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On the Origin of Species and Other Stories
New adventures in posthuman sci-fi from the author of I'm Waiting for You
Longlisted for National Book Award in Translated Literature, 2021
Straddling science fiction, fantasy and myth, the writings of award-winning author Bo-Young Kim have garnered a cult following in South Korea, where she is widely acknowledged as a pioneer and inspiration. On the Origin of Species makes available for the first time in English some of Kim’s most acclaimed stories, as well as an essay on science fiction. Her strikingly original, thought-provoking work teems with human and non-human beings, all of whom are striving to survive through evolution, whether biologically, technologically or socially. Kim’s literature of ideas offers some of the most rigorous and surprisingly poignant reflections on posthuman existence being written today.
Bo-Young Kim (born 1975) won the inaugural Korean Science & Technology Creative Writing Award with her first published novella in 2004 and has gone on to win the annual South Korean SF Novel Award three times. In addition to writing, she regularly serves as a lecturer, juror and editor of sci-fi anthologies, and served as a consultant to Parasite director Bong Joon Ho's earlier sci-fi film Snowpiercer. She has novellas forthcoming from HarperCollins in 2021. She lives in Gangwon Province, South Korea, with her family.
Longlisted for National Book Award in Translated Literature, 2021
Straddling science fiction, fantasy and myth, the writings of award-winning author Bo-Young Kim have garnered a cult following in South Korea, where she is widely acknowledged as a pioneer and inspiration. On the Origin of Species makes available for the first time in English some of Kim’s most acclaimed stories, as well as an essay on science fiction. Her strikingly original, thought-provoking work teems with human and non-human beings, all of whom are striving to survive through evolution, whether biologically, technologically or socially. Kim’s literature of ideas offers some of the most rigorous and surprisingly poignant reflections on posthuman existence being written today.
Bo-Young Kim (born 1975) won the inaugural Korean Science & Technology Creative Writing Award with her first published novella in 2004 and has gone on to win the annual South Korean SF Novel Award three times. In addition to writing, she regularly serves as a lecturer, juror and editor of sci-fi anthologies, and served as a consultant to Parasite director Bong Joon Ho's earlier sci-fi film Snowpiercer. She has novellas forthcoming from HarperCollins in 2021. She lives in Gangwon Province, South Korea, with her family.
224 pages, Paperback
Published April 27, 2021
126 people are currently reading
3672 people want to read
About the author
Kim Bo-young
14 books118 followersKim Bo-young (Korean: 김보영; born 1975) is a South Korean science fiction writer based in Gangwon Province, South Korea. In addition to her novels and short story collections, she has worked as a script advisor for Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer in 2013.[1] She is the first Korean science fiction author to be published by HarperCollins.
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September 21, 2021
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature
Do you realise how hard scientists have worked to remove liquid ice from the earth? Or how hard environmentalists have worked to cover the earth in concrete. To increase, however slightly, the amount of smoke and dust factories released into the atmosphere?
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories has been translated from the 김보영 (Kim Bo-young)'s Korean original by Sora Kim-Russell (the 12th of her translations I've read) and Joungmin Lee Comfort (in addition to translators of two previously published stories).
[The two previously translated stories are marked by the inclusion of slightly intrusive and often unnecessary footnotes. If the reader doesn’t know what ddeokppokki (떡볶이) is (and if they don’t they've missed out on a wonderful dish) then they can Google it, or indeed the translator could have gone with “spicy rice cakes.”]
I have previously read I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories, translated by Sophie Bowman and Sung Ryu from works by 김보영 originally published separately in 2015-2020: my review:. I don't think that book really did the author justice - the title story and one other was a commissioned piece, and originally only designed for two readers, and this rather showed and the other two stories I found hard to appreciate, sci-fi based around a form of Buddhist world-building.
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories draws from 2 earlier collections published in Korean in 2010, 멀리 가는 이야기 (Boundless Stories) and 진화신화 (An Evolutionary Myth), and I found much more to my taste.
The seven stories included here with their original titles are:
Scripter (스크립터) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
Between Zero and One (0과 1 사이) - previously published in Readymade Bodhisattva and translated by Eunhae Jo and Melissa Mei-Lin Chan
An Evolutionary Myth (진화신화) - previously published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 104 and translated by Jihyun Park and Gord Sellar
Last of the Wolves (마지막 늑대) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
On the Origin of Species (종의 기원) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
Stars Shine in the Earth's Sky (지구의 하늘에는 별이 빛나고 있다) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
On the Origin of Species: And What Might Have Happened Thereafter (종의 기원 ─ 그 후에 있었을지도 모르는 이야기) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
The collection begins with a short essay (translated by Kim-Russell) "A Brief Reflection on Breasts", and comes with an afterword by the editor (and also a translator of other works) Sunyoung Park. The essay, centres around the line "If we see a person in the distance and they seem to have breasts, we hastily assume that they must be a woman ... science seems to occupy a similar position in SF ... many of the stories I’ve written came into being without me consciously trying to turn them into SF.”
This is science-fiction (as opposed to SF) in the tradition of Asimov, Bradbury and Philip K. Dick, that asks fundamental questions then ponders the implications, with a strong sense of wonder and indeed humour.
'Scripter' is a neat story of the last human character, a Hunter, in a very old RPG and the admin sent to persuade him to stop playing (a contractual provision obliges the game producer to maintain the game while any players remain). But the Hunter refuses to even acknowledge the concept that the Admin tries to present, treating him instead as an emissary of the gods, and the story opens out into an interesting discussion of reality and perceptions of reality, and to Turing-test debates about what it means for something to be human rather than AI and the role of the “scripter”:
Since long before machines were invented, writers and actors have been bringing fictional characters to life using just a few lines of dialogue. Some, of course, do a better job of pulling this off than others. And painters create images so vivid they look as if they can come to life and step right out of the canvas. Though, of course, some painters are also not that talented. In that sense, I suppose you could say that Al is not so much technology as it is art or literature.
'Between Zero and One' (the title referring to quantum computing) is an exploration of the unlikelihood, but not impossibility, of time travel, in chapters that alternate with a seemingly more conventional story of the educational pressure on high school kids in Korea (told from the perspective of the parents enforcing that pressure), with the two coming neatly together.
'An Evolutionary Myth' is set in the historic kingdom of Goguryeo (고구려) and tells of an ancient world where evolution is far more rapid than today and occurs to an individual within a lifetime, humans gradually changing into other creatures to adapt. It rather neatly mixes ancient myth with a modern-day interpretation. It is narrated by the Crown Prince, his inheritance over-thrown by his uncle. the late King’s younger brother, who then gradually transforms first into a lizard-like creature to avoid detection but ultimately into a powerful dragon-like beast to take revenge.
'Last of the Wolves' is set in a world where humans are now the pets of dragons, although the latter are a species unseeing of colour and indifferent to art, and the story raises questions of how to define intelligence across species.
They not know how delicately the moon illuminates the streets at night. Nor that the sky is filled with stars that travel across the celestial sphere once a day. They do not know that the moon waxes and wanes every month, that on full moons like tonight, the street turns silver. To them, night is nothing more than the cessation of sound, a cooling and a dampening, a growing heaviness in the air, a change in the direction of the wind. They do not know that I've filled the walls of their house with paintings of fiery sunsets, of indigo night skies. They think that all I do is leave my scent and mark my territory. They have no idea that I've painted their portrait on the front door. Nor do they know that their own body glows jade green. Or that their eyes are also jade green.
But so what? Something different probably hangs in their sky. Maybe their ears can hear the turning of the earth, maybe the stars resonate like music. Maybe they hear the earth's magnetic fields changing course and sees cosmic rays and ultraviolet rays streaming down. Maybe there is something that they see as everyday that humanity can't even conceive of despite having existed for tens of thousands of years. The image of me that they see is completely different from what I see in the mirror, and they hear a voice coming from me that I cannot hear myself.
