Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition

by Gu Shi

2024 Hugo Voter Packet version.

Genres: Science Fiction, Hugo Awards, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

25 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Robin Duncan]

With almost the entire Hugo Award packet to read this year, I'm afraid I had to DNF this story. I found it interesting from an intellectual standpoint, but not entertaining as a story. For me, it read too much like a scientific paper or study. Having spent over 40 years reading, writing and analysing technical studies, I feel like I've payed my dues in that area, and have earned more escapism from my fiction.

[tysephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A look into an alternate world where cryosleep becomes the next big scientific breakthrough and the world becomes obsessed with it. I loved how realistic the reactions people have to cryosleep are. It really felt like I was reading the intro to a real book. You can tell the author really thought about the practical implications of cryosleep and how it would be received by society in the internet age.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is my first time getting around to reading some of Gu Shi’s work, and I quite liked it: a faux introduction to a history textbook for a person coming out of cryosleep and learning the shape of the futuristic world they’ve woken up to.

I love narrative conceits like that, and the way this reads half like an academic text covering the development of cryosleep as a technology, with fake citations and all. It’s the sort of thing I completely inhale, and I liked the worldbuilding of how this tech has affected and warped the world, including when you peel back the layers later on and discover its more emotional origins.

That said, I have the perpetual problem that short fiction is just too short for me: everything touched on here is an intriguing concept, but there’s just so much going on (cryosleep, apocalyptic disaster, colony ships, colonisation of another planet) that it doesn’t really get to deliver on every angle.

3.5 stars rounded down, read as a Best Novelette nominee for the 2024 Hugo Awards.

[Ken Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gu Shi examines the concept of moving oneself through time by means of 'cryosleep'. The technique began as a way of preserving the desperately ill until a cure might be found. Inevitably, the forces of commerce finds anather use. Unhappy in your time? Want to see what the world would be like in 20 or 30 years? Why dot freeze yourself!
The novellette is presented as something of a scientific paper or review, giving the history and social implications of the procedure, ilustrated by anecdotes told by those who have experienced both sides of the process - the sleepers and those left behind by the sleepers. There are multiple trilogies worth of stories which might be told about the social implications of such a process. Well done and thought provoking.

A finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novellette

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really dull. Don’t be fooled by its name, this is actually a science fiction novelette framed as an introduction to another in-universe book. It has some really interesting sci-fi ideas, particularly around cryosleep. I got the most enjoyment out of the interesting exploration of this topic and the scientific challenges that Gu Shi introduced to the concept that you don’t normally see for this subject.

Unfortunately, its value beyond that as someone who likes to read stories for entertainment just as much as anything else was limited by its form. It’s used for a nice twist at the end, but it can’t help but read as really dry because it’s supposed to be an Introduction to a larger work. Neat idea, rough execution.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice exploration of how the development of cryosleep technology could change human culture, in ways that make sense but are not what I would have expected. And it's told in a unique way -- a review of a book with the title of the short story, but a surprisingly personal character study a you come to understand the history of the person reading the book. Very readable, even in translation from the Chinese.

A Hugo nominee for best novelette from 2023, and well deserving of the nomination.

[William Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for 2024 Hugos

The concept behind this is interesting, and I would have loved to actually read a story about it. Instead, in 26 pages, about 15 are devoted to what seems like an abstract about the concept of cryosleep and documenting its development. Only in the first couple pages and the last few do we have any sort of story about the any character being affected by any of this. What could have been an inventive story reads more like a research article.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a slow burn, and maybe just a tad too slow, but once it gets going... when everything comes together, the story slaps you in the face with a beautiful plot. All the stuff before that is good too, though just a little too uninteresting, but once it all comes together, it works. Maybe my #1 vote, we'll see.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intreguing.

[Anelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story with its personal story woven into the history of cryosleep's development both as a science and a cultural movement.

[Zachary Sellers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique writing perspective, interesting takes on the cryosleep space.

[Tali Nusbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up

[Maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written like a popular scientific study, but in the future. I found it really interesting, but as what can be described as "non-fiction" it doesn't really compare in enjoyment to fiction.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked the ideas explored when people sail across time rather than space.

[F Gato · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sci-fi isn't for the adult me, sigh.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this one really sparked my interest: "Ooh will this be a lament for a defeat?", "How will the author play with using the 1812 Overture backwards?" Alas, it requires a better reader than I to find the connection to Tchaikovsky's work in this story.

I've seen the conceit of having a story read like an academic article work when the author plays with the form and reader expectations of the form to present something new and surprising. In this case the structure as presented in English was more technical document than journal article, and does anyone ever read a technical document front to back without simply skimming to the point one is interested in? This was always going to be a big lift to make this work, and for me it never did. I found myself skimming, looking for a point where I would care about any of this technical stuff so maybe I would go back and read more carefully....and got to the end of the story before I ever found a reason to dig in and read.

Bumping up to three stars from two for "maybe something got lost in translation?", and I don't want to discourage folks from reading this in their packet. Enough people loved it to nominate it: perhaps others will see something I don't.