What do you think?
Rate this book
爱的算法
玫瑰的芬芳，苹果的酸甜，人类只有拥有肉体才感受得到。如果有一天，人类集体抛弃肉体，思维进化为虚拟环境中的数据流，那将是怎样的世界？在本书开篇的“未来三部曲”中，刘宇昆为我们讲述了三个从现在的世界过渡到未来虚拟世界的故事。这几个故事从普通家庭生活入手，渐渐显出世界的全貌，以小见大，引人思考。
除此之外，本书收录的另外十篇小说，也都是刘宇昆出道以来的创作精华。这些作品既有硬朗的技术细节，又不乏多元的文化思考，代表着当下世界短篇科幻创作的最高水平。
除此之外，本书收录的另外十篇小说，也都是刘宇昆出道以来的创作精华。这些作品既有硬朗的技术细节，又不乏多元的文化思考，代表着当下世界短篇科幻创作的最高水平。
229 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Ken Liu
467 books22.1k 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 29, 2021
“L'orologiaio era un orologio"
Brevissimo racconto fantascientifico che tocca in modo originale un tema delicato, l'elaborazione del lutto.
Brevissimo racconto fantascientifico che tocca in modo originale un tema delicato, l'elaborazione del lutto.
December 29, 2016
It's a very quick read, yes—but don't be fooled by its shortness, as Ken Liu has managed to produce a potent emotional recipe in such a short amount of words. Think Her meets parts of Westworld meets Deus Ex Machina, only in a very tight and condensed piece of the AI puzzle.
September 23, 2022
Holy shit!! This was amazing and terrifying. The theme of not being able to discern what’s real and what’s virtual is so powerful. Incredible short story.
February 17, 2020
Đơn giản là chuyển hoá một thắc mắc lâu đời của triết học thành câu chuyện, cốt truyện đơn giản, tạm ổn.
July 14, 2025
"Substitute "processor" for the clerks and substitute "program" for the books of rules, then you'll see that the Turing Test will never prove anything, and Al is an illusion.
But you can also carry the Chinese Room Argument the other way: substitute "neurons" for the clerks and substitute the physical laws governing the cascading of activating potentials for the books of rules; then how can any of us ever be said to "understand" anything? Thought is an illusion."
Hot damn, has this struck all the right chords.
But you can also carry the Chinese Room Argument the other way: substitute "neurons" for the clerks and substitute the physical laws governing the cascading of activating potentials for the books of rules; then how can any of us ever be said to "understand" anything? Thought is an illusion."
Hot damn, has this struck all the right chords.
October 12, 2016
Nebak-nebak di mana twist-nya (*≧ω≦*) apakah
Tapi semua tebakanku salah~ ^ ^; bagaimanapun, rasa sakit Elena sangat tersampaikan (>..<)
Ending-nya itu~
Bisa dibaca di sini \(^u ^ )
Tapi semua tebakanku salah~ ^ ^; bagaimanapun, rasa sakit Elena sangat tersampaikan (>..<)
Ending-nya itu~
Bisa dibaca di sini \(^u ^ )
February 25, 2015
Grief, loss, love and algorithms,... what can I say? You can feel Elena's pain, feel how lost she is, how much harm she inflicts to herself and the ones that love her. Another great short by Liu.
Link here:http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/2...
Link here:http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/2...
January 9, 2017
Still digesting. Provoking similar thoughts as from Westworld.
December 5, 2023
Il racconto parla in modo molto originale del tema dell'elaborazione del lutto, perché lo fa parlando di intelligenza artificiale... non posso dire di più perché sarebbe spoiler.
E' un racconto triste, doloroso, ma molto ben scritto, articolato, completo e profondo nella sua brevità, che ha saputo catturare la mia attenzione sin dalle prime righe.
Veramente molto interessante. Peccato solo che dell'autore non sia stato tradotto molto poco in italiano... Metto comunque in wishlist quel poco che ho trovato.
E' un racconto triste, doloroso, ma molto ben scritto, articolato, completo e profondo nella sua brevità, che ha saputo catturare la mia attenzione sin dalle prime righe.
Veramente molto interessante. Peccato solo che dell'autore non sia stato tradotto molto poco in italiano... Metto comunque in wishlist quel poco che ho trovato.
October 31, 2017
Ken Liu's writing, as always, is beautiful to read. Despite the length the characters are well developed and alive, the story itself is poignant.
However, while seemingly thought-provoking, the story is treading on the familiar debate of free will, and does not do a great job of exploring the issue. For those unfamiliar with the discussion, the story is quite interesting, but I can't help but lament at a lost opportunity for delving into a more realistic portrayal of interesting issues.
However, while seemingly thought-provoking, the story is treading on the familiar debate of free will, and does not do a great job of exploring the issue. For those unfamiliar with the discussion, the story is quite interesting, but I can't help but lament at a lost opportunity for delving into a more realistic portrayal of interesting issues.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2017
Wow! Short, sweet, and excellent.
July 28, 2017
Like the story by Ted Chiang recently adapted for the film Arrival, difficult to categorize - but aggressively personal.
November 6, 2017
Me ha gustado, falla un poco el final pero te sitúa emocionalmente donde Ken Liu quiere y eso ya es mucho.
October 28, 2020
Great writing style, but the story simply did not pull me in.
October 11, 2023
Carthaginian Rose, Tying Knots, The Caretaker 10/10
December 24, 2016
I could see this as an episode of Black Mirror
October 7, 2022
I find that the short story medium works very well with speculative fiction, especially when it has some sci-fi elements. With fantasy it’s more difficult to establish a world and have room for enough plot or intrigue. Some times one has to be sacrificed for the other.