‘On the Origin of Species’ has a lot of fun imagining a future world, post-catastrophic (or in the view of those now in charge a vitally important) climate change which leads to Earth permanently blanketed by dark clouds and the temperature lowered to below freezing. Humans are extinct as is almost all organic life, but the conditions are ideal for the new dominant life form, inorganic life, robots whose society depends on factories that pump out smoke to maintain the Earth’s “protective” blanket. This is a world where such emissions protect life, and oxygen and water - or liquid ice -are the enemy:
Water was an incredibly toxic compound. Though it was indispensable as a detergent and a solvent, many environmentalists had been campaigning to find an alternative. Billions of years ago, when water covered the earth's surface, inorganic life was stuck at a primordial stage of evolution. Otherwise harmless substances can turn dangerously acidic when mixed with water and eat away at a robot's body. Prolonged exposure to water caused leprosy, which would rust a robot's skin beyond recognition and trigger other complications as well. If a robot contaminated with water was exposed to outside temperatures, the water that had seeped into its body would instantly expand, shattering even the strongest joints. No wonder, then, that it was considered the deadliest substance known to robot.
And yet some robots speculate that perhaps there was, once, such a thing as organic life, dismissed by most scientists as a crackpot theory.
Life must possess free will, run on electric energy, contain a chip, and be made in a factory. Exactly which of these conditions do your beloved organisms meet?
‘Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky’ is the shortest story, and in the form of a letter from a sister to her brother. They both live on a planet 28,000 years from earth but near to the centre of the galaxy, and where the sky is perpetually one blaze of shining light due to the illumination from countless stars. The writer of the letter also suffers from a rare medical condition on her world, one we would know as sleeping. Many years ago a message was received from earth saying “Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky” and the letter takes us through the gradual realisations and deductions of the scientists on the planet about the odd phenomenon of life in a different world, Earth, where stars are seen individually and fail to provide much light. Perhaps the medical condition is endemic there?
‘On the Origin of Species - and what might have happened’ is a follow up to the title story, set 30 years later. It tells of what results when the rogue scientists follow their plan and attempt to create artificial intelligence using organic life. And, in a book that generally feels to have a light sense of humour, this story brings the collection to a dark, and violent, close.
A fascinating collection and very worthy of its place on the National Book Award longlist.
Do you realise how hard scientists have worked to remove liquid ice from the earth? Or how hard environmentalists have worked to cover the earth in concrete. To increase, however slightly, the amount of smoke and dust factories released into the atmosphere?
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories has been translated from the 김보영 (Kim Bo-young)'s Korean original by Sora Kim-Russell (the 12th of her translations I've read) and Joungmin Lee Comfort (in addition to translators of two previously published stories).
[The two previously translated stories are marked by the inclusion of slightly intrusive and often unnecessary footnotes. If the reader doesn’t know what ddeokppokki (떡볶이) is (and if they don’t they've missed out on a wonderful dish) then they can Google it, or indeed the translator could have gone with “spicy rice cakes.”]
I have previously read I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories, translated by Sophie Bowman and Sung Ryu from works by 김보영 originally published separately in 2015-2020: my review:. I don't think that book really did the author justice - the title story and one other was a commissioned piece, and originally only designed for two readers, and this rather showed and the other two stories I found hard to appreciate, sci-fi based around a form of Buddhist world-building.
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories draws from 2 earlier collections published in Korean in 2010, 멀리 가는 이야기 (Boundless Stories) and 진화신화 (An Evolutionary Myth), and I found much more to my taste.
The seven stories included here with their original titles are:
Scripter (스크립터) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
Between Zero and One (0과 1 사이) - previously published in Readymade Bodhisattva and translated by Eunhae Jo and Melissa Mei-Lin Chan
An Evolutionary Myth (진화신화) - previously published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 104 and translated by Jihyun Park and Gord Sellar
Last of the Wolves (마지막 늑대) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
On the Origin of Species (종의 기원) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
Stars Shine in the Earth's Sky (지구의 하늘에는 별이 빛나고 있다) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
On the Origin of Species: And What Might Have Happened Thereafter (종의 기원 ─ 그 후에 있었을지도 모르는 이야기) - translated by Sora Kim-Russell
The collection begins with a short essay (translated by Kim-Russell) "A Brief Reflection on Breasts", and comes with an afterword by the editor (and also a translator of other works) Sunyoung Park. The essay, centres around the line "If we see a person in the distance and they seem to have breasts, we hastily assume that they must be a woman ... science seems to occupy a similar position in SF ... many of the stories I’ve written came into being without me consciously trying to turn them into SF.”
This is science-fiction (as opposed to SF) in the tradition of Asimov, Bradbury and Philip K. Dick, that asks fundamental questions then ponders the implications, with a strong sense of wonder and indeed humour.
'Scripter' is a neat story of the last human character, a Hunter, in a very old RPG and the admin sent to persuade him to stop playing (a contractual provision obliges the game producer to maintain the game while any players remain). But the Hunter refuses to even acknowledge the concept that the Admin tries to present, treating him instead as an emissary of the gods, and the story opens out into an interesting discussion of reality and perceptions of reality, and to Turing-test debates about what it means for something to be human rather than AI and the role of the “scripter”:
Since long before machines were invented, writers and actors have been bringing fictional characters to life using just a few lines of dialogue. Some, of course, do a better job of pulling this off than others. And painters create images so vivid they look as if they can come to life and step right out of the canvas. Though, of course, some painters are also not that talented. In that sense, I suppose you could say that Al is not so much technology as it is art or literature.
'Between Zero and One' (the title referring to quantum computing) is an exploration of the unlikelihood, but not impossibility, of time travel, in chapters that alternate with a seemingly more conventional story of the educational pressure on high school kids in Korea (told from the perspective of the parents enforcing that pressure), with the two coming neatly together.
'An Evolutionary Myth' is set in the historic kingdom of Goguryeo (고구려) and tells of an ancient world where evolution is far more rapid than today and occurs to an individual within a lifetime, humans gradually changing into other creatures to adapt. It rather neatly mixes ancient myth with a modern-day interpretation. It is narrated by the Crown Prince, his inheritance over-thrown by his uncle. the late King’s younger brother, who then gradually transforms first into a lizard-like creature to avoid detection but ultimately into a powerful dragon-like beast to take revenge.
'Last of the Wolves' is set in a world where humans are now the pets of dragons, although the latter are a species unseeing of colour and indifferent to art, and the story raises questions of how to define intelligence across species.
They not know how delicately the moon illuminates the streets at night. Nor that the sky is filled with stars that travel across the celestial sphere once a day. They do not know that the moon waxes and wanes every month, that on full moons like tonight, the street turns silver. To them, night is nothing more than the cessation of sound, a cooling and a dampening, a growing heaviness in the air, a change in the direction of the wind. They do not know that I've filled the walls of their house with paintings of fiery sunsets, of indigo night skies. They think that all I do is leave my scent and mark my territory. They have no idea that I've painted their portrait on the front door. Nor do they know that their own body glows jade green. Or that their eyes are also jade green.
But so what? Something different probably hangs in their sky. Maybe their ears can hear the turning of the earth, maybe the stars resonate like music. Maybe they hear the earth's magnetic fields changing course and sees cosmic rays and ultraviolet rays streaming down. Maybe there is something that they see as everyday that humanity can't even conceive of despite having existed for tens of thousands of years. The image of me that they see is completely different from what I see in the mirror, and they hear a voice coming from me that I cannot hear myself.
‘On the Origin of Species’ has a lot of fun imagining a future world, post-catastrophic (or in the view of those now in charge a vitally important) climate change which leads to Earth permanently blanketed by dark clouds and the temperature lowered to below freezing. Humans are extinct as is almost all organic life, but the conditions are ideal for the new dominant life form, inorganic life, robots whose society depends on factories that pump out smoke to maintain the Earth’s “protective” blanket. This is a world where such emissions protect life, and oxygen and water - or liquid ice -are the enemy:
Water was an incredibly toxic compound. Though it was indispensable as a detergent and a solvent, many environmentalists had been campaigning to find an alternative. Billions of years ago, when water covered the earth's surface, inorganic life was stuck at a primordial stage of evolution. Otherwise harmless substances can turn dangerously acidic when mixed with water and eat away at a robot's body. Prolonged exposure to water caused leprosy, which would rust a robot's skin beyond recognition and trigger other complications as well. If a robot contaminated with water was exposed to outside temperatures, the water that had seeped into its body would instantly expand, shattering even the strongest joints. No wonder, then, that it was considered the deadliest substance known to robot.
And yet some robots speculate that perhaps there was, once, such a thing as organic life, dismissed by most scientists as a crackpot theory.
Life must possess free will, run on electric energy, contain a chip, and be made in a factory. Exactly which of these conditions do your beloved organisms meet?
‘Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky’ is the shortest story, and in the form of a letter from a sister to her brother. They both live on a planet 28,000 years from earth but near to the centre of the galaxy, and where the sky is perpetually one blaze of shining light due to the illumination from countless stars. The writer of the letter also suffers from a rare medical condition on her world, one we would know as sleeping. Many years ago a message was received from earth saying “Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky” and the letter takes us through the gradual realisations and deductions of the scientists on the planet about the odd phenomenon of life in a different world, Earth, where stars are seen individually and fail to provide much light. Perhaps the medical condition is endemic there?
‘On the Origin of Species - and what might have happened’ is a follow up to the title story, set 30 years later. It tells of what results when the rogue scientists follow their plan and attempt to create artificial intelligence using organic life. And, in a book that generally feels to have a light sense of humour, this story brings the collection to a dark, and violent, close.
A fascinating collection and very worthy of its place on the National Book Award longlist.
June 1, 2025
2025 UPDATE:
I reread my five star books with great trepidation. What if I don't like it as much? What if I think my past self a brute and classless fool? I especially felt this way about this book given my original review, which I read with a great deal of humor and nostalgia.
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories remains a five star for me. It is a wonderful collection of science-fiction stories made more miraculous by the fact that I'm reading it in translation and not in its original language. It is also perhaps the most science-founded science fiction I have outside of Three Body Problem and some Ted Chiang. Kim masterfully toys with the very concept of evolution and ecological renaissance in a variety of wonderful fashions, from post-human to historical fiction. She writes not only compelling narratives, but also compelling existences.
As the Afterword puts it, "[o]vercoming human form, in Kim's world, is not quite a way of transcending our limits, as is often the case in superhero narratives, but rather a desperate attempt to survive by the marginalized and the vulnerable." Part of why I love Kim's writing is the fact that she writes beyond my own imagination, challenging how I see possibility. It can be rare to find literary minds like that, making my appreciation for her writing that much greater.
This book remains a pleasure to read. I still recommend it, and while it is not everyone's cup of tea it remains a masterful work of both literature and translation.
2021:
This is, without exaggeration, quite possibly the best book I have ever read. The literary style, the stories, the crafting of narratives, the vivid imagery; it's all so artful, so introspective, and left me sitting in awe after every story, processing what I had just read over and over in my mind. The questions of humanness, of what humanity really is, of what the future holds and what the past held, and who we are eminate from every story in diverse but equally influential ways. It is, quite simply, the most beautiful and artful book I've ever read.
If you enjoy authors like Ted Chiang, you will certainly enjoy this book. I also dare say that I loved this even more than Exhalation, and I didn't think that was ever possible.
Just read it. There are not enough stars to give, so do yourself a favor and read it.
