Readymade Bodhisattva: The Kaya Anthology of South Korean Science Fiction

by Sunyoung Park (Editor), Park Sang Joon (Editor)

Readymade Bodhisattva: The Kaya Anthology of South Korean Science Fiction presents the first book-length English-language translation of science and speculative fiction from South Korea, bringing together 13 classic and contemporary stories from the 1960s through the 2010s. From the reimagining of an Asimovian robot inside the walls of a Buddhist temple and a postapocalyptic showdown between South and North Korean refugees on a faraway planet to a fictional recollection of a disabled woman's struggle to join an international space mission, these stories showcase the thematic and stylistic versatility of South Korean science-fiction writers in its wide array. At once conversant with the global science-fiction tradition and thick with local historical specificities, their works resonate with other popular cultural products of South Korea―from K-pop and K-drama to videogames, which owe part of their appeal to their pulsating technocultural edge and their ability to play off familiar tropes in unexpected ways.

Coming from a country renowned for its hi-tech industry and ultraspeed broadband yet mired in the unfinished Cold War, South Korean science fiction offers us fresh perspectives on global technoindustrial modernity and its human consequences. The book also features a critical introduction, an essay on SF fandom in South Korea, and contextualizing information and annotations for each story.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Asia

528 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2018

Reviews

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 3 out of 5]

The editor(s) of this anthology and I seem to have vastly different ways of enjoying literature, specifically (South) Korean literature. While I like to immerse myself in a fictional (South) Korea marvelling at all the colourful little details, the editor is determined to hold a lecture on the topic.

Or maybe, it's just a matter of culture clash wherein I was just looking for entertainment, but someone started screaming at me for not taking notes for the upcoming exam.



If it had been up to me, I would have chosen only short stories, adding a brief list of other recommended works by the same author. I understand the desire to show excerpts from famous novels, but if half of said excerpt consists of explanatory footnotes, then the story either needs to be longer to include the necessary context, or requires more editing to clear up its message, or... the publisher/editor has severe control issues.

Additionally, I really could've done without the several pages' worth of critical analysis of the author. Why would you want to spoil the short story you're about to present just before people start to read it?! If the story is so culturally hermetic that outsiders are unlikely to understand it, then maybe it doesn't belong in an anthology aimed at foreign readers.



Despite my previous complaints, I did find some real gems:

Along the Fragments of My Body - at an art exhibition, a robot displays all their original parts which (theoretically) could be used to rebuild the original version of itself.

Storm Between My Teeth - warriors of an alien race are "planted" on Earth to mature, find one another and eventually fight to the death. One of them decides to rebel.



Sky Walker - in a world where trampoline jumping is a heavily regulated sport and religious ritual, one gymnast tries her hand at innovation. Society at large is not amused...

Our Banished World - In a world where school has moved completely online, students can only hang out offline on yearly class trips. This year's trip keeps getting postponed though...

Score: 3.44 / 5 stars

Plot-wise, every single one of the stories was brilliant, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
The overly academic preface would also often take away from the reading enjoyment, especially since it made it feel as if the reader was about to be quizzed and graded on the upcoming story.

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ARC provided by Kaya Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readymade Bodhisattva is my first encounter with South Korean SF. There are 13 stories, which differ in regard to plot, subject and subgenre, but have one thing in common: lack of action. They are more philosophical issues disguised as SF stories.

There are a lot of influences from Asimov, Clarke and others, from what I can tell, and this makes them somehow outdated, even if some are recently written.

However, this Golden Age flavor gives them a special charm and they were a delight to read. Even if the authors are different, the writing is similar: fluent and mild. I would have loved some more worldbuilding but the focus is on characters and their experiences and emotions.

The collection is not groundbreaking but it’s a nice addition to SF world panoply.

>>> ARC received thanks to Kaya Press / Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles via NetGalley <<<

PS: it can be downloaded from "Read Now" section on NetGalley until 05 Jun 2019

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the recent release of no less than three collections of translated Chinese Science Fiction short stories, we are now treated to a new collection from South Korea, recently published by Kaya Press. Hopefully this trend in making more East Asian stories available to the English reader will continue!

