Big Brother control, having been made a laughingstock at the Chinese ministry in Australia when exposed not to know Chinese despite being employed as a translator. With the meme #BadChinese going viral, Director Bao invites Xiang Lu to fly to Port Man Tou to capitalize on his infamy and boost investment in his filming ventures.
Are natural imperfections the perfect natural art?
The hubris and folly of egotistical tyrant rulers are exposed after defiance from their subjects. The defiance may be quiet and steadfast, but the important thing is its presence and patience.
And what of a place that is derided as the armpit of the armpit? [This is where Xiang Lu's ancestral village is and where the Imperial artist hides out centuries before.] Even a place in the middle of nowhere may turn out to be the most significant place of all.
Fiendishly clever and layered, I enjoyed this a lot. 4.25⭐️
Australian Chinese Xiang Lu is the unlikely resister of Big Brother control, having been made a laughingstock at the Chinese ministry in Australia when exposed not to know Chinese despite being employed as a translator. With the meme #BadChinese going viral, Director Bao invites Xiang Lu to fly to Port Man Tou to capitalize on his infamy and boost investment in his filming ventures.
Are natural imperfections the perfect natural art?
The hubris and folly of egotistical tyrant rulers are exposed after defiance from their subjects. The defiance may be quiet and steadfast, but the important thing is its presence and patience.
And what of a place that is derided as the armpit of the armpit? [This is where Xiang Lu's ancestral village is and where the Imperial artist hides out centuries before.] Even a place in the middle of nowhere may turn out to be the most significant place of all.
Fiendishly clever and layered, I enjoyed this a lot. 4.25⭐️
November 26, 2025
Incredible book, what a masterpiece. This would make such a great book to study for a class. I love books that make full use of the concept of a labyrinth, and I'm also enjoying all these new metafiction books where authors include themselves as a character to say something about the relationship between an artist and their art. It's giving Dante's 'Inferno' except hell here is also a concept permutating into constructs, represented by cities that themselves represent larger ideas. His mind is on the level of Umberto Eco, China Mieville, Italo Calvino, and Paul Auster. But funny, like seriously funny.
Twin narratives unfold before the reader, running parallel but with just enough resonances to be considered as reflections of each other. The first takes the form of a fable set in ancient China, where an Emperor treats his subjects horribly until his own actions bring about the end of his reign. The second is in the present day in a city-sized film set belonging to an infamous Director, who forces Siang Lu into becoming the celebrity "#/BadChinese". The dictators in both narratives oversee a city is constantly changing and where its inhabitants strain against the roles that they are forced to play. Both cities also feature heavily surveillance and the beginnings of resistance.
Personally, I prefer the Imperial City to Port Man Tou (haha) because of the sheer imaginativeness. I liked the labyrinth the Emperor made the Architect build, a nod to the myth of the Minotaur, but instead of a beast it housed a woman who singlehandedly revived literature. I especially liked how the multistory prison, aptly named the Six Levels of Hell, was where a hero faced trials in a sort-of inversion of the journey to nirvana. What does a homecoming look like to one who doesn't speak the language? Where is the centre, and what is a map? So much to think about, I am definitely rereading someday.
Twin narratives unfold before the reader, running parallel but with just enough resonances to be considered as reflections of each other. The first takes the form of a fable set in ancient China, where an Emperor treats his subjects horribly until his own actions bring about the end of his reign. The second is in the present day in a city-sized film set belonging to an infamous Director, who forces Siang Lu into becoming the celebrity "#/BadChinese". The dictators in both narratives oversee a city is constantly changing and where its inhabitants strain against the roles that they are forced to play. Both cities also feature heavily surveillance and the beginnings of resistance.
Personally, I prefer the Imperial City to Port Man Tou (haha) because of the sheer imaginativeness. I liked the labyrinth the Emperor made the Architect build, a nod to the myth of the Minotaur, but instead of a beast it housed a woman who singlehandedly revived literature. I especially liked how the multistory prison, aptly named the Six Levels of Hell, was where a hero faced trials in a sort-of inversion of the journey to nirvana. What does a homecoming look like to one who doesn't speak the language? Where is the centre, and what is a map? So much to think about, I am definitely rereading someday.
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