I reread my five star books with great trepidation. What if I don't like it as much? What if I think my past self a brute and classless fool? I especially felt this way about this book given my original review, which I read with a great deal of humor and nostalgia.
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories remains a five star for me. It is a wonderful collection of science-fiction stories made more miraculous by the fact that I'm reading it in translation and not in its original language. It is also perhaps the most science-founded science fiction I have outside of Three Body Problem and some Ted Chiang. Kim masterfully toys with the very concept of evolution and ecological renaissance in a variety of wonderful fashions, from post-human to historical fiction. She writes not only compelling narratives, but also compelling existences.
As the Afterword puts it, "[o]vercoming human form, in Kim's world, is not quite a way of transcending our limits, as is often the case in superhero narratives, but rather a desperate attempt to survive by the marginalized and the vulnerable." Part of why I love Kim's writing is the fact that she writes beyond my own imagination, challenging how I see possibility. It can be rare to find literary minds like that, making my appreciation for her writing that much greater.
This book remains a pleasure to read. I still recommend it, and while it is not everyone's cup of tea it remains a masterful work of both literature and translation.
2021:
This is, without exaggeration, quite possibly the best book I have ever read. The literary style, the stories, the crafting of narratives, the vivid imagery; it's all so artful, so introspective, and left me sitting in awe after every story, processing what I had just read over and over in my mind. The questions of humanness, of what humanity really is, of what the future holds and what the past held, and who we are eminate from every story in diverse but equally influential ways. It is, quite simply, the most beautiful and artful book I've ever read.
If you enjoy authors like Ted Chiang, you will certainly enjoy this book. I also dare say that I loved this even more than Exhalation, and I didn't think that was ever possible.
Just read it. There are not enough stars to give, so do yourself a favor and read it.
May 25, 2022
This collection confirms for me that Bo-Young Kim is a major talent. The standout story here is "On the Origin of Species -- And What May Have Happened Thereafter". It takes a classic SF premise (explored in Frankenstein, and R.U.R.) and turns it on its head. In the far future, robots are all that are left on Earth. They are still controlled by Asmiov's 3 rules, but they no longer remember that any organic life-form ever existed, and they debate whether it even could exist. A few rogue scientists re-create organic life, with surprising consequences due directly to those deeply-embedded rules. This was actually the follow-up to the story simply called "On the Origin of Species", which simply sets-up the robot world. I didn't care for that one, but the set-up payed off very well in the sequel.
The first story, "Scripter" was also a 4-star story for me, but the premise is less unique. It deals with trying to determine whether a character in a video game is being played by a human or an AI.
The stories in-between are of mixed interest to me, but all are imaginative. I've read one other collection of her works translated into English, and hope for more translations to come.
The first story, "Scripter" was also a 4-star story for me, but the premise is less unique. It deals with trying to determine whether a character in a video game is being played by a human or an AI.
The stories in-between are of mixed interest to me, but all are imaginative. I've read one other collection of her works translated into English, and hope for more translations to come.
August 30, 2025
Türlerin Kökeni; insanların soyunun tükendiği, robotların dünyanın hakimi olduğu bir gelecek kurgusu olarak karşımıza çıkıyor. Yazar, insanların arzu, ihtiyaç ve güdülerini robotlara uyarlayarak varoluşsal ve felsefi sorgulamalara geniş yer veren çarpıcı bir hikâye sunuyor. Evrim teorisi,yaratılış mitleri, varlıkların canlı olarak tanımlanması için değişkenler, farklı canlıların yaşama adapte olması için gerekli ısı ve atmosferik koşullar, özgür iradenin anlamı, beğenilme ve onaylanma ihtiyac��, varoluşun kökeni ve nedenleri, Tanrısal bir gücün yaşama etkisi gibi konulara vurguları ve duru, yalın ve su gibi akan anlatımı ile çok beğendiğim ve soluksuz okuduğum bir kitap oldu.