A detailed introduction and contextualizing descriptions of authors and texts guides you through this diverse chronological survey of South Korean Science Fiction. Few of the authors in this collection have had their works published in English before–of the thirteen featured only Kim Young-Ha, to my knowledge, has more than one full-length book available in English translation.

I’ve heard pieces best suited for translation described as “things which could not have been written in English.” Standouts in this collection include Mun Yunseong’s “Perfect Society” and Choi In-hun’s “Empire Radio, Live Transmission”–both chapters which hint enticingly at further complexity in the novels from which they are taken–the former explores South Koreans’ patronage of their traditional arts; the latter addresses in a future-/alternate-history context South Korea’s relationship with Japan. Djuna’s “The Bloody Battle of Broccoli Plain” and Kim Changgyu’s “Our Banished World” similarly strike me as stories which fancifully shape local historical experience into something previously unseen in the Science Fiction genre.

The translations themselves are, on the whole, natural and smooth. Those by Sora Kim-Russell (a name readers of South Korean literature will already recognize) and the pair Jihyun Park & Gord Sellar (who contributed multiple pieces to the collection) are especially strong.

For those interested in more South Korean Science Fiction, Clarkesworld will be publishing a newly translated South Korean Science Fiction piece each month through the end of the year (starting with April’s “The Flowering” by Soyeon Jeong). A collection of translated stories, including authors featured in Readymade Bodhisattva, can be found in the archives of Crossroads. While written in English, Yoon Ha Lee’s work highlights South Korean themes. And there’s more to come–Gord Sellar has hinted at a forthcoming collection of Kim Bo-Young’s stories in translation.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley.com, but the opinions expressed are mine.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this one a 4.5. This one is very difficult to rate. The range of material is so wide compared to the average anthology. BUT this is also the first anthology of South Korean SF, so extra props for that.

[Jacob Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

People think that science works as a tool for humanity, following orders like a genie in a lamp. No way! The more we develop science, the more science changes us. We're inseparable from our tools. (Pak Seonghwan, "Readymade Bodhissattva")

I didn't get much out of the first few stories, although Jong Soyeon's notion in "Cosmic Go" of space programs recruiting "lower-body amputees and those with paralysis of the legs who would not need to support the weight of their bodies once they returned to Earth after living in low gravity conditions" is fascinating.

Some of the stories probably require greater acquaintance with Korean culture and history than I possess; Choi In-Hun's "Empire Radio, Live Broadcast", for example, is purely a sociopolitical monologue. Kim Bo-Young's "Between Zero and One" is a commentary on the treatment of South Korean schoolchildren, but as an outsider it is difficult to distinguish how much is depiction of present reality and how much is dystopian prediction. Kim Jung-Hyuk's "Where Boats Go" is an even bleaker social commentary.

Yun I-Hyeong's "The Sky Walker" grapples with a difficult psychological issue: how to deal with the realization that you must live within severe and unchangeable constraints that some people do not have. It does not provide a memorable solution, but it is a somewhat memorable presentation of the problem.

One of my favorites is Djuna's "The Bloody Battle of Broccoli Plain", not necessarily because of the story itself, but because the "Linker Universe" it's set in seems to be a perfect background for episodic sci-fi adventures. A collection of their work translated to English, Everything Good Dies Here, is coming in October and I'd like to read it at some point.

Park Min-Gyu's "Roadkill" considers one of the bleaker possible futures that could result from humans becoming economically useless. I can only hope society gets our act together in time to achieve the utopian alternative instead.

Kim Changgyu's "Our Banished World" is my other favorite, even though its "overtly political" nature (according to the intro) was lost on me; it's also just a good simulated universe story. Both it and "Between Zero and One" share a theme of the harm that adults can inflict on the young when we become too set in our ways and sure of ourselves.

[Jung · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4 stars] A first-of-its-kind translated anthology of Korean science fiction in short story and excerpted book chapter format. Like most translated Korean fiction I’ve read, it was stark, sparse, and haunting. Nearly every story included themes of family and connection, even as they also centered youth, resistance, and skepticism (quite a rebellion in Korea’s culture of filial piety). Many of the authors raised questions of borders, war, prejudice, and imperialism, and it was interesting to read the translators’ introductions that gave context not just about the genre but about the sociopolitical eras in which the stories were written.

I enjoyed the collection overall but found it inconsistent. The best stories were the self-contained short stories; I liked Readymade Bodhisattva, Cosmic Go, Storm Between My Teeth, Between Zero and One, and Where Ships Go the most. The Bloody Battle of Broccoli Plain was psychologically terrifying and will stay with me for a long time. The excerpted chapters left more to be desired since their entire plot arc couldn’t be contained in the sample shared here. I’d also love to read more written by women and LGBTQ writers. The additional chapter on South Korean science fiction fandom was new and interesting.

Recommended for fans of POC-authored speculative fiction like Octavia Butler or NK Jemisin, infrequent fiction readers who still want something with a political analysis, and anyone who (like me, especially given the political climate these past few years) is comforted by the general thought that Koreans still exist in the future.

Goodreads Challenge: 11/52
Reading Women Challenge: A book translated from an Asian language
Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the majority of the stories in this anthology, particularly the ones that were complete. There were a few where only a selection of chapters were included to give a chronological background, and I'm afraid that I didn't think these worked at all. Although I got the significance, I didn't have the motivation to read something that didn't have the authors' beginning and end to them.

Each story had an introduction with content that, basically, spoiled my reading enjoyment. I felt I knew more than I wanted to before I had even begun with the first word. Please don't read these until after you have completed the story.

I found the [completed] stories interesting, entertaining, and intelligently structured. I have never read any South Korean stories before - to my knowledge - and this anthology would certainly encourage me to look out for these writers.

I adored the title story 'Readymade Bodhisattva' by Park Seonghwan, a literary piece of 'perfection' in my mind, and I was totally engrossed in 'Along the Fragments of My Body' by Bok Geo-il, is it art or is it just bits and pieces? A wonderful discussion to be had here, I would suggest. 'The Sky Walker' by Yun I-Hyeong was another favourite of mine. A solid four stars for this selection which would make a beautiful present for a sci-fi fan.

I chose this e-anthology from many other choices via NetGalley, which I then voluntarily read and honestly reviewed. All opinions are my own. This review will also be posted on Amazon UK and US, Goodreads, and NetGalley. My thanks to NetGalley, the authors, and the publishers for my enjoyment.

[Qukatheg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free through NetGalley.

A science fiction anthology of South Korean works translated into English.

There's a long introduction about the history of science fiction in South Korea that is interesting to read.
The introductions of the separate stories often contain spoilers, so you might prefer to jump straight into the stories and save the introductions for after.

The stories were a mixed bag, but the overall quality of the writing was high. There's an array of different stories here, from advanced robotics to aliens visiting the planet. Most had a distinct South Korean feel to them which I loved, and I would like to read more by these authors.
I especially liked Readymade Bodhisattva by Park Seonghwan and Along the Fragments of my Body by Bok Geo-il.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

What does it mean to be Korean? What is Korea? Science fiction is often the best tool to ask the most speculative of questions. In fact, these stories might also be called speculative fiction. This collection of Korean speculative fiction asks questions that deal with the state of Korea and Korean identity today. The Republic of Korea is a highly modernized nation with a complicated history that involves Cold War division, cram culture, Buddhist and Confucian values, rapid industrialization, and rapid modern changes embodied across generations. South Korean companies, and thus culture, are often at the cutting-edge of new technology. All of these societal tropes are treated philosophically in these stories. Here are some examples:

1. What does it mean to be a Bodhisattva in the age of AI, and how can humankind think about artificial intelligence through the lens of the Bodhisattva?
2. What if the Japanese occupation never ended?
3. Is there transcendent value to the game of Go?
4. How would an alien warrior disguised as a young Kenyan man interpret modern Korean?
5. What is the relationship between the generation gap among Korean people, education and knowledge, and how can these things be reckoned with individuality in a global context? (With great use of the time travel trope).
6. What is the difference between being from North Korea and being from South Korea (rendered through a quite meticulous thought experiment)?
7. What are the lingering effects of colonial occupations and colonial modernity, and neoliberal order, on the Korean psyche?

These are a few questions these fictions try to untangle. Sometimes it is absurd, sometimes surreal, sometimes Borgesian, sometimes quirky and funny, and often cerebral. These are all probably more rewarding to someone familiar with Korean culture. Each story plays with its own styles and classic sci-fi tropes, but all do so in the pretense of enriching how the reader thinks about modern Korean society and culture. I'd encourage all to read and challenge themselves with these if they think this sort of thing is interesting.

Each story is smoothly translated and rendered in a unique font style that gives the anthology a unique feel. Also, the introductions by the translators and editor before each story provide some welcoming context. They are all good brain food. I'd recommend digesting one story at a time and letting it simmer.

[Anna Roldós · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una buena manera de aproximarse a la ciencia ficción surcoreana si tienes curiosidad por el país y por ver cómo reflejan allí su propia cultura en los textos. Relatos muy variados y la mayoría muy entretenidos. Dejo por aquí las impresiones de cada uno: https://www.goodreads.com/user_status...

También me ha gustado mucho la edición del libro, a pesar de ser en tamaño casi bolsillo y tener la letra muy pequeña para un volumen con tanto texto. Pero la maquetación y la estructura, con una introducción para contextualizar cada relato y a su autor/a, y también una pequeña historia sobre la ciencia ficción en Corea del Sur y también al fandom del país me han parecido super interesantes.

Muy recomendable para mentes inquietas y personas con ganas de explorar.

[Steve Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are my notes from the first half (didn't want the review getting too long). Overall not a bad mix, a couple of misses but some solid hits.


The first story and title track is the story of a robot monk and has some good concepts. I think if written by an American it would have been more from the robot's perspective, but the story's focus seems to be more about humans being jealous of the robot's ability to achieve enlightenment about meaninglessness because it was literally manufactured to serve others. It's mostly written in a way that would indicate that the author was thinking it through as a conversation with themselves and then just wrote out that conversation as something that occurred between two humans. The action sequence is a little clunky, but overall enjoyable.


Next we have 'Perfect Society,' a 1960's piece that fits in well with American pulp sci-fi from that era. Since this is a chapter from a longer book the editors decided to include a large number of footnotes to explain what you're missing from the story. It feels like they would have been better off picking a stand-alone story from the same author or maybe even just have gone with the first chapter and left it as a cliffhanger.


'Empire Radio' reads like a talk radio monologue. Readers who have a basic familiarity with Korean history will probably enjoy this a bit more (there are notes from the editors and translators before each story for those who lack that familiarity). I kept hearing it in Rush Limbaugh's voice which seemed appropriate, although the reading level is much higher than what he could get away with.


'Cosmic Go' is a quick and enjoyable read where any description might run the risk of being a spoiler.


'Along the Fragments of My Body.' Take a normal story about boring boardroom type people, replace them with robots aaaand... they're still boring. Not sure if that was the point. That might have been the point. Could have worked better as a one liner.


'Quiz Show.' Matrix philosophy 101 which the writer acknowledges. It's an excerpt which makes you want to read a little more of it.


'Storm Between My Teeth.' I'm not a big fan of planets named after data sheet boxes, but I'll take them over x's, j's, and z's. This is aliens hunting each other disguised as humans on Earth as a rite of passage. All that given there are still a couple of nice twists.


'The Sky Walker.' Premise had potential, but the execution felt over dramatic in a very suburban way.


'Between Zero and One.' Another nice story touching on student burnout. Barely scifi.

[Paperclippe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know. Two stars seems harsh. I don't know what it was about this collection but none of these stories did it for me. I read a lot of books in translation so I'm used to the sometimes (but not usually, in all fairness) stilted prose that can come of that, but 90% of the stories in here were both clunky and uninteresting. There were one or two that alone I'd give three stars, but it wasn't enough to rescue the whole lot of them.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I didn’t read the whole thing but I read about a small book’s worth of short stories from this and a bunch of other stuff in my modern Korean literature class and I’m really close to 35 books so just let me have this

[doggirl butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

all anthologies are a toss-up. story quality will vary, but overall I found that this anthology has its best stories (and they are *exceptionally* good) towards the front and the worse ones are toward the back.

I have briefly reviewed each story in the order they appear.

readymade bodhissatva by park seonghwan (an excellent story! it falls in the old school of sf where everything is built around one central problem, in this case, the question of whether or not a robot has achieved buddhist enlightenment, and the theological and social/economic effects of that. there's no focus on character but it doesn't need any.)

perfect society by mun yunseong (this is a man's take on an all-female world, and is permeated with misogyny. I didn't agree with it, but I did like piecing apart how its setting was constructed.)

empire radio, live transmission by choi in-hun (this is primarily formatted as a radio monologue from a holdout of the japanese empire in korea. the narrator rants on korean history and contemporary politics, blaming the "national character" of koreans for their country's continuous colonization. almost like victim-blaming a whole state? it's interesting. it did make me read the phrase "robust asian testicles" though, which wasn't great.)

cosmic go by jeong soyeon (this one has a disabled protagonist! though this story is sf, there are hardly any fantastical elements. it's mostly about one woman's lifetime and her dream of becoming an astronaut, which is disrupted by a car accident that paralyzes her.)

along the fragments of my body by bok geo-il (this is a ship of theseus thought experiment with robots. to me it reads like most of this story is filler, or at least an extended setup to the real meat. it's not bad, I just think it could've been punchier.)

quiz show by kim young-ha (this, like other selections in the anthology, is an excerpt from a full book, so it's not self-contained. it's about a man who is transported to a strange quiz show preparation camp, where he is free to learn all day but separated from his loved ones. it's something of a problem-story, begging the question of whether or not how "real" the world is matters if you perceive it as real. again, because it's just a chapter from a full book, this isn't resolved, but it's interesting.)

storm between my teeth by lim taewoon (this is supposed to be a comedic parody of the wuxia genre, which it did an okay job at. it's certainly the funniest story in the anthology. but I think the premise that this superstrong alien warrior is trapped in a mundane food service job and looking for challengers would've worked better if the slow burn were longer. there is explicit anti-black racism in it, though, so be aware of that.)

the sky walker by yun i-hyeong (this story is about a professional trampolinist in a post-apocalyptic world challenging the dragon church--which sounds fun in a busy way, at least--but this sucks. it sucks so bad. it's just not interesting! the protagonist's criticism of the in-universe religion she's trying to reform seems condescending to me, and the author somehow manages to make gravity-bending trampolinists boring. I didn't finish this.)

between zero and one by kim bo-young (this is obnoxious as fuck and, no, I did not finish it either. it's interspersed with these annoying tangents about time and quantum physics that are the kind of pop-science made-to-be-a-fridge-magnet bullshit you see misquoted on the internet. I didn't have the patience to see if it had a payoff.)

the bloody battle of broccoli plain by djuna (this story has a truly unreasonable amount of setup for a story that is at its core about a tragic and pointless ethnic conflict, which just happens to be set in space. I put it down because it was too dreary for me).

roadkill by pak min-gyu (I have to start out my review of this story by saying that it has a stunning russian roulette scene midway through. it's tense, so tense that I physically flinched reading it. in my bed. at one am. that's good writing! the rest of the story feels rather aimless, though, a full-cycle in a hopeless world in which no one really wins. if that's what the author meant to do then they succeeded, but it's not my style.)

where boats go by kim jung-hyuk (this is another story that sucks so bad. it's a love story set after an alien invasion, but the leads have no chemistry and their doom is already a foregone conclusion. I didn't finish it.)

our banished world by kim changgyu (this suffers from the eternal problem of adult authors trying to write convincing teenagers and online teenage dialogue. it wasn't up to snuff for me. I think a lot of that can be chalked up to cultural gap issues. like, it comments on adultery being decriminalized in south korea, but reading it as an american this commentary seems crotchety and moralistic.)

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthologies are by nature hit-and-miss, since few of us can agree on all the authors that might be represented in them. Foreign anthologies are a different animal altogether, as it's not just a mix of authors but a whole new cultural perspective on sci-fi. I always make an attempt to try them out, and this is (I think) my first Korean anthology (South Korean - I don't know if NoKo even has such a thing). The book's worst point is the attempt to make this an historical or literary event. There's a long intro full of spoilers on nearly every story, and then further story-specific intros by other authors who also tend to provide spoilers. My caution is to read these last.

The stories themselves suffer the same fate. Some are really enjoyable - fun, interesting, thought-provoking. Others are provided because they provide historical context and are thus outdated, severely restricted to those who know SoKo history, and often just incomplete (as in the case of multiple novel excerpts which provide no real story, just a sampling of what the editor wants to portray). Others suffer from the immaturity of sci-fi in SoKo, as they are long narratives that tell what the story is instead of telling a story in a way that would engage Western readers.

But enough of the bad stuff! Highlights for me are the stories about a robotic tour guide in a Buddhist monastery taking up the faith, another about a long-lived robot who saved all her old parts as they were replaced until she had enough parts to build a second copy of herself and reveal it as an art project (like the old paradox about the ship thus built, is it her?), and another that depicts a younger generation that starts to see the macro world around them using quantum principles that are traditionally applied to the micro.

I've read anthos from China and Japan and these are different so if you've read one or the other, don't assume that Asian SF is uniform. National history and current affairs definitely play a role in giving these stories their flavor. If you've only read English-language or European stories, check this out (and bring an open mind).

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were certainly different. Maybe too different for me. It's probably odd to say, but I could tell they were not Western authors (excluding the different character.city names, etc). The styles were just different. Anyway, some interesting tech ideas and approaches to story telling. I skimmed a couple of stories due to lack of interest, but some were great -- Typical anthology. All that said, I am glad I had the chance to broaden my horizons by being able to read this. Recommended if you're willing to gamble a little. 3.5 rounded up to 4.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!

[Nemo Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first time that I had read South Korean Sci-fi, and I feel like this was a good book to start with. I liked how each story started with both information about the author as well as context for the story so that the English reading reader could understand it better. I also liked the fact that the Korean titles were given as well as the translators, it felt like this book was delivering on what it had promised, and introduction for the west on South Korean literature.

The stories themselves were great, and I really like the stories, I felt that they were a lot more philosophical than the western sci-fi that I am used to (YAY!) and that they were a lot more profound. There was one story that was lost on me due to my lack of knowledge on the history of South Korea, but I feel like someone who has done more research may be able to appreciate it.

Overall I am glad I read this book and wouldn't rule out reading more South Korean Sci-fi in the future.

[Robert Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first collection of South Korean Science Fiction in English that I've read and provides a great set of introductory biographies, historical context and essays on fandom, SF and other related matters in South Korea.

Included are a variety of short story and chapters from various authors that vary in style, topic, and quality the best of which include "Cosmic Go" and "Readymade Bodhisattva".

Interesting to see how themes of the Korean peninsula were present in the science fiction. Historical colonialism, modern urban Korea, religiosity and superstition, espionage, and development were all very central to many if not all the stories.

More collections like this needed to develop the cannon of foreign accessible literature to other markets.

Not a big science fiction guy but welcomed the exposure.

[Jericho Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of my favourite anthologies! So much to dissect and learn from! Such a fun ride all the way through!

[Bah Humpug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Korean science fiction anthology edited by Sunyoung Park & Sang Joon Park was fantastic. Some of the individual stories weren't quite stellar, but the collection as a whole was. Each individual story comes with a brief intro on the author & the story (and a creepy illustration with weird bubbly veiny people/creatures). If you like to go into stories knowing nothing beforehand, I recommend you read the intro after reading the story. The stories for the most part were a bit dark & depressing, with several having some political and/or social commentary. Highlights for me were Readymade Bodhisattva (kinda slow & almost boring at times but it's really stuck with me), Perfect Society, Storm Between My Teeth, Between Zero & One (so weird & I bought a short story collection by this author right away), The Bloody Battle of Broccoli Pain, and Our Banished World.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. So so good. This group of stories felt very much a kin to Ray Bradbury or Philip K Dick (which he wasn't writing about a whiny white man), but with the South Korean cultural perspective. There were stories that made me think, made me cry, and the last one was a well damn in a heartbreaking kind of way.

The stories are collected in chronological order from the 1960s to the 2010s. They made sure to include multiple genders which I appreciated.

To those looking to include more POC authors into your reading lists, I highly recommend adding this title. To everyone who likes scifi, especially Bradbury and PKD, you should totally check it out.

[Rubén Pineda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tenía ganas de leer literatura surcoreana desde hace tiempo, afortunadamente me encontré con esta antología que compila historias de uno de mis géneros favoritos. Tiene problemáticas muy variadas y siento que todos los relatos son muy originales en la forma de desarrollarse y concluirse. Se volvió uno de mis libros favoritos y gracias a ello seguiré explorando este mundo de la ciencia ficción surcoreana.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each story is an invested journey through the Korean landscape of utopian, dystopia, aliens, robots, and so much more. I definitely took my time with this one cause I was enjoying it so much!

I really loved the artwork at the start of each story, and the cover art is one of my favorites of this year.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorites were Cosmic Go, The Skywalker, and Our Banished World.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 5 out of 5]

super smart!

[Iván · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantástica introducción a todo un campo de literatura ci-fi. Algunos favoritos son los cuentos de Park Seonghwan, Lim Taewoon, Djuna, Kim Jung-hyuk y Kim Changgyu

[chaeklore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished 6/13 stories! The others were not of my interest and did not grab my attention hence the three stars. I’d happily give each of the 6 stories I read four stars!

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/ 3,5 stars Reading an anthology from another cultural background is always exciting - as you never truly know what to expect. For the SF-reader this can mean that to the sense of wonder of SF-nal concepts and ideas another layer of estrangement is added: that of another culture. This can express itself in using (to the European reader) unusual writing styles and narrative techniques, of in the issues the stories are about. It takes a bit more effort to appreciate the stories, but even if that means one loses a bit of enjoyment (as one just isn't used to style or context) it does lead to an expansion of one's mind: gaining insight into the cultural diffences and concerns of people living in other cultural contexts, but also recognizing what one has in common with people all over the world: our common humanity.
So here I had with some stories just a tiny bit of a harder time enjoying them. First because, as other reviewers on here also note, 'The stories are more philosophical issues disguised as SF stories ...' and 'The focus is on characters and their experiences and emotions'. The writing style is indeed flowing and mild, but many stories focussed on dialogue. Conversations that made a point, but not lead to a huge twist as reader of more 'hard SF' would expect (of course there are exceptions). Many stories had a bit of a 'slice of life' feel. In contrast with those small stories lots of these stories try to describe a lot of the world and contain a tad too much exposition.
And secondly because the themes were just a bit harder to empathize with: there is of course a focus on the history of Korea, first under Japanese rule and then the contrast and conflict with North Korea. Another huge theme is generational conflict, with several stories dealing with parents not understanding children and pushing them to perform in school to the detriment of their social life and mental health.
The inclusion of fragments from SF-novels was a misjudgement in my opinion - there were several and while they gave a historical perspective they didn't read as self contained stories. Seeing how they were concentrated in the first half of the anthology it lead to me having trouble with the first half. To me the best stories (the more 'hard SF'-ones with a good twist or reveal) tended to be in the second half of the anthology.
Besides the fragments, I did not really appreciate 'Between Zero and One' by Kim Bo-Young which is one of those stories where an author of literary fiction uses a vaguely SF-nal concept to serve as a metaphor for a subject: here the difference in world view between generations. I thought the story: 'The Sky Walker' by Yun I-Hyeong' to show an interesting world, but the story itself was to me a bit too small and subdued. 'Readymade Bodhisattva' by Park Seonghwan' and 'Along the Fragments of my Body' by Bok Geo-il were serviceable stories using the Asimovean robot to shed light on Korean concerns like religion and identity. Asimovean robots also featured in 'Roadkill' by Park Min-gyo, which has one of the most harrowing dystopian visions I have encountered in a long time, with a game of russion roulette included as well ... Two outstanding stories that I enjoyed very much were the closing story 'Our Banished World' by Kim Changgyu that has teenagers finding out their parents are keeping things secret and there are mysteries concerning a school trip. I liked the build up to the conclusion here and the SF-nal concepts. 'The Bloody Battle of Broccolin Plain' has a bit too much exposition (it is part of a larger universe), but once that is out of the way it is a tense story about the conflict between North and South Korea taken to the stars.
Too few outstanding stories to classify this as a 'must read', but if you are interested in SF from other cultures this will entertain and give you a better view of life in South Korea as well.

[Seung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very important book for me. This is one of the first compilations of sci fi from Korean made available for the English speaking world. It reads like a textbook and there’s an intro and an appendix about Korean Sci Fi and its history including the fandom. Every story also has an introduction with cultural context. The stories are from 60s to 2010’s. I read this book after BoYoung Kim’s compilation of On the Origin of Species. I wasn’t a fan of all of the stories. As stated before, this may be due to my eurocentric/ American exposure to sci fi. A lot of the stories didn’t feel “relevant”. “Along the fragments of my body” felt like the Theseus thought experiment. Speaking of, I have to work on that magic routine which involves the concept of Theseus. I did like the novel Buddhist take on the Asimov robotics axioms in “Readymade Bodhisattva”. The disability issues in “Cosmic Go”. The depth of concepts and social commentary told through trampolining in “The Sky Walker” and the classic Asian cyberpunk setting told through a dystopian Asian voice in “Roadkill.” While I did enjoy the last two modern stories, I found them sentimental like some of Ken Liu’s works like Mono No Aware and The Warning. Regardless, while I didn’t enjoy all of the stories, they do capture the modern spirit of Korea. As much as it pains me to say this, reading some of the stories, I lacked the Korean understanding to appreciate the nuances of my birthplace. In a way, this book and what I found alien or missing affirmed my assimilation to WEIRD sci fi. Regardless, I think this will be a reference book for me. The history of sci fi picking up in Korea in the last few years, excited to see some more translated works from some of the specific authors in the future. Also, I felt none of the stories were ‘hard sci fi' despite the technological advancement of Korea since the Miracle on the Han. Most of the stories seemed dystopian or a social commentary on the hypercapitalism/ competitiveness of Korea. Overall, I’m glad I went through the 424 or so pages. But yes, I do have a preference to Western “hard sci fi” and my way of thinking and commentary are undeniably American. Very few books can make one self reflect on one’s own culture like this. I would read this book before BoYoung Kim’s English compilation; which I’ve already reviewed.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have any print disabilities and interest in reading the chapter introductions, you might want to try to get an ePub version so you can change the font if you need to. I got used to the backwards paragraph formatting within a few chapters, but the typeface in the chapter intros has a capital S that looks like a section symbol (§) and that tripped me up throughout the text. Just such a needlessly hostile choice. The stories themselves don't use it, thank goodness, but some of the introductory sections provide contextual information that really helps with understanding the chapters--especially for the excerpts from full novels.

The stories themselves: lots of apocalypses, lots of thought experiments. As with any anthology, some worked better for me than others. The only disappointing thing about the collection as a whole is that this is probably the only time I will ever be able to enjoy some of these authors' stories, due to my own linguistic insufficiency (I don't read Korean and they're not translated into English).

My favorites:

Readymade Bodhisattva by Park Seonghwan - As someone who grew up reading Asimov and who has also read a lot of sutras over my life, I thought this one was hilarious. Worth the book price on its own, all the other stories are just bonus prizes.

Storm Between My Teeth by Lim Taewoon - Another fun one, this time poking fun at hegemonic (toxic) masculinity and gender expectations.

The Sky Walker by Yun I-hyeong - Probably the most emotionally real story in the collection, with well-developed world-worldbuilding. The details of the plot are less important than the emotional journey.

Between Zero and One by Kim Bo-Young - Impressive. Nice mix of science/tech and social analysis. I have limited tolerance for time travel stories and I tend to roll my eyes when "quantum" is used in SFF, but the way this story was structured, I was fully onboard.

Roadkill by Park Min-gyu - All the descriptive words I want to use for this end up being accidental puns (gutting, heart wrenching, devastating). This one almost had me crying in public!

Final note: all of the stories that had Gord Sellar as part of the translating team were exceptionally well-written.