This is the 5th short story I read by Liu, and I have to say I’m having a great time. The bar was set quite high, since my entry to this world was via reading everything Ted Chiang has published. But Ken Liu is also knowledgeable in his work, and even took some inspiration for his own short fiction.
I loved the “hidden” underlaying dialogue with Ted Chiang’s work. Very reminiscent of ‘understand’ and ‘diversion by zero’ mixed in with a smidge of ‘the lifecycle of software objects”.
Good dialogue about what life is, is our life just meaningless algorithm performed by a body (and what about a soul) that doesn’t understand any of it. I like analogy of human life with machines. Another great text about the human condition
I appreciate that there’s no happy ending, just an ending. It was a bit confusing to sort together since it has a non-linear story telling.
No time period is explicitly stated, but you can tell that it is quite a product of its time, in regards to the physical technology of the dolls. But the rest, computer science, the philosophical and theoretical implications are on spot. I might have a bit of disagreement with the last paragraph about the Turing test, I believe there’s no requirement to understand anything, the program just needs to appear to possess a human level intelligence and socializing skills in order to pass it.
I just want to point out, that like I was saying in my last short story review, this one is also centered around a woman’s traumatic story. This one isn’t shallow at all, but still I’m noticing how this trope is so prevalent in the genre.
4.5/5 stars.
This is the 5th short story I read by Liu, and I have to say I’m having a great time. The bar was set quite high, since my entry to this world was via reading everything Ted Chiang has published. But Ken Liu is also knowledgeable in his work, and even took some inspiration for his own short fiction.
I loved the “hidden” underlaying dialogue with Ted Chiang’s work. Very reminiscent of ‘understand’ and ‘diversion by zero’ mixed in with a smidge of ‘the lifecycle of software objects”.
Good dialogue about what life is, is our life just meaningless algorithm performed by a body (and what about a soul) that doesn’t understand any of it. I like analogy of human life with machines. Another great text about the human condition
I appreciate that there’s no happy ending, just an ending. It was a bit confusing to sort together since it has a non-linear story telling.
No time period is explicitly stated, but you can tell that it is quite a product of its time, in regards to the physical technology of the dolls. But the rest, computer science, the philosophical and theoretical implications are on spot. I might have a bit of disagreement with the last paragraph about the Turing test, I believe there’s no requirement to understand anything, the program just needs to appear to possess a human level intelligence and socializing skills in order to pass it.
I just want to point out, that like I was saying in my last short story review, this one is also centered around a woman’s traumatic story. This one isn’t shallow at all, but still I’m noticing how this trope is so prevalent in the genre.
4.5/5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2016
Do Androids dreams of Electric Sheep with better feelings...
Ex Machina without that seen-a-million-times ending...
As good as Her...
At the I'm not sure Elena didn't kill herself and made an android that was her perfect copy.
One of the biggest problem of SF, in my opinion, is to find a new way to exploit overused concept like A.I. or time-travel. And this is pretty well done here. Not entirely new, but damn, it is perfect.
Ex Machina without that seen-a-million-times ending...
As good as Her...
At the I'm not sure Elena didn't kill herself and made an android that was her perfect copy.
One of the biggest problem of SF, in my opinion, is to find a new way to exploit overused concept like A.I. or time-travel. And this is pretty well done here. Not entirely new, but damn, it is perfect.
February 18, 2015
The narrative in this story is so haunting with its lyricism that I can't get over it. The ideas presented in the book are so thought-provoking that they stick with me even on a subconscious level, as afterthoughts, or echoes of some unknown inquiry that begs to be listened to. In short, this story is a must - to read and ponder.
October 8, 2016
Are we truly real or just programmed creatures? A designer and programmer of lifelike dolls becomes convinced that we are just that, programmed to react to certain words and situations.
This is something that certain scientists have dabbled in, along with being a virtual reality program. Talk about creepy! Shivers. 4.5 out of 5.
This is something that certain scientists have dabbled in, along with being a virtual reality program. Talk about creepy! Shivers. 4.5 out of 5.
March 26, 2024
*trigger warning definitely needed!*
this contemporary science fiction story is waaaaay too real about how technological advancements can affect our mental health & intersect with our personal lives‼️but also liu’s narration reminded me of a 2004-esk “the yellow wallpaper” by charlotte perkins gilman (which is my fav short story)
this contemporary science fiction story is waaaaay too real about how technological advancements can affect our mental health & intersect with our personal lives‼️but also liu’s narration reminded me of a 2004-esk “the yellow wallpaper” by charlotte perkins gilman (which is my fav short story)
November 3, 2015
Снятся ли андроидам электроовцы с человеческим лицом?
Очень мягко, многослойно и в то же время увлекательно написано - авторский стиль видно уже тогда. Финал чуть проседает, но это обычное дело в подобных философских темах.
Очень мягко, многослойно и в то же время увлекательно написано - авторский стиль видно уже тогда. Финал чуть проседает, но это обычное дело в подобных философских темах.
December 14, 2015
Brought me into an existential crisis.
June 25, 2017
Well written, thought provoking story.
March 7, 2024
Truly one of the most beautiful short stories I’ve ever read. Perfectly captures the theme of raw human emotion and how it separates us from creation of trying to replicate that rawness.
April 3, 2017
That was a really good short story. It managed to pack a lot of big ideas into a small scope. Very well done.
December 22, 2017
我想，近期很难再看到这么令人倾心的科幻小说了
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews