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Julia Z #1
All That We See or Seem
Award winning author Ken Liu returns with his first sci-fi thriller in a brand-new series following former “orphan hacker” Julia Z as she is thrust into a high-stakes adventure where she must use her cybersecurity and hacking skills to unravel a virtual reality mystery, rescue a kidnapped dream artist, and confront the blurred lines between technology, identity, and the power of shared dreams.
Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.
But when a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life, Julia decides to put the solitary life she has painstakingly created at risk as she can’t walk away from helping Piers and Elli, nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli.
Unraveling the real and unreal leads Julia on an adventure that takes her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche.
Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.
But when a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life, Julia decides to put the solitary life she has painstakingly created at risk as she can’t walk away from helping Piers and Elli, nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli.
Unraveling the real and unreal leads Julia on an adventure that takes her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published October 14, 2025
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14350 people want to read
About the author
Ken Liu
467 books22k followersKen 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.
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.
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October 16, 2025
ARC provided by the publisher—Saga Press—in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/5 stars
All That We See or Seem is the newest near-future sci-fi thriller from Ken Liu, one of my favorite authors of all time. Did it manage to live up to the quality of his previous works?
Giving Ken Liu’s books anything below a 4-star rating works as self-inflicted pain for me. I consider Ken Liu one of the greatest authors in the speculative fiction genre as a whole. The Dandelion Dynasty series and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories collection of titles, in particular, are both books that must be read by enthusiasts of the genre, in my honest opinion. It goes without saying that I will read anything by Ken Liu, and I’m glad I got the chance to read All That We See or Seem earlier than expected. Overall, this was quite an enjoyable novel. But there were a few things to note that made this first book of a series, in my opinion, not a good place to start reading Liu’s books.
Before we get to that, to repeat the official premise, the story in All That We See or Seem revolves around Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” who is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb. Until a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life. Julia decides to put the solitary life she has painstakingly created at risk as she can’t walk away from helping Piers and Elli, nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Additionally, Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli. Unraveling the real and unreal leads Julia on an adventure that takes her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche.
At its core, All That We See or Seem is a thriller that seeks to shed light on the dangers of social media and artificial intelligence. Can we, as individuals or artists, live side-by-side with these rising and evolving phenomena? Or are we fated to drown, overwhelmed by their existence? Even looking back to the past six years, before 2020, social media and its influence were not this insane back then. And that is only a few years ago. With the extreme rise of the importance of social media, it is probable that All That We See or Seem will become a contemporary novel in the near future. I could go into full details regarding the effects of this, but I always consider social media a double-edged sword that can be utilized for good or harm depending on the user and intent. The fact that you are reading this review right now is thanks to social media. However, it is undeniable that many harms have been done because of its worldwide and instantaneous execution as well. Most of the time, by strangers to another stranger online. It is an incredibly relevant topic in our society, and the escalation appears to be unstoppable. Similar to the most recent development with generative AI, another topic discussed heavily in All That We See or Seem.
It is, however, imperative to enter All That We See or Seem knowing you won't get the same type of epic reading experience you attain from reading The Dandelion Dynasty. Despite the relevance of the themes and the terrifying prospect of the potential near-future depicted in the novel, Liu's writing style in All That We See or Seem is vastly different compared to his previous books. Whether it is the characters, the philosophical musings, and the pacing, I personally think they were just okay in All That We See or Seem. I honestly wouldn't have predicted this was Ken Liu's profound writing if I did not know it was written by him. This isn't to say Ken Liu hasn't written something like this before. He is a versatile writer. If you have read The Gods short stories in The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu or watched the Pantheon animated TV adaptation, there will be plenty of similarities between them and All That We See or Seem.
All That We See or Seem is not a big novel. And yet, I cannot help but feel the overall quality of it would probably improve if the book had been shortened. I felt some sections were simply redundant and did not add anything substantial to the overall narrative. On the plus side, there is a good chance the events of All That We See or Seem will shape the rest of the trilogy to a greater height. I'm using Pantheon as a reference for my assumption. What started as a simple story rose to something totally out of this world in scope. And I am sincerely hoping Julia Z will emulate the same reputation.
To wrap up this review. All That We See or Seem lacks Liu's staple memorable storytelling, deep characterizations, and impeccable prose. In return, the novel succeeds at delivering the cautionary tale and the necessity to regulate and control the usage of social media and artificial intelligence. Otherwise, what is depicted here could truly become our reality.
You can order this book from: Amazon | Blackwells (Free International shipping)
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Abdul, Andrew. S, Arik, Arliss, Barbara, Ben, Benjamin, Biskit, Cade, Chris, Crystal, Cullen, Dan, Dylan, Edward, Elias, Erich, Feanor, Francesca, Frank, Gary, Gregory, James, Jason, Jeff, Jenn, Johnny, Joie, Jonathan, Katrina, Kim, Kristina, Lara, Leigh, Lourdes, Melinda, Michael. S, Mike, Mike S, Miracle, Mordie, Nicholas, Radiah, RCT, Sally, Samiadji, Samuel, Sarah, Scott, Sean, Shawn, Shawna, Stephanie, Trish, Tyler, TS, Wendy, Wick, Xero, Yuri, Zachary, Zammar.
3.5/5 stars
All That We See or Seem is the newest near-future sci-fi thriller from Ken Liu, one of my favorite authors of all time. Did it manage to live up to the quality of his previous works?
“Freedom, belonging, telling a story about yourself that you love. Dreaming together. Meaning in all that we see or seem.”
Giving Ken Liu’s books anything below a 4-star rating works as self-inflicted pain for me. I consider Ken Liu one of the greatest authors in the speculative fiction genre as a whole. The Dandelion Dynasty series and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories collection of titles, in particular, are both books that must be read by enthusiasts of the genre, in my honest opinion. It goes without saying that I will read anything by Ken Liu, and I’m glad I got the chance to read All That We See or Seem earlier than expected. Overall, this was quite an enjoyable novel. But there were a few things to note that made this first book of a series, in my opinion, not a good place to start reading Liu’s books.
“Fame—at least the desirable kind—was a hard drug to give up.”
Before we get to that, to repeat the official premise, the story in All That We See or Seem revolves around Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” who is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb. Until a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life. Julia decides to put the solitary life she has painstakingly created at risk as she can’t walk away from helping Piers and Elli, nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Additionally, Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli. Unraveling the real and unreal leads Julia on an adventure that takes her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche.
“By the logic of the social media age, anyone caught within the frame of a camera ceased to be human.”
At its core, All That We See or Seem is a thriller that seeks to shed light on the dangers of social media and artificial intelligence. Can we, as individuals or artists, live side-by-side with these rising and evolving phenomena? Or are we fated to drown, overwhelmed by their existence? Even looking back to the past six years, before 2020, social media and its influence were not this insane back then. And that is only a few years ago. With the extreme rise of the importance of social media, it is probable that All That We See or Seem will become a contemporary novel in the near future. I could go into full details regarding the effects of this, but I always consider social media a double-edged sword that can be utilized for good or harm depending on the user and intent. The fact that you are reading this review right now is thanks to social media. However, it is undeniable that many harms have been done because of its worldwide and instantaneous execution as well. Most of the time, by strangers to another stranger online. It is an incredibly relevant topic in our society, and the escalation appears to be unstoppable. Similar to the most recent development with generative AI, another topic discussed heavily in All That We See or Seem.
“I think loneliness is the quintessential condition of modernity. I eat alone; I sleep alone; I don’t know the names of my neighbors; my coworkers don’t exist for me outside the office. I talk to my mom once a week, and even that feels like a chore. I’m so lonely that sometimes I scream in my room just to be sure the world still exists.”
It is, however, imperative to enter All That We See or Seem knowing you won't get the same type of epic reading experience you attain from reading The Dandelion Dynasty. Despite the relevance of the themes and the terrifying prospect of the potential near-future depicted in the novel, Liu's writing style in All That We See or Seem is vastly different compared to his previous books. Whether it is the characters, the philosophical musings, and the pacing, I personally think they were just okay in All That We See or Seem. I honestly wouldn't have predicted this was Ken Liu's profound writing if I did not know it was written by him. This isn't to say Ken Liu hasn't written something like this before. He is a versatile writer. If you have read The Gods short stories in The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu or watched the Pantheon animated TV adaptation, there will be plenty of similarities between them and All That We See or Seem.
“Grief is tricky… We often think we have to get through it, like a trial to be endured. We want to do something, seek vengeance, work, rage against the world. Anything so that we don’t have to think about them. It’s a form of running away… But maybe it’s something that has to get through us… What do we owe those we love? Only that we remember them and honor the time we had together.”
All That We See or Seem is not a big novel. And yet, I cannot help but feel the overall quality of it would probably improve if the book had been shortened. I felt some sections were simply redundant and did not add anything substantial to the overall narrative. On the plus side, there is a good chance the events of All That We See or Seem will shape the rest of the trilogy to a greater height. I'm using Pantheon as a reference for my assumption. What started as a simple story rose to something totally out of this world in scope. And I am sincerely hoping Julia Z will emulate the same reputation.
“When you are an artist, people make up stories about you; they expect you to be this little simulacrum they make up in their heads with your face pasted on. But all artists are ultimately just people, and that means we have egos, not mere egolets—we crave liberty, the right to be known on our own terms. Don’t we all deserve that? Here I am, a new name, a new look, working on a new piece of art on a warm, sandy beach. There’s the ocean, and I’ll take a swim after lunch. With each wave, the past is washed away, ready for a new beginning.”
To wrap up this review. All That We See or Seem lacks Liu's staple memorable storytelling, deep characterizations, and impeccable prose. In return, the novel succeeds at delivering the cautionary tale and the necessity to regulate and control the usage of social media and artificial intelligence. Otherwise, what is depicted here could truly become our reality.
You can order this book from: Amazon | Blackwells (Free International shipping)
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Abdul, Andrew. S, Arik, Arliss, Barbara, Ben, Benjamin, Biskit, Cade, Chris, Crystal, Cullen, Dan, Dylan, Edward, Elias, Erich, Feanor, Francesca, Frank, Gary, Gregory, James, Jason, Jeff, Jenn, Johnny, Joie, Jonathan, Katrina, Kim, Kristina, Lara, Leigh, Lourdes, Melinda, Michael. S, Mike, Mike S, Miracle, Mordie, Nicholas, Radiah, RCT, Sally, Samiadji, Samuel, Sarah, Scott, Sean, Shawn, Shawna, Stephanie, Trish, Tyler, TS, Wendy, Wick, Xero, Yuri, Zachary, Zammar.
