Les Armées de ceux que j'aime

by Ken Liu, Pierre-Paul Durastanti (Traduction)

Ville de Boss, une montagne pleine de coins et de recoins. Temps futurs. Le monde tel qu’on le sait n’existe plus. Ni non plus les sciences, la connaissance du passé ou celle de l’écrit. L’électricité est une magie précieuse. Ce qu’il reste de l’humanité vit sur le dos de cités mobiles qui, comme d’immenses animaux, poursuivent des desseins mystérieux sous l’égide de Pilotes qui le sont tout autant. Franny Fenway a quatorze ans ; elle est orpheline. Et s’il y a une chose que Franny aime par-dessus tout, elle à qui la vieille Prudence a enseigné le pouvoir des « sorts d’histoire », ce sont les questions. « Une question n’indique que le milieu d’une histoire, et non sa fin. » Or, Franny compte bien aller jusqu’au bout du récit de sa propre histoire, de celui de ses origines et du devenir du monde…

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Short Stories, Dystopia, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2021

About the author

Ken Liu (http://kenliu.name) is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards for his fiction, he has also won top genre honors abroad in Japan, Spain, and France.

Liu’s most characteristic work is the four-volume epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty, in which engineers, not wizards, are the heroes of a silkpunk world on the verge of modernity. His debut collection of short fiction, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. A second collection, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, followed. He also penned the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. His latest book is All That We See or Seem, a techno-thriller starring an AI-whispering hacker who saves the world.

He’s often involved in media adaptations of his work. Recent projects include “The Regular,” under development as a TV series; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in season one of Netflix’s breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, with Craig Silverstein as executive producer, adapted from an interconnected series of Liu’s short stories.

Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.

In addition to his original fiction, Liu also occasionally publishes literary translations. His most recent work of translation is a new rendition of Laozi’s Dao De Jing.

Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liu describes his novela as a "Hayao Miyazaki film in literary form...spilling over with an abiding love of what America could be, and a sorrow for how far it falls short of its own ideals.



Told from the perspective of 14-year old Franny Fenway, Ken Liu's The Armies of Those I Love is a post post-apocalyptical work that gets some of its aspirational feeling from tapping into Walt Whitman. I liked that about it. Still, I agreed with other reviewers who liked the idea of the story better than the actual story. It just didn't seem to go where it was headed and became, for me, fairly forgettable when I'd finished.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I liked the idea behind this more than the actual tale.

I did LOVE the whole mix between Mortal Instruments and Horizon: Zero Dawn, however. The worldbuilding was pretty big, a post-apoc steampunk melange with people being people. There's plenty of the good and nasty at different points.

But honestly? This short tale ended in a way that I didn't quite like. Alas. Nothing wrong with the writing, however, and Liu is still pretty great.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story I enjoyed a lot, though I think some of it went over my head. I continue to be impressed by Ken Liu's ideas, and his way of writing them. Also a good reminder that I want to read The Grace of Kings this year, after loving his collection The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories so much last year.

[Samneang · Rating 1 out of 5]

Franny is an orphan who lives alone in a tree nest in the far future where the world has collapsed. Suddenly, one day, a man comes up and disturbs her peace when he runs away from the locals in town and she helps him to find a pilot. During this expedition, she finds out that the rich live differently than the poor wilderness.

This is a short story on Audible, only 3 hours. It develops slowly and a lot words have been lost so there were some made up words, which made it confusing. I think it would have been better to read. Also, I had to restart the book twice because it was so confusing. Parts of the books remind me of Mortal Engines and even Alita. Not a book I would ever reread again even though I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE IT but I just couldn’t.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this story had gone a different way 2/3’s through I would have liked it. The story just fell apart and I was very disappointed.

[Wiebke (1book1review) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun quick listen, very descriptive and not much plot or character driven.

[Kacy❁ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found myself rewinding a lot of chapters so it took me longer than normal to finish. It just was too confusing and I really didn't understand the plot development. The narrator was just rambling...
I think it was meant to have mystery too it but I was just too lost to understand and fully grab my attention to paint the picture. Basically the only thing I got from this was ticks will be very numerous in the post apocalyptic future because they are mentioned so. many. times.

[James Morpurgo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ken Liu keeps grabbing my attention with some rather large books. Before committing to yet another long series, I thought this would be a quick preview...

Still on the fence but was neither blown away or turned off so will have to consider further whether to pick up the Dandelion Dynasty in the near future...

[Nikolas Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first exposure to Ken Liu was through his superbly readable translation of Liu Cixin's The Three Body Problem and the third novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, Death's End. To have translated those information dense and character rich narratives from Chinese to English required an impressive literary skill on the part of the translator. When The Grace of Kings, the first novel of Ken Liu's The Dandelion Dynasty series was released, it was a given that I had to pick that massive book up for myself.
The Armies of Those I Love is definitely a smaller story than the books Liu has been releasing, though only in page count. The size of the story packed into this relatively brief tale is a huge one, taking us to a post apocalyptic Earth that is both familiar and impressively original. On the surface, one can see similarities to stories like Mortal Engines and The Matrix as the narrative unfolds, but Liu molds those familiar elements into something thoroughly his own.
Franny lives on BOS, a massive roaming city that prowls the war torn and ravaged landscape of what was once North America. An orphan, she exists on the outskirts of the rigid society most BOS residents fall into, and this is fine for her. Franny has an unwelcome fascination with old world artifacts and remnants of the world before the Pilots set the major cities adrift to wander.
When a stranger, escaped from LAX, stumbles upon her home and sends her world spiraling out of control, Franny embraces the opportunity to learn more about the world in which she lives as she and the fugitive struggle to escape the BOS citizens hunting them while evading the biomechanical Guardians who protect the city from internal and external threats.
Though it may be best not to seek answers to the questions Franny has been dying to resolve, there's something magnificent and beautiful in the hope and faith the young woman exhibits even in the face of nightmarish truths.
Auli'i Cravalho's narration seems perfectly suited for Franny and the story of her adventure. She captures the innocence and desperate hunger for knowledge quite expertly.

[E.F. Buckles · Rating 1 out of 5]

That... was weird. Short story shorter, people in the distant future live on moving cities a la "Mortal Engines" but the big twist is that the city is sentient and sees humans basically as parasites that live on its body. It ignores them until they rebel or sap too much of its resources. If that happens, it assimilates them like the borg from Star Trek, making them half robot, half flesh, but I kind of think the actual person whose body it was is dead. So. That was revealed briefly at the end and was kinda creepy. The beginning was vaguely confusing because it kept bouncing back and forth between the main character's present day and memories. I figured it out eventually, but then just didn't like the story. Like I said in the spoiler tag, the reality of what's happening at the head of the walking cities was creepy. I'm not even sure I understood what action the MC was taking at the end since the language was kind of vague. Fighting back, I think? But then that was the end, so I guess you get to decide for yourself whether she escapes or not. Overall, while I was hoping maybe this step outside my usual preferred genres would be a good one, I finished this not liking much about it at all. Auli'i Cravalho was a good narrattor at least, and the writing style on a prose level was kinda poetic I guess. And hey, it'll count towards my Goodreads challenge.


Content:


Two uses of a crude word for urination.
A passing mention of "love making" but no details.
Someone gets a limb bitten off. Some description of blood, but it's not lingered on too long. The individual dies of their wounds. Mention of an infected toe having been cut off in the past.
The robot/flesh combo critters at the end are a pretty creepy concept.

[Ashlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is essentially Horizon: Zero Dawn as a novella with an Annihilation garnish

[Benjamin - Les Mots Magiques · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dans un monde post-apocalyptique où l’électricité est devenue une ressource rare et apparentée à de la magie et où l’on vit sur des cités mobiles, nous allons suivre les aventures de Franny Fenway, une orpheline de 14 ans. Alors qu’elle vit isolée du reste de la ville, elle va faire la rencontre de Santa Mon qui prétend savoir comment entrer en contact avec les mystérieux Pilotes. L’occasion pour Franny d’en apprendre plus sur le monde.
⠀
Autant cette novella est très courte, moins de 100 pages, autant ça n’est pas une lecture si facile. Le style, un peu alambiqué, n’aide pas tellement, mais je pense surtout que l’auteur fait le choix de ne pas faire trop d’efforts pour nous inclure et nous faciliter la lecture. Ça a été mon ressenti en tout cas.
⠀
Mais à côté de ça, j’ai été plutôt séduit par l’ambiance générale et encore plus l’esthétique de l’univers qui n’est pas sans rappeler la saga de jeux Horizon (Zero dawn et Forbidden west). Notamment parce que les gardiens, des sortes de robots animaux, m’ont beaucoup fait penser aux bestioles que l’on combat dans ces jeux au côté d’Aloy.
⠀
En termes de thématiques, ça tourne surtout autour de l’écologie puisqu’on suit un certain retour aux choses simples après que les Anciens ont détruit le monde avec leur technologie. On voit aussi la nature reprendre ses droits petit à petit, et l’humanité payer pour son égoïsme.
⠀
Maintenant est-ce que j’ai vraiment aimé ? Je dirais que le bilan est plutôt mitigé en ce qui me concerne. Si j’ai vraiment apprécié l’esthétique du roman et ses messages, la narration m’a quand même pas mal rebuté et ça a forcément amoindri le plaisir que j’ai pris à lire cette histoire. Un peu dommage après avoir adoré L’homme qui mit fin à l’histoire !

[Jéla · Rating 2 out of 5]

As expected, the writing was great, but the plot was only okay. I felt like this novella felt more like the start of a new series or the first 30 mins of a movie and it doesn’t feel complete by the end

[Rhonda A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was more captivated by the description than the actual story. I feel like it could’ve been better depicted in the description to better represent what I heard. False bill of goods, in my honest opinion.
Story was “okay”… rounded up generously from a 2.5 rating.

[Adam K-R · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story had some really fun ideas that got me very excited about where I thought it was going. It could have come together in a more interesting way in the end but i still really enjoyed it.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrator: Auli'i Cravalho. 4*

Wow! What a creation this book is. I really hope this is an introduction to a world that Ken Liu will be writing more about. (And just when I told myself I was going to take a break from reading about dystopian futures...).

First of all, if you're around Boston like I am, you have to read this just for the Boston landmarks. These aren't your usual Faneuil Hall and Swan Boats mentions. The story is full of references to things you have to live here to recognize (Alewife and Stoughton). It was fun to read about my town of Somerville, which plays a major, if dark, role. The main character lives in Bow & Arrow. Could that be the Harvard Sq. intersection of Bow & Arrow Streets where I worked for many years?

The Armies of Those I Love has such inventive worldbuilding. It's a short audiobook, just over 2 hours, so I really don't want talk about the book & give anything away. The setting and creatures (?) are very imaginative. I rarely want to see books I like remade for the screen. But this is one I really want made into a film. The whole time I was reading it, I kept thinking how much I would love to see how other people visualized the world that Liu created here.

Being short, the book left a lot of questions unanswered. I hope there is more to come!

[Austin · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few moments where I thought this was going to be a good book. It has a few bright spots where I thought it might resolve into an intelligible sci-fi, but it failed me every time. It has elements of religion that sound like it is commenting on faith and reality, but it never answers the questions it raises. It has elements of environmentalism that sound like it is going to make a naturalistic or materialistic argument, but it drops that too. It has elements of spiritualism, voodoo, Walt Whitman mysticism, but it doesn't do a serviceable job with that direction either. The plot is decent, the twists passably believable, but at the end this really feels like a commercial project written for dollar signs rather than a serious author wanting to make a serious point through fiction. The best novels start with a great idea and communicate that idea through a story. At the end of this novel, I don't know what that idea could possibly be, except maaaaybe something about "everyone is lying to you about everything." Or "never trust anybody, cause everybody is selfish." Or "all belief systems are equally invalid." I don't know...but don't waste your time here.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay. In a diesel-punkish post-apocalyptic future, people live in walking cities and batteries are valuable ancient artifacts and no one remembers how the ancients made books or wrote things down. It's a "Civilization has fallen and the survivors have forgotten everything" post-apocalypse we've seen before. Here, our protagonist is a girl named Fanny, who's kind of an outcast until an old man comes to her hideout, leading her to rebel against the local customs and go on a quest to find the Truth about the past.... like I said, we've seen this before.

Ken Liu's writing has a poetic quality to it, so the setting details were interesting and the author really, really wanted us to like Franny and her spunky determination, but while I found her a notch up from your average 14-year-old protagonist as seen in a YA novel, the whole story failed to grab me. Not sure if this is meant to be the start of a longer series, but it felt like Liu was just retreading stories I read when I was a geeky SF nerd in junior high school.

[sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had many parts where I believed the story would take off but every time it just ended and was never expanded upon. It was hard to follow at times and had quite a few moments when I said "What?" out loud while listening to it. It was a quick read and free on audible.

5 stars to Auli'I Cravalho for narration!

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I usually love everythink Ken Liu touches, I just wasn't super into this one. The world building and setting were really good, but I found the plot very bland. Not nuch happens, boring characters, poor pacing etc. Auli'i Cravalho's narration is good, but a little static. Still, good to hear a free Ken Liu story!

[Antoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

C’est le deuxième livre que je lis de Ken Liu. J’avais bien aimé sans plus le premier (Le Regard) que je trouvais être un thriller assez simple. Ici on est bien du côté de la science-fiction. Et je dois dire que cette fois il m’a transporté.

Une colline errante. Au dessus, un village. A côté, Franny, une enfant exclue du village. On suit son aventure pleine de curiosités, à la recherche de sa propre histoire, de sa propre vérité. J’ai aimé son innocence et ses déceptions, qui apportent énormément de poésie au livre. C’est touchant, un peu classique cela dit sur la fin, mais tout de même complet et bien amené, bref un très bon livre.

[stasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

[février 2025]

je m’en souviens déjà plus c’est pour dire…
l’histoire était relativement originale! la narration nécessite d’être un peu apprivoisé au début, on est vraiment lancé comme ça dans l’histoire mais quand ça commence à faire sens (si jamais ça finit par faire sens tellement l’univers est spécial) c’est vraiment chouette !

pas sûre d’avoir tout compris mais la vibe était là

[Odo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

[Juan Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A love letter to Walt Whitman's I Sing the Body Electric.

[Mayumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosto muito da escrita do Ken Liu, como ele cria imagens ao mesmo tempo bonitas e aterrorizantes. A narração foi um pouco monótona, mas não tirou a beleza da história.

[Alex O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Liu's best

[Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ken Liu is one of my favorite authors, but this story doesn’t show his abilities. If you’ve never read (or heard) any of his writing, I encourage you to read The Hidden Girl and Other Stories of The Paper Menagerie. He even has one major series. This story is definitely not his best, but thank goodness he has more books!

[Lilia Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens after the end of the world? This book paints you a picture of a post apocalyptic world from the eyes of a girl trying to find answers to a world she has not been a part of while she tries to find out how to become a part of an elite population with a better life that the one she knows.

I really enjoy the idea of this book, picturing the world surrounding our protagonist was quite entertaining however I felt the potential of this book and this story wasn’t totally fulfilled. I wanted to know all about the details of how the city works and the rituals they talked about in the story, I felt like the development of the characters could be more extensive. The book itself was too short for me and I wish they would have gotten for a longer version for this particular story or maybe it could be the beginning of a series who knows...

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Ken Liu. His creativity is off the charts. This short story is also creative, with little metaphors tucked into the creativity.

However, there was a lot going on in here for a short story. I found myself confused more often than enjoying the story. Maybe that's just me and I need to re-listen to the audiobook.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this isn't my absolute favorite from Ken Liu, it's still very very good. A short story about the fall of civilization, the "dead hand" of past policies, ascendance, and different kinds of people interacting. The narrator and narration in the audiobook version is particularly good.