Her bölümün başında yer alan, robotların yaratılış öncesi mitlerine ve kökenlerine dair yazılar da dikkat çekici ayrıntılardan. Kitap ü�� bölümden oluşuyor; yazar her bölümün farklı bir zamanda kaleme alındığını söylese de hepsi anlamlı bir bütün oluşturuyor.
Biyoloji bölümünde yüksek lisans öğrencisi Kay (1029 modeli bir robot) ; sadece yüz bölgesi deri ile kaplı, yaşama dair sorgulamaları ve merakı ile eleştirilen bir robottur. Kay gibi 4 haneli robotlar; vücutlarının bir bölümünün deri ile kaplı olması ve kendi aralarında zihinleri ile anlaşmaları ile öne çıkmaktadır. Bir gün, görünüşleri nedeniyle ayrımcılığa uğrayan 2000 modelinden Cecile ile tanışır. Cecile, robot toplumunda küçümsenen Organik Biyoloji üzerine çalışmakta ve organik maddelerin canlı olduğuna inanmaktadır. Kay’in bu konuya ilgisi ve organik varlıkları “canlı” olarak tanımlayan ilk kişi olması, ikisini ortak bir çalışmaya yönlendirir. Araştırmaları, eski belgelerde “insan” olarak anılan varlıklara kadar uzanır. Ancak burada bir paradoks vardır: Robotlar, insanlara karşı açıklanamaz bir bağlılık ve itaat duygusu hissetmektedir. Otorite olmaları gerekirken köleliği çağrıştıran bu durumun kökeni nedir? İnsanların varlığı, robotların sonunu mu getirecektir?
Bu eser; din, inanç sistemleri, yabancılaşma ve varoluşun anlamı üzerine düşündürücü sorgulamaları güçlü bir kurgu çerçevesinde aktarıyor. Kesinlikle tavsiye ederim.
Her bölümün başında yer alan, robotların yaratılış öncesi mitlerine ve kökenlerine dair yazılar da dikkat çekici ayrıntılardan. Kitap ü�� bölümden oluşuyor; yazar her bölümün farklı bir zamanda kaleme alındığını söylese de hepsi anlamlı bir bütün oluşturuyor.
Biyoloji bölümünde yüksek lisans öğrencisi Kay (1029 modeli bir robot) ; sadece yüz bölgesi deri ile kaplı, yaşama dair sorgulamaları ve merakı ile eleştirilen bir robottur. Kay gibi 4 haneli robotlar; vücutlarının bir bölümünün deri ile kaplı olması ve kendi aralarında zihinleri ile anlaşmaları ile öne çıkmaktadır. Bir gün, görünüşleri nedeniyle ayrımcılığa uğrayan 2000 modelinden Cecile ile tanışır. Cecile, robot toplumunda küçümsenen Organik Biyoloji üzerine çalışmakta ve organik maddelerin canlı olduğuna inanmaktadır. Kay’in bu konuya ilgisi ve organik varlıkları “canlı” olarak tanımlayan ilk kişi olması, ikisini ortak bir çalışmaya yönlendirir. Araştırmaları, eski belgelerde “insan” olarak anılan varlıklara kadar uzanır. Ancak burada bir paradoks vardır: Robotlar, insanlara karşı açıklanamaz bir bağlılık ve itaat duygusu hissetmektedir. Otorite olmaları gerekirken köleliği çağrıştıran bu durumun kökeni nedir? İnsanların varlığı, robotların sonunu mu getirecektir?
Bu eser; din, inanç sistemleri, yabancılaşma ve varoluşun anlamı üzerine düşündürücü sorgulamaları güçlü bir kurgu çerçevesinde aktarıyor. Kesinlikle tavsiye ederim.
August 16, 2021
I’m wowed. So impressed by her writing, mind, heart.
“If she was indeed engineered, then whoever made her must have carved their own soul out w a knife and placed it in her eyes.”
“Words that are spoken have power. As long as they remain inside your head, you can always take them back. But once you utter them, everything changes.”