November 29, 2025
“She believed that if you worked at the system and followed its rules and played the game as it was supposed to be played, you would get the result you wanted. If you made enough pretty speeches and marched enough times down the National Mall and bled enough and prayed enough and said you loved this country enough times, people would embrace you and tell you that you belonged and hand you the keys to the mansion with the feather bed, where you could dream the American dream to the accompaniment of “This Land Is Your Land.” What a crock of shit. America was corrupt and steeped in sin. The powerful had rigged the game for themselves and turned the country into a panopticon to imprison the rest of us.”
julia z is a hacker living in boston, truly to stay under the radar in a future where cameras are watching us near constantly. she is on a campus finding a worm that is stealing student data, when a man comes asking for her help, because his wife has gone missing. his wife has a very big social media presence as a dream guide, where people link personal ais and do group vivid dreaming together, yet someone with a lot of tech industry power may have noticed her and now she is missing. and maybe this same individual could be noticing julia now.
the title of this book is from a line in the poem a dream within a dream by edgar allan poe, and it really does encapsulate the vibe of what this story is perfectly. yet, also with so many complicated feelings of being an immigrant, or having parents or grandparents who have immigrated to the states, in hopes to receive “a better” dream. but it’s hard to believe in that dream, especially in our real world in 2025, with how immigrants are treated by our government alone. it is really hard to keep any hope of that dream alive.
but this also really is a heartbreaking story about being a creative, where sometimes validation does come in the form of numbers - both with followings that allow you better opportunities, and with making actual money off of your art so you can live your life. it is so easy to tie your worth into selling, sometimes not realizing you are selling your own peace. especially when we remember that the algorithms we are expected to chase are being controlled by billionaires who will never have the artist's best interests at heart. (including my main platform where you are probably reading this review)
this really is a heavy book, and discusses a lot more horrors than i am talking about in this review. the technology in this is truly so scary, and I wouldn't be surprised if so much of this story does come to fruition. ken liu is so smart, while being such a masterful writer and storyteller, he leaves me in awe in all the ways. but i also feel like all of ken liu’s stories also remind me how much art will always connect us, and how hopeless our world really would be without it.
this is a hard book to rate, but it is very close to a five stars for me. truly just filled with so many complicated feelings, especially if you are asian american and extra if you’re a content creator (is this play about us), but i really highly recommend it. lastly, i have truly never read anything like this before!
trigger + content warnings: talk of thoughts of suicide, talk of the horrors of children on the internet, talk of debt, mention of murdered pet (dog or cat >.< i can’t remember, i’m sorry!), murder, xenophobia, racism / use of slurs (negative light, obv), misogyny, stalking, deep fakes, immense bullying / horrible harassment online, violence, loss of mom in past, grief, stalking, blackmail, abuse, power dynamics, manipulation, drowning, kidnapping, forced labor, slavery, torture
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♡.) The Passing of the Dragon ★★★★★
1.) The Grace of Kings ★★★★
2.) The Wall of Storms ★★★★
August 27, 2025
The future in Ken Liu’s hands is not distant science fiction but a dream just half a breath away from our own reality.
The world he builds in All That We See or Seem is astonishing in its realism. A near future where AI doesn’t hover at the edges of our lives but saturates them, woven into every gesture, decision and desire. Walking through it with Julia, both brilliant and scarred, gives the novel its depth. She is as much wrestling with memory, guilt and the loneliness of fractured connections as she is unraveling conspiracies. It's that blend of human vulnerability and razor sharp intelligence that makes her so compelling. Liu explores the big questions - power, technology, control - but through her journey also the intimate ones - family, forgiveness, friendship - how we reach for connection even in a world reshaped by machines.
However, for all the momentum of its premise, the novel sometimes stumbles beneath the weight of its own inventions. The frequent, elaborate digressions into the mechanics of the different uses of AI, while fascinating in their detail, disrupt the pacing. What could have been a relentless crescendo of tension instead became a start stop cadence of revelation and lecture. I also found the villains a little overdrawn - while nefarious enough to drive the plot, their cheesier traits clashed with the otherwise serious, thoughtful tone.
Even so, the vision lingers. The stage is set, the world is rich and Julia’s story feels far from finished. If this is only the first act, then I'm eager to see where the dream carries us next.
My thanks to Head of Zeus for the ARC
The world he builds in All That We See or Seem is astonishing in its realism. A near future where AI doesn’t hover at the edges of our lives but saturates them, woven into every gesture, decision and desire. Walking through it with Julia, both brilliant and scarred, gives the novel its depth. She is as much wrestling with memory, guilt and the loneliness of fractured connections as she is unraveling conspiracies. It's that blend of human vulnerability and razor sharp intelligence that makes her so compelling. Liu explores the big questions - power, technology, control - but through her journey also the intimate ones - family, forgiveness, friendship - how we reach for connection even in a world reshaped by machines.
However, for all the momentum of its premise, the novel sometimes stumbles beneath the weight of its own inventions. The frequent, elaborate digressions into the mechanics of the different uses of AI, while fascinating in their detail, disrupt the pacing. What could have been a relentless crescendo of tension instead became a start stop cadence of revelation and lecture. I also found the villains a little overdrawn - while nefarious enough to drive the plot, their cheesier traits clashed with the otherwise serious, thoughtful tone.
Even so, the vision lingers. The stage is set, the world is rich and Julia’s story feels far from finished. If this is only the first act, then I'm eager to see where the dream carries us next.
My thanks to Head of Zeus for the ARC
December 1, 2025
I think this book is embarrassing for Ken Liu in light of the quality of what he's published before. Here is a cyberpunk thriller with no thrills. No subtlety. I'm so glad I got a free e-ARC from NetGalley rather than buying the hardcover on release like I often do for a book I'm excited for. I would not advise spending money on this book unless you try it first -- if you can't get an ARC, try to grab it from the library to give it a go and see if you like the style. I can see this hitting for some readers, but it is just far below his usual writing standards, and if you share my reading taste to some degree then I recommend staying far far away. It just does not have the same page-turny appeal of a Blake Crouch sf thriller, and it's way too cheesy to appeal to the sci-fi readers who prefer more heady stuff and are hoping for something more akin to the denser style of a William Gibson when it comes to this subgenre.
In the acknowledgments, Liu said his editor encouraged him to expand what he had originally written as a novella into a full-sized novel, and I'm very curious what he had before vs what was added at that point since I think it likely that all the additions made this book considerably worse. However, I think the root causes of my issues with the writing in this book are more fundamental and would've still been present in a shorter version, just easier to overlook maybe. When Julia is interacting with her AI assistant or solving problems in very clever ways with her hacking skills or custom-made shapeshifting drone, I was having a great time. If only that were a larger percentage of the book.
On a macro level, I couldn't stand Liu’s choices around narrative perspective. The omniscient narration did little except sap any sense of thematic intrigue or weight, delivering nonfiction-like mini-essays on this near-future's technology and the tech's cultural ripple effects that felt like Liu hitting me upside the head with his theme-hammer time after time. Oh, it also sapped any mystery around the characters, dumping backstory on us early and often for our protagonist Julia Z, or showing us inside the puny mind of the mustache-twirly villainous supposed criminal mastermind and his brain-dead henchmen. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for when things went more limited to the thoughts and perceptions of a single POV vs a more removed omniscient narrator. I can't for the life of me figure out why he didn't keep this whole thing close and limited to Julia's POV.
Julia is a very likable protagonist...a genius lonely hacker with a sad upbringing with a heart of gold who really loves helping people in need...her likability is not the problem, but the way Liu writes her with no subtlety or subtext. Instead of hints at her backstory, or giving little drips of it over time, we get told exactly what happened to make her childhood so traumatic, as well as exactly what she's thinking and feeling at any time. His style with Julia is to give us no mystery, no showing, just telling it as plain as day in inelegant omniscient asides or internal monologue.
The lack of subtlety is most distracting though when the omniscient narrator just starts talking about about the ills of technology. There are some incredible techno worldbuilding elements on display here, and they could've just spoken for themselves amidst the action on the page -- we didn't need all the author commentary to go along with it, removing any chance for us to mull these realistic future developments over ourselves. Often when we are in sections with that very removed omniscient narrator, occasionally there would be some injection of authorial voice or judgement that just didn't seem to fit with the usual neutral tone of the narrator and that came from nowhere -- which just felt very odd and clunky. I think I would’ve appreciated having none of the omniscient interludes in the novel, and instead maybe a companion essay by Liu that explores these same ideas but in a more suitable format for them. He is such a deep thinker who has a real pulse on all this new AI technology society is dealing with, but this melded approach just did not deliver a satisfying novel experience for me.
One of my biggest gripes in general with sff is cheesy villains, and this book may be the worst offender I've ever read on that front...their dialogue is just so utterly cringey every time they're on the page, and I just can't accept that Liu can't do more realistic or well-rounded antagonist characters. Every time we switched to the main villain POV or the henchmen, it was a cringe-fest.
With all that said, I think there are some slightly appealing elements here, and this has potential to grow into a series that could work better for me with hopefully some of the clunkiest character and worldbuilding exposition dumps out of the way and maybe more interesting plots and antagonists to come. Liu puts forth an extremely believable near future where AI has become so integrated into people's lives as personal assistants and tools for just about everything, and I really enjoyed seeing his vision of what the tech might look like and be capable of and how it influences people's personalities and the culture at large. But if Liu takes the exact same approach with his prose and narrative perspective as he did here, it'll never be for me. I'm gonna go reread The Paper Menagerie to remember what Liu is actually capable of.
In the acknowledgments, Liu said his editor encouraged him to expand what he had originally written as a novella into a full-sized novel, and I'm very curious what he had before vs what was added at that point since I think it likely that all the additions made this book considerably worse. However, I think the root causes of my issues with the writing in this book are more fundamental and would've still been present in a shorter version, just easier to overlook maybe. When Julia is interacting with her AI assistant or solving problems in very clever ways with her hacking skills or custom-made shapeshifting drone, I was having a great time. If only that were a larger percentage of the book.
On a macro level, I couldn't stand Liu’s choices around narrative perspective. The omniscient narration did little except sap any sense of thematic intrigue or weight, delivering nonfiction-like mini-essays on this near-future's technology and the tech's cultural ripple effects that felt like Liu hitting me upside the head with his theme-hammer time after time. Oh, it also sapped any mystery around the characters, dumping backstory on us early and often for our protagonist Julia Z, or showing us inside the puny mind of the mustache-twirly villainous supposed criminal mastermind and his brain-dead henchmen. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for when things went more limited to the thoughts and perceptions of a single POV vs a more removed omniscient narrator. I can't for the life of me figure out why he didn't keep this whole thing close and limited to Julia's POV.
Julia is a very likable protagonist...a genius lonely hacker with a sad upbringing with a heart of gold who really loves helping people in need...her likability is not the problem, but the way Liu writes her with no subtlety or subtext. Instead of hints at her backstory, or giving little drips of it over time, we get told exactly what happened to make her childhood so traumatic, as well as exactly what she's thinking and feeling at any time. His style with Julia is to give us no mystery, no showing, just telling it as plain as day in inelegant omniscient asides or internal monologue.
The lack of subtlety is most distracting though when the omniscient narrator just starts talking about about the ills of technology. There are some incredible techno worldbuilding elements on display here, and they could've just spoken for themselves amidst the action on the page -- we didn't need all the author commentary to go along with it, removing any chance for us to mull these realistic future developments over ourselves. Often when we are in sections with that very removed omniscient narrator, occasionally there would be some injection of authorial voice or judgement that just didn't seem to fit with the usual neutral tone of the narrator and that came from nowhere -- which just felt very odd and clunky. I think I would’ve appreciated having none of the omniscient interludes in the novel, and instead maybe a companion essay by Liu that explores these same ideas but in a more suitable format for them. He is such a deep thinker who has a real pulse on all this new AI technology society is dealing with, but this melded approach just did not deliver a satisfying novel experience for me.
One of my biggest gripes in general with sff is cheesy villains, and this book may be the worst offender I've ever read on that front...their dialogue is just so utterly cringey every time they're on the page, and I just can't accept that Liu can't do more realistic or well-rounded antagonist characters. Every time we switched to the main villain POV or the henchmen, it was a cringe-fest.
With all that said, I think there are some slightly appealing elements here, and this has potential to grow into a series that could work better for me with hopefully some of the clunkiest character and worldbuilding exposition dumps out of the way and maybe more interesting plots and antagonists to come. Liu puts forth an extremely believable near future where AI has become so integrated into people's lives as personal assistants and tools for just about everything, and I really enjoyed seeing his vision of what the tech might look like and be capable of and how it influences people's personalities and the culture at large. But if Liu takes the exact same approach with his prose and narrative perspective as he did here, it'll never be for me. I'm gonna go reread The Paper Menagerie to remember what Liu is actually capable of.
May 22, 2025
If you have been following me for any amount of time, you will know Ken Liu is a favourite author.
This book just proves to me he can pull off any genre.
At 14, Julia became infamous as the ‘orphan hacker’, a teenage prodigy. She is desperately trying to leave that life behind when a frantic lawyer begs her to find his wife (a celebrity artist who uses AI to craft dreams) who has been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate.
Julia craves anonymity, she isn’t good with people, but she cares so much. Liu is the BEST at showing not telling and he can give you an intimate picture of every character - even those not featured presently, the villains, the past.
Very few artists can resist for long the relentless pressure to move from having fun to having an audience, to go from being validated by one’s own childlike wonder to craving the attention of others: awards, fame, money. There is so little certainty in art, so few ways to concretely judge where you are, that the hunger for approval, for the magic that comes from having sold, from being desired by many, becomes the polestar by which all steer.
This is a scary potential future where AI is everywhere, runs most aspects of daily life. How do we adapt? What trends take over, are shunned? What does privacy look like when so much data is collected every second everywhere? How does someone date, connect, trust?
This also had such an important messaging about artists. Very relevant right now as we see AI replacing more and more human labour.
Whether you viewed it as a way for artists to expand their presence—a natural extension of the way Rodin and da Vinci used apprentices to execute more work than they could do personally—or as the ultimate cheapening and devaluation of human craft, egolets were already a big part of the modern business of art.
I did find the pacing weird as the climax seemed to occur at the 65% point and then the tone changed which felt quite jarring. The story managed to get darker.
I also occasionally experienced confusion about the focalisation which jumps from first person to third person, as well as person to person. It did create a more intimate experience of the entire story’s arc, but did sometimes pull me out.
Overall, a compelling, character-study thriller that makes you think and takes a very dark turn at the end. If you have read Liu’s short story collections, you might be more accustomed to this style.
Ultimately, this book is about belonging. Craving it, feeling alienated by it, fearing it.
Arc gifted by Head of Zeus.
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This book just proves to me he can pull off any genre.
At 14, Julia became infamous as the ‘orphan hacker’, a teenage prodigy. She is desperately trying to leave that life behind when a frantic lawyer begs her to find his wife (a celebrity artist who uses AI to craft dreams) who has been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate.
Julia craves anonymity, she isn’t good with people, but she cares so much. Liu is the BEST at showing not telling and he can give you an intimate picture of every character - even those not featured presently, the villains, the past.
Very few artists can resist for long the relentless pressure to move from having fun to having an audience, to go from being validated by one’s own childlike wonder to craving the attention of others: awards, fame, money. There is so little certainty in art, so few ways to concretely judge where you are, that the hunger for approval, for the magic that comes from having sold, from being desired by many, becomes the polestar by which all steer.
This is a scary potential future where AI is everywhere, runs most aspects of daily life. How do we adapt? What trends take over, are shunned? What does privacy look like when so much data is collected every second everywhere? How does someone date, connect, trust?
This also had such an important messaging about artists. Very relevant right now as we see AI replacing more and more human labour.
Whether you viewed it as a way for artists to expand their presence—a natural extension of the way Rodin and da Vinci used apprentices to execute more work than they could do personally—or as the ultimate cheapening and devaluation of human craft, egolets were already a big part of the modern business of art.
I did find the pacing weird as the climax seemed to occur at the 65% point and then the tone changed which felt quite jarring. The story managed to get darker.
I also occasionally experienced confusion about the focalisation which jumps from first person to third person, as well as person to person. It did create a more intimate experience of the entire story’s arc, but did sometimes pull me out.
Overall, a compelling, character-study thriller that makes you think and takes a very dark turn at the end. If you have read Liu’s short story collections, you might be more accustomed to this style.
Ultimately, this book is about belonging. Craving it, feeling alienated by it, fearing it.
Arc gifted by Head of Zeus.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
October 25, 2025
I'm not typically a big reader of cyberpunk thrillers, but if Ken Liu is writing something I'm in. All That We See or Seem is the first novel in a futuristic thriller set in a world where AI is integral to everything we do and living off the grid is incredibly tough. Julia is a young woman with a complicated past trying to keep a low profile, despite her hacking abilities. When she is contacted by a man desperate to find his wife, she is drawn into a dangerous web of deceit and unanswered questions.
It's a really solid thriller in terms of plot and twists, though some things I definitely saw coming. But it also explores bigger ideas about what makes a person a person or an artist an artist. To what extent can those things be recreated using artificial intelligence? And in a world where everything is recorded or online, how to people navigate their public and private identities? There is also a LOT of nitty gritty world-building involving AI, data, hacking etc. I'm curious to see where future books in the series go as this particular case is wrapped up. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
It's a really solid thriller in terms of plot and twists, though some things I definitely saw coming. But it also explores bigger ideas about what makes a person a person or an artist an artist. To what extent can those things be recreated using artificial intelligence? And in a world where everything is recorded or online, how to people navigate their public and private identities? There is also a LOT of nitty gritty world-building involving AI, data, hacking etc. I'm curious to see where future books in the series go as this particular case is wrapped up. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
October 25, 2025
3.5 rounded up
General Thoughts:
I have never read a cyberpunk sci-fi thriller before. I found this to be a very decent thriller with a fun aspect of technology that was pretty accessible to the average reader. It tackled themes of the uses and abuses of AI, as well as being too heavily reliant on technology as a whole. It touched on corrupt government and jurisdiction. And a threat of capitalism as well. Overall, I felt like it put a fun spin on some heavier themes while keeping it interesting and unique.
I really liked our main character, Julia Z. An Asian woman with a traumatic past that is doing her best to stay in the shadows, but thrust into the limelight and an investigation she didn't ask for. I really liked the battle of confronting her past as well as her character growth and arc throughout this novel.
The book definitely had a feeling of mission impossible in some areas and I really enjoyed those aspects. I loved how Julia was a flawed character that had to think on her toes a lot at the time. I felt like a lot of the situations and their resolutions seemed pretty realistic. Nothing that was so far-fetched that I could not believe it could ever happen.
Overall, I'm glad that this is a new series of thrillers involving our main character. I can't wait for the next one.
Book Stats:
📖: 416 pages
Genre: cyberpunk sci-fi thriller
Publisher: Saga Press
Format: eARC
Series: First in a series
Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 10 hours 58 minutes
🎤: Kat Cleave
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Format: Multi POV
Disclaimer: I read this book as a gifted eARC from the publisher and a gifted audiobook from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.
General Thoughts:
I have never read a cyberpunk sci-fi thriller before. I found this to be a very decent thriller with a fun aspect of technology that was pretty accessible to the average reader. It tackled themes of the uses and abuses of AI, as well as being too heavily reliant on technology as a whole. It touched on corrupt government and jurisdiction. And a threat of capitalism as well. Overall, I felt like it put a fun spin on some heavier themes while keeping it interesting and unique.
I really liked our main character, Julia Z. An Asian woman with a traumatic past that is doing her best to stay in the shadows, but thrust into the limelight and an investigation she didn't ask for. I really liked the battle of confronting her past as well as her character growth and arc throughout this novel.
The book definitely had a feeling of mission impossible in some areas and I really enjoyed those aspects. I loved how Julia was a flawed character that had to think on her toes a lot at the time. I felt like a lot of the situations and their resolutions seemed pretty realistic. Nothing that was so far-fetched that I could not believe it could ever happen.
Overall, I'm glad that this is a new series of thrillers involving our main character. I can't wait for the next one.
Book Stats:
📖: 416 pages
Genre: cyberpunk sci-fi thriller
Publisher: Saga Press
Format: eARC
Series: First in a series
Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 10 hours 58 minutes
🎤: Kat Cleave
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Format: Multi POV
Disclaimer: I read this book as a gifted eARC from the publisher and a gifted audiobook from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.
November 28, 2025
3.25 stars (it hurts)
Look, I will be the first to admit that a near-future sci-fi thriller set in a world where AI has become an inescapable, integral part of every aspect of life is not necessarily something that sparks much excitement for me, but if anyone was going to make this premise work for me, it would be the master storyteller Ken Liu. At least, that is what I thought, but you see… All That We See or Seem was not all as it seemed.
For me, the first half of All That We See or Seem was actually quite a pleasant surprise and I soon found myself way more engaged than I had anticipated to be. We follow Julia Z, an infamous orphan hacker, whose life of fragile peace and anonymity is shattered when a desperate lawyer comes begging for her help to find his missing wife, a beloved artist who uses AI to create shared dream experiences for her thousands of fans. And so they embark on a roadtrip of hell that draws Julia deep into a world of crime syndicate horrors and confronts her with the darkest shadows of her past.
This doesn’t really have the fast-paced vibe that you’d expect from a sci-fi mystery thriller, but I think that more character-/theme-driven storytelling only worked to the benefit of this story. While the prose is not nearly as poetic and soul-stirrng as in Liu’s previous works, I still enjoyed seeing his trademark style come through in all the flashbacks and psychological deep dives. I also loved how the scientific and human aspects were so intertwined with themes of AI, social engineering, cyber security, hacking, privacy, and the ethical limits of altering reality for comfort being beautifully interwoven with themes of love, identity, memory, grief, human exploitation, and the importance of real, human art in a world that is becoming increasingly artificial.
I really enjoyed seeing Julia and Piers tentatively start to bond, and it was quite fascinating and awe-inspiring to me how Julia used her exceptional skills to solve the mystery of Piers’ missing wife, even if most of the nitty-gritty tech world building went way over my head. However, there’s a big turning point around the halfway mark of All That We See or Seem, and I never really got on board with the dark direction that the story took from there. It almost felt like two books in one, with neither feeling developed enough to make for a good reading experience all the way through.
And speaking of underdeveloped, I found the ‘big bad’ of this story to be laughably bad, and I actively cringed every time we had to read from the antagonists’ despicable perspectives. It’s really incomprehensible to me how these characters felt so painfully shallow when Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty is absolutely filled with the most complex characters scattered across the entire spectrum of morality. I did like seeing how Julia used her scarily clever mind to go up against them by the end, which made the conclusion of this story satisfying and worth it for me.
Ultimately, my problem with All That We See Or Seem is not that it’s a bad book (far from it), but it’s just that Liu has already proven that he can do so much better, hence why I wouldn’t recommend this as your starting place with his works. And while I see potential for Julia’s character in future self-contained instalments of this series, I personally liked how this wrapped up and will probably not be coming back for more. This might not entirely have been my cup of tea, but I still admire Ken Liu immensely and I think this one is worth a read if you are in the mood for a thought-provoking sci-fi thriller that prioritises its themes over anything else.
Look, I will be the first to admit that a near-future sci-fi thriller set in a world where AI has become an inescapable, integral part of every aspect of life is not necessarily something that sparks much excitement for me, but if anyone was going to make this premise work for me, it would be the master storyteller Ken Liu. At least, that is what I thought, but you see… All That We See or Seem was not all as it seemed.
For me, the first half of All That We See or Seem was actually quite a pleasant surprise and I soon found myself way more engaged than I had anticipated to be. We follow Julia Z, an infamous orphan hacker, whose life of fragile peace and anonymity is shattered when a desperate lawyer comes begging for her help to find his missing wife, a beloved artist who uses AI to create shared dream experiences for her thousands of fans. And so they embark on a roadtrip of hell that draws Julia deep into a world of crime syndicate horrors and confronts her with the darkest shadows of her past.
This doesn’t really have the fast-paced vibe that you’d expect from a sci-fi mystery thriller, but I think that more character-/theme-driven storytelling only worked to the benefit of this story. While the prose is not nearly as poetic and soul-stirrng as in Liu’s previous works, I still enjoyed seeing his trademark style come through in all the flashbacks and psychological deep dives. I also loved how the scientific and human aspects were so intertwined with themes of AI, social engineering, cyber security, hacking, privacy, and the ethical limits of altering reality for comfort being beautifully interwoven with themes of love, identity, memory, grief, human exploitation, and the importance of real, human art in a world that is becoming increasingly artificial.
I really enjoyed seeing Julia and Piers tentatively start to bond, and it was quite fascinating and awe-inspiring to me how Julia used her exceptional skills to solve the mystery of Piers’ missing wife, even if most of the nitty-gritty tech world building went way over my head. However, there’s a big turning point around the halfway mark of All That We See or Seem, and I never really got on board with the dark direction that the story took from there. It almost felt like two books in one, with neither feeling developed enough to make for a good reading experience all the way through.
And speaking of underdeveloped, I found the ‘big bad’ of this story to be laughably bad, and I actively cringed every time we had to read from the antagonists’ despicable perspectives. It’s really incomprehensible to me how these characters felt so painfully shallow when Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty is absolutely filled with the most complex characters scattered across the entire spectrum of morality. I did like seeing how Julia used her scarily clever mind to go up against them by the end, which made the conclusion of this story satisfying and worth it for me.
Ultimately, my problem with All That We See Or Seem is not that it’s a bad book (far from it), but it’s just that Liu has already proven that he can do so much better, hence why I wouldn’t recommend this as your starting place with his works. And while I see potential for Julia’s character in future self-contained instalments of this series, I personally liked how this wrapped up and will probably not be coming back for more. This might not entirely have been my cup of tea, but I still admire Ken Liu immensely and I think this one is worth a read if you are in the mood for a thought-provoking sci-fi thriller that prioritises its themes over anything else.
October 13, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and Ad Astra for this eARC! All thoughts are my own.
_____________
This was a hard one to pin a rating down for, but I've settled on a high three stars. The focus on AI made it feel so topical and so I was invested from the beginning because of that. It was such a dystopian scene that it made me think about our own future and if horrible generative AI keeps intruding its way onto real artists and their art.
My first from Ken Liu, but his other books are on my TBR and I will definitely be reading them after this one. The characters were solid, the plot was bolstered by the high stakes, and even though I barely understood some of the jargon it was still immersive and eventually made sense.
Solid book one that I will be continuing the series of.
_____________
This was a hard one to pin a rating down for, but I've settled on a high three stars. The focus on AI made it feel so topical and so I was invested from the beginning because of that. It was such a dystopian scene that it made me think about our own future and if horrible generative AI keeps intruding its way onto real artists and their art.
My first from Ken Liu, but his other books are on my TBR and I will definitely be reading them after this one. The characters were solid, the plot was bolstered by the high stakes, and even though I barely understood some of the jargon it was still immersive and eventually made sense.
Solid book one that I will be continuing the series of.
May 9, 2025
Ken Liu never fails to astound me. On the surface this book seems like a Blake Crouch thriller, but the value is beyond the story itself. Julia Z is a great protagonist and we have some great supporting characters, but I found the value of this book to be more in the commentary on AI, cyber security, and where technology will likely be in the near future. This book causes the reader to reflect on so many aspects of modern life and what technology has done/will do to us as a civilization. Loved it and I hope we get more in this world.
November 13, 2025
All That We See or Seem is, as far as I know, Ken Liu's first full length sci-fi novel in English. I'm familiar with his translation of The Three-Body Problem trilogy (excellent), his short story collections (wonderful), and his epic fantasy (not to my taste). Here, he makes an interesting and laudable attempt to reinvent the cyberpunk hacker archetype for the LLM era. Thankfully he ditches the 1990s cyberpunk requirement that all female characters have to be alarmingly young and super-attractive sex workers. The protagonist of All That We See or Seem is Julia Z, a hacker with a troubled past who gets unwittingly dragged into a mysterious disappearance involving dangerous criminals. She ends up on the run with the husband of the disappeared woman, a specialist in dream-sharing technology. Dream-sharing is used more sparingly in the plot than I expected, which was refreshing. I did catch some fun Inception references, though.
The technological and political world-building in All That We See or Seem is thoughtful and engages with the present state of technology much more actively than most recent sci-fi. Liu assumes that LLMs will become bigger and more accurate, but remain as limited augments to human thinking rather than spawning an artificial general intelligence. His depiction of surveillance technology barely extrapolates from the present, his protagonist is just more aware of it than most. There are some neat ideas and exciting scenes. I appreciated that while the antagonists could be lazy and shortsighted, they weren't stupid and posed a visceral threat. Julia Z seems quite worldly wise for a 23-year-old, as she's been on her own since her mother died when she was 14. After initially falling in with a group/cult that manipulated her, when the book begins she is isolated and wary of people. I enjoyed her perilous journey towards making friends. That said, I tire of characters in novels claiming, "I'm not good with people." Someone really ought to retort, "Who is these days."
The finale of the novel is its highlight, as I loved the threatening and vividly evoked setting. I totally called the twist in the epilogue. All That We See or Seem appears to be first in a series about Julia Z and I would gladly read more of her adventures. She is a cautious, distant, and pragmatic character here, with a lot of potential to open up and grow. Moreover, the near future world in which she lives sheds some light upon technology and its implications today. I don't think All That We See or Seem reaches the heights of imagination in Liu's best short stories, but it's still a really solid and satisfying sci-fi novel.
The technological and political world-building in All That We See or Seem is thoughtful and engages with the present state of technology much more actively than most recent sci-fi. Liu assumes that LLMs will become bigger and more accurate, but remain as limited augments to human thinking rather than spawning an artificial general intelligence. His depiction of surveillance technology barely extrapolates from the present, his protagonist is just more aware of it than most. There are some neat ideas and exciting scenes. I appreciated that while the antagonists could be lazy and shortsighted, they weren't stupid and posed a visceral threat. Julia Z seems quite worldly wise for a 23-year-old, as she's been on her own since her mother died when she was 14. After initially falling in with a group/cult that manipulated her, when the book begins she is isolated and wary of people. I enjoyed her perilous journey towards making friends. That said, I tire of characters in novels claiming, "I'm not good with people." Someone really ought to retort, "Who is these days."
The finale of the novel is its highlight, as I loved the threatening and vividly evoked setting. I totally called the twist in the epilogue. All That We See or Seem appears to be first in a series about Julia Z and I would gladly read more of her adventures. She is a cautious, distant, and pragmatic character here, with a lot of potential to open up and grow. Moreover, the near future world in which she lives sheds some light upon technology and its implications today. I don't think All That We See or Seem reaches the heights of imagination in Liu's best short stories, but it's still a really solid and satisfying sci-fi novel.
November 17, 2025
4⭐️ This is a very futuristic tech heavy sci fi/thriller.I quickly became totally immersed in the twisty plot.
Julia is a loner, orphaned at a young age, brilliant computer/AI technician. Piers comes into her life
in search of his missing celebrity wife Elli, and thinks she’s just the one to help solve her disappearance.
The two quickly become entrenched in discovering just what Elli’s business and her “partner” The Prince
were involved in. The Prince and his underling Victor are nasty villains you love to hate!
Fast paced story with lots of action and tense moments for Julia as she races to solve the crime. The ending was great and very satisfying (though I guessed parts of it) and leaves it open for a sequel.
Thanks NetGalley and S&S/Saga Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review
Julia is a loner, orphaned at a young age, brilliant computer/AI technician. Piers comes into her life
in search of his missing celebrity wife Elli, and thinks she’s just the one to help solve her disappearance.
The two quickly become entrenched in discovering just what Elli’s business and her “partner” The Prince
were involved in. The Prince and his underling Victor are nasty villains you love to hate!
Fast paced story with lots of action and tense moments for Julia as she races to solve the crime. The ending was great and very satisfying (though I guessed parts of it) and leaves it open for a sequel.
Thanks NetGalley and S&S/Saga Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review
October 1, 2025
Ken Liu has long been one of my auto-buy authors, and with All That We See Or Seem, he kicks off a brand-new series that feels like both a bold departure and a natural evolution of his work. Suppose you know Liu primarily through the sweeping epic fantasy of The Dandelion Dynasty. In that case, this book will surprise you: it's a tight, fast-paced AI thriller, more in line with his short fiction, particularly the stories that inspired the brilliant TV adaptation, Pantheon.
I actually went in blind, expecting another short story collection, and was delighted to find myself in the middle of a novel-length exploration of the themes Liu has so often toyed with in short form: technology, identity, and the fragile ways we connect (or fail to connect) with each other in an increasingly artificial world. Realizing this was the start of a series, I was buzzing.
The story follows Julie Z, a reluctant but sharp protagonist with a rare talent for working with machines. She's equally marked, however, by her struggles with human relationships, a flaw that Liu traces back to formative childhood experiences and chance encounters that shaped her life's path. We meet her at a crossroads, and the book deftly blends her present-day challenges with glimpses into her past. This creates a character who feels grounded and vulnerable even as she's thrust into a high-stakes narrative.
For a relatively short novel, Liu covers remarkable ground: AI, hacking, social engineering, the erosion of privacy, and the unsettling rise of artificial relationships that threaten to replace human ones. If I’d read this five years ago, I would have pegged it as speculative futurism, but with the pace of today's AI developments, it now reads less like science fiction and more like an unnervingly plausible near-future thriller.
Liu has said he envisions the trilogy as a set of interlocking but self-contained thrillers that can be read in any order, and that structure works beautifully here. All That We and Seem wraps up its immediate plot with satisfying neatness while leaving just enough of a taste of what's to come in the next installments.
The book's brisk pace and thought-provoking themes reminded me of Blake Crouch or Nicholas Binge's recent work. These are tight, idea-driven thrillers that never lose sight of character. It's a lean, propulsive, and thoughtful start to a series that promises to push Liu into exciting new territory.
I actually went in blind, expecting another short story collection, and was delighted to find myself in the middle of a novel-length exploration of the themes Liu has so often toyed with in short form: technology, identity, and the fragile ways we connect (or fail to connect) with each other in an increasingly artificial world. Realizing this was the start of a series, I was buzzing.
The story follows Julie Z, a reluctant but sharp protagonist with a rare talent for working with machines. She's equally marked, however, by her struggles with human relationships, a flaw that Liu traces back to formative childhood experiences and chance encounters that shaped her life's path. We meet her at a crossroads, and the book deftly blends her present-day challenges with glimpses into her past. This creates a character who feels grounded and vulnerable even as she's thrust into a high-stakes narrative.
For a relatively short novel, Liu covers remarkable ground: AI, hacking, social engineering, the erosion of privacy, and the unsettling rise of artificial relationships that threaten to replace human ones. If I’d read this five years ago, I would have pegged it as speculative futurism, but with the pace of today's AI developments, it now reads less like science fiction and more like an unnervingly plausible near-future thriller.
Liu has said he envisions the trilogy as a set of interlocking but self-contained thrillers that can be read in any order, and that structure works beautifully here. All That We and Seem wraps up its immediate plot with satisfying neatness while leaving just enough of a taste of what's to come in the next installments.
The book's brisk pace and thought-provoking themes reminded me of Blake Crouch or Nicholas Binge's recent work. These are tight, idea-driven thrillers that never lose sight of character. It's a lean, propulsive, and thoughtful start to a series that promises to push Liu into exciting new territory.
October 14, 2025
A tightly-paced cautionary tale that extrapolates our beginning dependence on AI – but lacks Ken Liu’s characteristic magnificent prose and emotional resonance.
The story explores a near-future scenario extrapolated from technologies already available today: artificial intelligence, surveillance, virtual and augmented reality, even EEG interfaces. Liu’s vision is unsettlingly plausible, serving as a cautionary tale about our deepening reliance on these systems. The book’s strengths lie in its pacing and scene clarity. However, it does not add anything new. Science fiction authors have been writing cautionary tales about AI for nearly a century, and many of those works explore these ideas with greater depth, originality, or emotional impact than this novel does.
Ultimately, this wasn’t the transformative or emotionally powerful experience I associate with Ken Liu’s writing. The grounded setting may have limited his stylistic range, but even so, his voice felt muted.
My ratings of some of his other books for comparison:
• The Grace of Kings 4.5/5
• The Wall of Storms 5/5
• The Veiled Throne 4/5
• Speaking Bones 4/5
• The Paper Menagerie and other stories 4.5/5
The story explores a near-future scenario extrapolated from technologies already available today: artificial intelligence, surveillance, virtual and augmented reality, even EEG interfaces. Liu’s vision is unsettlingly plausible, serving as a cautionary tale about our deepening reliance on these systems. The book’s strengths lie in its pacing and scene clarity. However, it does not add anything new. Science fiction authors have been writing cautionary tales about AI for nearly a century, and many of those works explore these ideas with greater depth, originality, or emotional impact than this novel does.
Ultimately, this wasn’t the transformative or emotionally powerful experience I associate with Ken Liu’s writing. The grounded setting may have limited his stylistic range, but even so, his voice felt muted.
My ratings of some of his other books for comparison:
• The Grace of Kings 4.5/5
• The Wall of Storms 5/5
• The Veiled Throne 4/5
• Speaking Bones 4/5
• The Paper Menagerie and other stories 4.5/5
December 17, 2025
idk, I liked it. Julia was an enjoyable protagonist. entertaining plot.
i think one thing that might be a problem for this novel is that in the world when people talk about AI doing stuff they are annoying almost all the time. So people talk about AI stuff in this book, and it's hard for them to not be annoying .
anyway, I thought it was entertaining. Not on the level of The Dandelion Dynasty, but solid. Curious to actually read the really negative reviews now.
7
i think one thing that might be a problem for this novel is that in the world when people talk about AI doing stuff they are annoying almost all the time. So people talk about AI stuff in this book, and it's hard for them to not be annoying .
anyway, I thought it was entertaining. Not on the level of The Dandelion Dynasty, but solid. Curious to actually read the really negative reviews now.
7
May 24, 2025
More like a 3,5 star rating. This was an enjoyable sci-fi techno thriller for the most part, but what the reader's enjoyment might come down to, is if this is their first Ken Liu book or not. Let me explain..
If this is someone's introduction to Ken Liu and reads this based only on the premise then chances are they will find a lot to like here. An interesting premise with a very fast pace, some thrilling action scenes and above all some thoughtful commentary on the future role of AI in our lives and its consequences..
If however someone grabs this because (like me) they read The Dandelion Dynasty and wanted to experience what Liu can add to this genre, then they might be a bit disappointed. While in his fantasy debut he brought unique storytelling on an epic scale, here his work feels a bit generic. Nothing stands out as excellent and his character work remains his weak point. In the Dandelion series. the adequate but not excellent character development wasn't so much an issue, due to the epicness of the story and the excellent worldbuilding. Here though it hurts the story quite a bit. The secondary characters especially feel very thin and the villains become almost caricatures. As a result here we have very small emotional impact to important events. Also some plot choices felt rushed and abrupt, like there were some pages missing..
All in all this was an ok book, that reads fast and has some exciting moments. I just expected so much more from an author like Ken Liu..
Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an Arc for this.
If this is someone's introduction to Ken Liu and reads this based only on the premise then chances are they will find a lot to like here. An interesting premise with a very fast pace, some thrilling action scenes and above all some thoughtful commentary on the future role of AI in our lives and its consequences..
If however someone grabs this because (like me) they read The Dandelion Dynasty and wanted to experience what Liu can add to this genre, then they might be a bit disappointed. While in his fantasy debut he brought unique storytelling on an epic scale, here his work feels a bit generic. Nothing stands out as excellent and his character work remains his weak point. In the Dandelion series. the adequate but not excellent character development wasn't so much an issue, due to the epicness of the story and the excellent worldbuilding. Here though it hurts the story quite a bit. The secondary characters especially feel very thin and the villains become almost caricatures. As a result here we have very small emotional impact to important events. Also some plot choices felt rushed and abrupt, like there were some pages missing..
All in all this was an ok book, that reads fast and has some exciting moments. I just expected so much more from an author like Ken Liu..
Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an Arc for this.
September 8, 2025
If you’re looking for anything remotely similar to the Dandelion Dynasty, keep looking. I saw the reviews for this and thought “they don’t know Ken Liu like I do.” And I came up immensely disappointed and thought “okay maybe they did.”☹️. The AI take on the whole mystery was intriguing and definitely well researched and we will probably see a lot more of that in most genres but the characters were sooo 2D. I’ve felt more compassion for a rock than these guys. The mystery kept me engaged but just barely. The stakes felt low and soon I began to really not care if Elli lived or died.
You good, Ken?😭
You good, Ken?😭
August 14, 2025
2.5 🌟
Ken Liu’s newest book is themed around AI, large language models, and the blurred lines between human memory and machine-created reality. The premise is cool, and Liu’s gift for weaving technology with human emotion still flickers through in moments.
Unfortunately, the story never quite matches the elegance of his earlier work. The prose leans toward a more direct, YA-like style, which makes it very accessible but strips away some of the lyrical nuances that made the Dandelion Dynasty so powerful.
Character relationships lack the emotional depth to make the stakes fully land, and the plot sometimes feels like a framework to hang ideas on rather than a fully immersive narrative. The novel raises compelling questions—but doesn’t linger long enough on them to deliver the deeper resonance you might expect from Liu
It might be worth reading for the concept and occasional flashes of brilliance, but it may leave longtime Liu fans wishing for the more layered storytelling of his past work, which was spectacular and my favorite series ever, so this review pains me more than most people.
Ken Liu’s newest book is themed around AI, large language models, and the blurred lines between human memory and machine-created reality. The premise is cool, and Liu’s gift for weaving technology with human emotion still flickers through in moments.
Unfortunately, the story never quite matches the elegance of his earlier work. The prose leans toward a more direct, YA-like style, which makes it very accessible but strips away some of the lyrical nuances that made the Dandelion Dynasty so powerful.
Character relationships lack the emotional depth to make the stakes fully land, and the plot sometimes feels like a framework to hang ideas on rather than a fully immersive narrative. The novel raises compelling questions—but doesn’t linger long enough on them to deliver the deeper resonance you might expect from Liu
It might be worth reading for the concept and occasional flashes of brilliance, but it may leave longtime Liu fans wishing for the more layered storytelling of his past work, which was spectacular and my favorite series ever, so this review pains me more than most people.
December 23, 2025
I loved this book. I went in with zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised to find a near-future scifi mystery thriller.
I love the amount of story Liu packs into these pages and the world he built. He does get a bit info dumpy at times, but the information didn’t feel unnecessary or bog down the story, and it only serves to make the world feel more believable and real.
Some incredible themes and conversations as well. This book took a turn I definitely didn’t expect but was executed very well and gave me chills multiple times.
Can’t wait for book two.
I love the amount of story Liu packs into these pages and the world he built. He does get a bit info dumpy at times, but the information didn’t feel unnecessary or bog down the story, and it only serves to make the world feel more believable and real.
Some incredible themes and conversations as well. This book took a turn I definitely didn’t expect but was executed very well and gave me chills multiple times.
Can’t wait for book two.
Read
October 24, 2025This suspense novel is more of a manual for how to be underground than anything else. Of course a lot of the things that the best-of-the-best protagonist knows how to do, including having rich and talented friends, will not be available to most of the people who need to be covert, but there's the fiction part, I guess.
The plot seems to be an interestingly skeptical take on both not changing the world and attempting to change the world, but the ending (at least on that metric) was quite disappointing. Look, person who has been an outsider this whole time might successfully be integrated back into the society they've rejected! Hooray.
This book could easily be labeled dystopic and horror, but maybe that's just me.
The plot seems to be an interestingly skeptical take on both not changing the world and attempting to change the world, but the ending (at least on that metric) was quite disappointing. Look, person who has been an outsider this whole time might successfully be integrated back into the society they've rejected! Hooray.
This book could easily be labeled dystopic and horror, but maybe that's just me.
November 17, 2025
3.0 Stars
This author has written some of my absolute favourite SFF so I was quite disappointed to find this one only okay. It felt very simple in terms of the characters, plot and ideas explored.
This author has written some of my absolute favourite SFF so I was quite disappointed to find this one only okay. It felt very simple in terms of the characters, plot and ideas explored.
July 21, 2025
Ken Liu is a well-known author for me. I’ve read some books of his epic fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, his multiple award-winning short story The Paper Menagerie, and books he translated. So I was very excited when I heard he was going to release his first sci-fi thriller in a new series. I was kindly gifted this ARC by Head of Zeus via NetGalley.
All That We See Or Seem, releasing in October, begins as a straightforward mystery when the main character Julia Z is approached by Piers, a man desperate to find his missing wife Elli. She is a dream weaver, known for hosting collective dream gatherings. Julia and Piers partner up to find Elli and unravel the mystery.
Although this all seems very simple, there is so much more happening. This adventure is only a part of the overall book, which left me feeling misled by the blurb. Ken Liu tries to do a lot in this book, but prioritizes fast-paced prose and cliffhangers over deep character work and believable plot lines.
Julia’s backstory is well integrated into the narrative and this could make her a multidimensional and intriguing character. However, the author undermines this with convenient events that need to happen to keep the plot going. For example, Julia is often portrayed as socially awkward and lonely, yet every time she needs help, there is some old friend with a safe house or she meets a trustworthy stranger. Even Julia mentions it herself in the book, when thinking “this was an unexpected stroke of luck”.
The book focuses on Julia, but there are moments when Liu decides to switch POV’s to characters on the ‘other side’. This adds to the scope of the story, but makes one of my gripes with the book obvious. All the other characters feel secondary and flat. Even Piers, who gets much page time, is bland and unbelievable. He starts off as a nervous lawyer, but transforms into a criminal mastermind within two days, only to revert back to being a clueless guy just to serve a dramatic plot line.
The character work on the ‘bad guys’ is even worse. They are exactly that… bad. They have no other character traits whatsoever.
The prose flows across the pages and is easy to follow, but Ken Liu sometimes kept important information hidden, while Julia already knew it. I think that’s a lazy way to keep the mystery and suspense intact.
The book touches on themes like racism, conspiracies, belonging, AI, … to spark some introspection and lift this novel above a standard sci-fi thriller. It’s in these moments that I recognize Ken Liu’s voice the most. Beneath the rather superficial story lies a well thought out world, with interesting ideas about the use of technology. I definitely notice the potential within this story, but the execution falls short for me.
You will enjoy this if you are a fan of fast-paced sci-fi thrillers in the likes of Blake Crouch. However, I expected more from Ken Liu.
All That We See Or Seem, releasing in October, begins as a straightforward mystery when the main character Julia Z is approached by Piers, a man desperate to find his missing wife Elli. She is a dream weaver, known for hosting collective dream gatherings. Julia and Piers partner up to find Elli and unravel the mystery.
Although this all seems very simple, there is so much more happening. This adventure is only a part of the overall book, which left me feeling misled by the blurb. Ken Liu tries to do a lot in this book, but prioritizes fast-paced prose and cliffhangers over deep character work and believable plot lines.
Julia’s backstory is well integrated into the narrative and this could make her a multidimensional and intriguing character. However, the author undermines this with convenient events that need to happen to keep the plot going. For example, Julia is often portrayed as socially awkward and lonely, yet every time she needs help, there is some old friend with a safe house or she meets a trustworthy stranger. Even Julia mentions it herself in the book, when thinking “this was an unexpected stroke of luck”.
The book focuses on Julia, but there are moments when Liu decides to switch POV’s to characters on the ‘other side’. This adds to the scope of the story, but makes one of my gripes with the book obvious. All the other characters feel secondary and flat. Even Piers, who gets much page time, is bland and unbelievable. He starts off as a nervous lawyer, but transforms into a criminal mastermind within two days, only to revert back to being a clueless guy just to serve a dramatic plot line.
The character work on the ‘bad guys’ is even worse. They are exactly that… bad. They have no other character traits whatsoever.
The prose flows across the pages and is easy to follow, but Ken Liu sometimes kept important information hidden, while Julia already knew it. I think that’s a lazy way to keep the mystery and suspense intact.
The book touches on themes like racism, conspiracies, belonging, AI, … to spark some introspection and lift this novel above a standard sci-fi thriller. It’s in these moments that I recognize Ken Liu’s voice the most. Beneath the rather superficial story lies a well thought out world, with interesting ideas about the use of technology. I definitely notice the potential within this story, but the execution falls short for me.
You will enjoy this if you are a fan of fast-paced sci-fi thrillers in the likes of Blake Crouch. However, I expected more from Ken Liu.
October 17, 2025
If you think customizing cookie settings every time you open a webpage is tedious, wait till you submerge yourself into Liu’s world in All That We See or Seem.
Julia grew up with an idealistic mom in MA who dedicated her life to activist work for immigrants in America. Her mom’s valor, though commendable, often neglected Julia, leaving her with an unstable upbringing and home life. When her mom was accidentally killed while helping others, online bullies harassed Julia, and she ran away and joined a group of vigilante hackers called the Cartographers Obscura. Led by Serena, a Robin Hood-like leader, Julia’s chosen family teaches her how to navigate machines. Her people skills don’t get developed along with her technical skills; once the group disbands because they recognize Serena’s corruption, Julia lives in isolation, in fear of personal relationships, being tracked, and leaving digital fingerprints, even as she works as a coder with her personal AI sidekick, Talos.
Julia’s life turns sideways, yet again, when Piers approaches her to help him Elli, his wife who has vanished. By finding Julia, Piers brings trouble to her doorstep. Over the phone, someone who calls himself The Prince demands that Piers “give me back” or else Elli will die. Piers and Julia are on the run together: Piers doesn’t want Elli to die but doesn’t understand The Prince’s ransom price; Julia feels burdened to help Piers. Together, they realize that The Prince “discovered” Elli and has long been her patron, surmising he follows in a rich tradition, “the sine qua non of great art.”
Her job as an onierofex means she guided others’ “vivid dreaming,” and she had a wildly successful career as a dream weaver, creating a digital space for crowds of people to dream together. And this allowed her to make money and art. When The Prince reveals that he manufactured her fame by “bending the crowd in her favor,” he pimps her out, splitting the cash she brings in and keeping her trapped in this position because she doesn’t want to admit she’s a fraud—a deep fear of any artist. He also dreams independently with her, and this is why he wants himself back: Elli holds his company’s secrets. With her disappearance, she could ruin him. But disappearing was the only way Elli thought she could cut ties completely.
On their quest to find Elli, Piers and Elli both die in a boating accident with The Prince’s goon’s on their tails. When the authorities close their cases, not tracing their deaths back to The Prince, Julia takes matters into her own hands. Finding out that The Prince generates content-generating farms, run by people he keeps as slaves in a factory, Julia goes undercover and brings down the Boise farm from the inside with flames. The story ends with a mysterious woman named Cynthia offering Julia a job to join her team and help America reach its founding dream.
As an infrequent enjoyer of sci-fi and thrillers, Liu’s suspense, thriller, sci-fi, dystopian (?) novel worked for me. Although the story may be less complex on the technological front and occasionally includes simpler narrative arcs, these aspects helped me follow the action. This is particularly useful when Liu builds his intricate AI world of dreams, which I wasn’t able to grasp in detail. Moreover, Liu critiques the powerful who exploit “migrants, runaways, the chronically underemployed, the mentally ill, those struggling on the fringe of society, the forgotten, people who had no prospects, no safety net, no dreams—and gave them purpose, offered them security.” All the while, the author doesn’t seem to suggest society should embrace being off the grid. A notable read for a younger reader of sci-fi (c’est moi).
My thanks to Saga Press and NetGalley for an ARC.
Julia grew up with an idealistic mom in MA who dedicated her life to activist work for immigrants in America. Her mom’s valor, though commendable, often neglected Julia, leaving her with an unstable upbringing and home life. When her mom was accidentally killed while helping others, online bullies harassed Julia, and she ran away and joined a group of vigilante hackers called the Cartographers Obscura. Led by Serena, a Robin Hood-like leader, Julia’s chosen family teaches her how to navigate machines. Her people skills don’t get developed along with her technical skills; once the group disbands because they recognize Serena’s corruption, Julia lives in isolation, in fear of personal relationships, being tracked, and leaving digital fingerprints, even as she works as a coder with her personal AI sidekick, Talos.
Julia’s life turns sideways, yet again, when Piers approaches her to help him Elli, his wife who has vanished. By finding Julia, Piers brings trouble to her doorstep. Over the phone, someone who calls himself The Prince demands that Piers “give me back” or else Elli will die. Piers and Julia are on the run together: Piers doesn’t want Elli to die but doesn’t understand The Prince’s ransom price; Julia feels burdened to help Piers. Together, they realize that The Prince “discovered” Elli and has long been her patron, surmising he follows in a rich tradition, “the sine qua non of great art.”
Her job as an onierofex means she guided others’ “vivid dreaming,” and she had a wildly successful career as a dream weaver, creating a digital space for crowds of people to dream together. And this allowed her to make money and art. When The Prince reveals that he manufactured her fame by “bending the crowd in her favor,” he pimps her out, splitting the cash she brings in and keeping her trapped in this position because she doesn’t want to admit she’s a fraud—a deep fear of any artist. He also dreams independently with her, and this is why he wants himself back: Elli holds his company’s secrets. With her disappearance, she could ruin him. But disappearing was the only way Elli thought she could cut ties completely.
On their quest to find Elli, Piers and Elli both die in a boating accident with The Prince’s goon’s on their tails. When the authorities close their cases, not tracing their deaths back to The Prince, Julia takes matters into her own hands. Finding out that The Prince generates content-generating farms, run by people he keeps as slaves in a factory, Julia goes undercover and brings down the Boise farm from the inside with flames. The story ends with a mysterious woman named Cynthia offering Julia a job to join her team and help America reach its founding dream.
As an infrequent enjoyer of sci-fi and thrillers, Liu’s suspense, thriller, sci-fi, dystopian (?) novel worked for me. Although the story may be less complex on the technological front and occasionally includes simpler narrative arcs, these aspects helped me follow the action. This is particularly useful when Liu builds his intricate AI world of dreams, which I wasn’t able to grasp in detail. Moreover, Liu critiques the powerful who exploit “migrants, runaways, the chronically underemployed, the mentally ill, those struggling on the fringe of society, the forgotten, people who had no prospects, no safety net, no dreams—and gave them purpose, offered them security.” All the while, the author doesn’t seem to suggest society should embrace being off the grid. A notable read for a younger reader of sci-fi (c’est moi).
My thanks to Saga Press and NetGalley for an ARC.
June 23, 2025
Weird book. Felt like it ended two-thirds in and then just... kept going? The pacing is all over the place—like dreaming of running a marathon, to then wake up and realise it's the day of the actual marathon.
The AI themes are actually really smart, and you can tell Liu’s got a sharp mind for the philosophical side of tech and humanity. But the story itself? Not so much. It’s pretty half baked and unforgettable .
Characters were paper-thin, which was disappointing. No one really stuck with me or felt real. Hoping his fantasy stuff (which I’ve heard good things about) has more emotional depth, because this one didn’t hit on that front.
Still, props for ambition. Just didn’t quite land for me, won't continue series
The AI themes are actually really smart, and you can tell Liu’s got a sharp mind for the philosophical side of tech and humanity. But the story itself? Not so much. It’s pretty half baked and unforgettable .
Characters were paper-thin, which was disappointing. No one really stuck with me or felt real. Hoping his fantasy stuff (which I’ve heard good things about) has more emotional depth, because this one didn’t hit on that front.
Still, props for ambition. Just didn’t quite land for me, won't continue series
October 13, 2025
A thrilled 4.25⭐ from me. Thank you NetGalley & Saga Press for the ARC.
I REALLY liked this one! I've seen people be disappointed because they read Ken Liu's Dandelion Dynasty first and this doesn't apparently live up to that standard, but I haven't soooo I had a great time with this non-fantasy silkpunk novel. 🤭 This is a fast-paced mystery thriller with a likeable and competent protagonist (and I LOVE when a character actually lives up to their reputation). I grew to love Julia Z as a character pretty fast, being witty and fun to follow, while the novel still finds time to showcase her flaws and vulnerabilities. Liu also absolutely makes sure to show us how intelligent and skilled Julia is instead of external characters just talking about it. Ever wonder how a thermostat can be used against you when you're trying to be discreet? Julia will absolutely let you know.
In fact, I'm in awe with just how big-brained Liu is with his fictional technology in this version of a possible future. One of such tech involves having shared simulated dreams with other people, and honestly that whole experience sounds freaking amazing and fun. While I didn't always understand the explanation behind the tech, that really is a Me problem rather than a failing on Liu's part because my mind just tends to gloss over technical prose.
The first two-thirds of the novel is devoted to Julia assisting a lawyer, Piers, to find his missing wife Elli—and to nobody's surprise, Elli has Deep Dark Secrets, ones that are tied to an international ringleader of a criminal empire. Given Julia's reclusiveness as a genius hacker, she of course claims that she's "not good with people" and we see her attachment to her personal AI assistant. Liu sidesteps certain cliches by giving her a backstory of being a former hacktivist. She possesses empathy and compassion towards others rather than being needlessly condescending and completely incapable of civil social interactions. And it wouldn't be a story of an Asian daughter without any parental baggage, of which Liu subverts my expectations again by not rehashing the formula of Asian Child Fears Disappointing Their Parent. In fact, it's the other way around. Julia also plays off well with Piers, and their contrasting yet complementary personalities sets up an interesting dynamic and a friendship I grew fond of.
The last third of the novel is a shift from the Mystery of the Missing Wife to Julia tackling this Big Bad Villain at the heart of the operations. This all neatly wraps up—perhaps even TOO neatly; I expected more from the Big Bad—that it can stand on its own, while still setting the stage for future Julia adventures... which I'm definitely looking forward to!
I REALLY liked this one! I've seen people be disappointed because they read Ken Liu's Dandelion Dynasty first and this doesn't apparently live up to that standard, but I haven't soooo I had a great time with this non-fantasy silkpunk novel. 🤭 This is a fast-paced mystery thriller with a likeable and competent protagonist (and I LOVE when a character actually lives up to their reputation). I grew to love Julia Z as a character pretty fast, being witty and fun to follow, while the novel still finds time to showcase her flaws and vulnerabilities. Liu also absolutely makes sure to show us how intelligent and skilled Julia is instead of external characters just talking about it. Ever wonder how a thermostat can be used against you when you're trying to be discreet? Julia will absolutely let you know.
In fact, I'm in awe with just how big-brained Liu is with his fictional technology in this version of a possible future. One of such tech involves having shared simulated dreams with other people, and honestly that whole experience sounds freaking amazing and fun. While I didn't always understand the explanation behind the tech, that really is a Me problem rather than a failing on Liu's part because my mind just tends to gloss over technical prose.
The first two-thirds of the novel is devoted to Julia assisting a lawyer, Piers, to find his missing wife Elli—and to nobody's surprise, Elli has Deep Dark Secrets, ones that are tied to an international ringleader of a criminal empire. Given Julia's reclusiveness as a genius hacker, she of course claims that she's "not good with people" and we see her attachment to her personal AI assistant. Liu sidesteps certain cliches by giving her a backstory of being a former hacktivist. She possesses empathy and compassion towards others rather than being needlessly condescending and completely incapable of civil social interactions. And it wouldn't be a story of an Asian daughter without any parental baggage, of which Liu subverts my expectations again by not rehashing the formula of Asian Child Fears Disappointing Their Parent. In fact, it's the other way around. Julia also plays off well with Piers, and their contrasting yet complementary personalities sets up an interesting dynamic and a friendship I grew fond of.
The last third of the novel is a shift from the Mystery of the Missing Wife to Julia tackling this Big Bad Villain at the heart of the operations. This all neatly wraps up—perhaps even TOO neatly; I expected more from the Big Bad—that it can stand on its own, while still setting the stage for future Julia adventures... which I'm definitely looking forward to!
October 7, 2025
All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu, book one in the new Julia Z series.
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
3 stars
I’m definitely a Ken Liu fan. I was blown away by the Dandelion Dynasty series. I was SO excited when I saw that he was publishing a new book and even MORE excited when I realized it would be the first book in a new series.
As much as I love his other books, this one, not so much.
The premise was very appealing to me. A genius hacker girl vs an AI dominant world? Yes, please!
I mean, it’s realistic right? We (society,) are already leaning towards dependence on AI, virtual reality, big brother type surveillance etc… The first few chapters of the novel had me convinced that I was into this story, fully invested. Unfortunately the excitement waned and died off as I progressed through the book.
Julia Z had the makings of being a phenomenal protagonist. She’s a young woman who has been on her own for a long time. She was taken in by a group of Robin Hood type hackers that taught her many skills and she thrived and honed them from there. After a falling out with the leader of the group she’s been laying low, isolating and keeping company with herself and her personal AI. Then Piers walks into her life. Literally. The issue I have with Julia is her indifference? She pretty much has no personality, her affect is blunted and she lacks any emotional depth. This makes it hard to relate to, feel invested with or even care about her character much. We are told of her tragic past so maybe these character flaws are intentional? Hard to tell.
There is a slew of tech/AI language (jargon,) throughout this book. At times it felt like it was being thrown at me so much that I read through it without really absorbing it. It was like daydreaming through a lecture at a work conference. You start off interested and paying attention and the next thing you know it’s over and you have no recollection of what was said. 🤷🏻♀️
The support characters weren’t that developed, making it hard to care much about them also. The Prince is the antagonist pulling all these strings in stealth mode. He’s a narcissist, that much is obvious but that’s all we really know about him. There’s no back story, no real glimpse or info into his life.
I also feel like there were two plots, two stories occurring. The mystery in the beginning of the book is solved about two thirds through and then the plot turns off in another direction. This doesn’t feel cohesive and really throws the pacing off.
Overall, the book isn’t terrible. It just didn’t land the way I was wanting or expecting it to. The story telling is rough, the characters aren’t that interesting and the change of direction at the end was confusing and anticlimactic. There is a cliffhanger, sort of. We are left with a clear vision of the direction the next installment will likely go. I’m undecided if I will continue the series. Maybe? I’d like to see what Julia ends up doing after that ending.
Thank you to NetGalley for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is set to publish October 14th.
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
3 stars
I’m definitely a Ken Liu fan. I was blown away by the Dandelion Dynasty series. I was SO excited when I saw that he was publishing a new book and even MORE excited when I realized it would be the first book in a new series.
As much as I love his other books, this one, not so much.
The premise was very appealing to me. A genius hacker girl vs an AI dominant world? Yes, please!
I mean, it’s realistic right? We (society,) are already leaning towards dependence on AI, virtual reality, big brother type surveillance etc… The first few chapters of the novel had me convinced that I was into this story, fully invested. Unfortunately the excitement waned and died off as I progressed through the book.
Julia Z had the makings of being a phenomenal protagonist. She’s a young woman who has been on her own for a long time. She was taken in by a group of Robin Hood type hackers that taught her many skills and she thrived and honed them from there. After a falling out with the leader of the group she’s been laying low, isolating and keeping company with herself and her personal AI. Then Piers walks into her life. Literally. The issue I have with Julia is her indifference? She pretty much has no personality, her affect is blunted and she lacks any emotional depth. This makes it hard to relate to, feel invested with or even care about her character much. We are told of her tragic past so maybe these character flaws are intentional? Hard to tell.
There is a slew of tech/AI language (jargon,) throughout this book. At times it felt like it was being thrown at me so much that I read through it without really absorbing it. It was like daydreaming through a lecture at a work conference. You start off interested and paying attention and the next thing you know it’s over and you have no recollection of what was said. 🤷🏻♀️
The support characters weren’t that developed, making it hard to care much about them also. The Prince is the antagonist pulling all these strings in stealth mode. He’s a narcissist, that much is obvious but that’s all we really know about him. There’s no back story, no real glimpse or info into his life.
I also feel like there were two plots, two stories occurring. The mystery in the beginning of the book is solved about two thirds through and then the plot turns off in another direction. This doesn’t feel cohesive and really throws the pacing off.
Overall, the book isn’t terrible. It just didn’t land the way I was wanting or expecting it to. The story telling is rough, the characters aren’t that interesting and the change of direction at the end was confusing and anticlimactic. There is a cliffhanger, sort of. We are left with a clear vision of the direction the next installment will likely go. I’m undecided if I will continue the series. Maybe? I’d like to see what Julia ends up doing after that ending.
Thank you to NetGalley for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is set to publish October 14th.
September 29, 2025
4 stars.
Thank you to Saga Press for the ARC!
If there is one thing Liu will consistently do, it's try new genres and approach deep themes from varying perspectives. All The We See Or Seem (ATWSOS) is no exception to this rule.
Set in a future not so distant from our present, we follow a talented hacker, Julia Z, as she tries to find the balance between escaping her past and creating a future for herself. Through some unforseen circumstances, she gets roped into a situation that requires her to utilize her skills in a way she hasn't for a long time.
While ATWSOS isn't my genre of choice, there were so many instances of Liu diving beneath the surface of the story that it kept me engaged regardless. This could have simply been a fun romp of book full of high tech ideas, hacking montages (you know the type - think NCIS/CSI), and high speed chases, but instead Liu takes the time to sit with the underlying heartbeat of his story.
The wonders and the dangers of technology. Being percieved in a digital age. The breakdown of the social construct when the digital becomes the default. The levers of power and how they change in form but not substance. The power and ever-changing nature of story-telling.
Not only are the themes thought provoking, they're also explored through Liu's gorgeous prose. With references to Heraclitus, Shaharazad, and The Jabberwocky seamlessly integrated into the futuristic landscape, his writing prowess is very much on display here.
All of this is set in a world that is easily imaginable; which makes it that much more poignant to the now. This book gave me so much to ponder and reflect on even thought it was wrapped in package I wouldn't typically reach for. So if you've loved The Dandelion Dynasty or Liu's short fiction but are unsure about ATWSOS, I would say give it a try! The essence of what makes Liu's books shine is still very much here.
Thank you to Saga Press for the ARC!
If there is one thing Liu will consistently do, it's try new genres and approach deep themes from varying perspectives. All The We See Or Seem (ATWSOS) is no exception to this rule.
Set in a future not so distant from our present, we follow a talented hacker, Julia Z, as she tries to find the balance between escaping her past and creating a future for herself. Through some unforseen circumstances, she gets roped into a situation that requires her to utilize her skills in a way she hasn't for a long time.
While ATWSOS isn't my genre of choice, there were so many instances of Liu diving beneath the surface of the story that it kept me engaged regardless. This could have simply been a fun romp of book full of high tech ideas, hacking montages (you know the type - think NCIS/CSI), and high speed chases, but instead Liu takes the time to sit with the underlying heartbeat of his story.
The wonders and the dangers of technology. Being percieved in a digital age. The breakdown of the social construct when the digital becomes the default. The levers of power and how they change in form but not substance. The power and ever-changing nature of story-telling.
Not only are the themes thought provoking, they're also explored through Liu's gorgeous prose. With references to Heraclitus, Shaharazad, and The Jabberwocky seamlessly integrated into the futuristic landscape, his writing prowess is very much on display here.
All of this is set in a world that is easily imaginable; which makes it that much more poignant to the now. This book gave me so much to ponder and reflect on even thought it was wrapped in package I wouldn't typically reach for. So if you've loved The Dandelion Dynasty or Liu's short fiction but are unsure about ATWSOS, I would say give it a try! The essence of what makes Liu's books shine is still very much here.
December 9, 2025
3.75 STARS
This started out in an amazing way and the story about Julia Z, the hacker who gets contacted by a lawyer whose wife disappeared, immediately drew me in. I loved the slow uncovering of what was actually going on, the negotiations of dreams and reality, Elli's job as an oneirofex, a dream weaver and the entire thing with dino corporection. It was weird but I found the book addressed questions about the relation between reality and dreams / fiction that frequently preoccupy my mind in a similar way.
Unfortunately, at around the mid-way point, the story fell off for me. It picked up again in the end and I liked the point that was made when we find out what the Prince is actually up to . This finale held my attention a little more again but basically from what happens at the lake with Piers and Elli when Victor is in pursuit of them, the plot dipped a little in my opinion.
Nevertheless, Ken Liu definitely knows how to write and, overall, I enjoyed reading this book. I'm curious to see how the story continues. I also need to mention again that the books title is a quote from "A Dream Within A Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe which made me all the more excited for this book because as you should know, I am a huge fan of Poe's writing and references to his work always make me pay close attention.
This started out in an amazing way and the story about Julia Z, the hacker who gets contacted by a lawyer whose wife disappeared, immediately drew me in. I loved the slow uncovering of what was actually going on, the negotiations of dreams and reality, Elli's job as an oneirofex, a dream weaver and the entire thing with dino corporection. It was weird but I found the book addressed questions about the relation between reality and dreams / fiction that frequently preoccupy my mind in a similar way.
Unfortunately, at around the mid-way point, the story fell off for me. It picked up again in the end and I liked the point that was made when we find out what the Prince is actually up to . This finale held my attention a little more again but basically from what happens at the lake with Piers and Elli when Victor is in pursuit of them, the plot dipped a little in my opinion.
Nevertheless, Ken Liu definitely knows how to write and, overall, I enjoyed reading this book. I'm curious to see how the story continues. I also need to mention again that the books title is a quote from "A Dream Within A Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe which made me all the more excited for this book because as you should know, I am a huge fan of Poe's writing and references to his work always make me pay close attention.
October 21, 2025
2.8 Average, long-winded mystery, fine but not Liu’s strength. Also Barely scifi.
A famous artist Ellie has gone missing and her husband is being blackmailed— he guilts a hacker JulieZ into helping him find her and figure out what the blackmailer is looking for.
We go back and forth in time trying build backstory while chasing our tail with the mystery solving. We get stuffed full of neat ideas that are rushed through them to get back to the mystery that gets too big for 1 hacker to solve. We also have lots of repetition about the failure of the American dream— so much so I thought about reaching out to make sure Mr. Liu was ok…. Poor guy. Someone disillusioned him.
Anyhow ending happened but suffered because he just put too many ideas in and dragged out the “mystery” way too long until I just didnt care.
Cheers if u liked it- it is a series I will not be picking up any more in.
A famous artist Ellie has gone missing and her husband is being blackmailed— he guilts a hacker JulieZ into helping him find her and figure out what the blackmailer is looking for.
We go back and forth in time trying build backstory while chasing our tail with the mystery solving. We get stuffed full of neat ideas that are rushed through them to get back to the mystery that gets too big for 1 hacker to solve. We also have lots of repetition about the failure of the American dream— so much so I thought about reaching out to make sure Mr. Liu was ok…. Poor guy. Someone disillusioned him.
Anyhow ending happened but suffered because he just put too many ideas in and dragged out the “mystery” way too long until I just didnt care.
Cheers if u liked it- it is a series I will not be picking up any more in.
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