“If she was indeed engineered, then whoever made her must have carved their own soul out w a knife and placed it in her eyes.”
“Words that are spoken have power. As long as they remain inside your head, you can always take them back. But once you utter them, everything changes.”
June 18, 2025
Un libro per cui avevo alte aspettative e che sono state tutte rispettate, la fantascienza come piace a me: dove l'aspetto scientifico è coerente ma soprattutto la filosofia la fa da padrone, racconti che hanno tanto da dire al di là delle storie.
Questo è un libro che parafrasando Guccini 'ogni tanto del lavoro di uno scrittore non si dice è bello, è brutto, si dice: maledizione perché non l'ho scritto io'.
Ho trovato tutti i racconti di alto livello, e, pur avendo i miei preferiti ovviamente, non ce ne sono che abbassino il godimento della raccolta. Spero vivamente che add editore porterà altri lavori di questa scrittrice qui in Italia.
Tutti i pezzi hanno una trama, l'inversione di prospettiva, e un ordito, la necessità di definizione, su cui vengono costruiti creando mondi lontani, eppure vicinissimi perché speculari al nostro, dove le tematiche non vengono riproposte come identiche alla nostra contemporaneità ma integrate nel mondo creato. Definire vuol dire limitare, come sosteneva Oscar Wilde, qui vediamo una estremizzazione in cui definire è escludere: si crea un confine fra chi è dentro e chi è fuori, e in base a questo diritti e ruoli sono definiti senza possibiltà di dubbio, ed è proprio nelle zone d'ombra, nelle sfumature esistenti anche in modi rigidissimi che si muovono i personaggi dei racconti, che tirano le categorie all'estremo cercando di rompere la linea delimitante e mostrare la gradualità di passaggio fra x e y. L'autoreferenzialità di chi crea il sistema di catalogazione è ciò che cerca di separare drasticamente ciò che rimane sfumato, e rende altro ciò che non è poi così diverso.
Cercando di non fare spoiler, ma non assicuro, vi lascio considerazioni su ciascun racconto
L'origine della specie: un mondo di robot che crede nella teoria dell'evoluzione, perché le conoscenze e il modus vivendi sono state impiantate dall'uomo, ormai estinti, che li ha costruiti: vediamo quindi i nostri pensieri essere riadattati a un nuovo mondo, e quindi essere ribaltati e rivoluzionati nell'essenza seppure uguali a loro stessi nel concetto. Un'inversione fra evoluzionisti e creazionisti rispetto al nostro mondo, con un sistema religioso ottimamente costruito e dove le tre leggi di Asimov da protezione diventano distopia, per il nuovo mondo dove la vita inorganica è la forma principale e ci si chiede se la materia organica possa essere vita anch'essa. Il finale è mozzafiato, e seppure abbia poi apprezzato moltissimo il sequel di cui non sapevo di aver bisogno, può benissimo essere considerato autoconclusivo.
Il problema ecologico è molto presente, ma in maniera inaspettata, e domande su quanto sia giusto mantenere un ambiente conforme alla propria vita a discapito di altre forme non trovano risposta per noi, ma sicuramente i protagonisti si polarizzano in maniera chiara.
In sintesi: cosa è vita? Domanda a cui anche noi non sappiamo dare una risposta univoca nonostante a tutti sia chiaro a cosa ci riferiamo quando diciamo che qualcosa è vivo, ma poi ci sono i virus e c'è la proiezione di come potrebbe essere l'intelligenza artificiale.
Script: se avete visto san jupitero o upload, dimenticateli e leggete questo. Cosa è reale? La differenza fra concreto, materico e virtuale influenza anche la definizione di esistenza stessa? E cosa rende un essere umano umano?
Forse il mio preferito ma la scelta è difficile.
Tra zero e uno: è il più delicato e malinconico, con un accennato rapporto intergenerazionale. Viaggi del tempo, con un'interessante risoluzione del paradosso che sempre li accompagna, ma centrale non è come e cosa succede bensì capire un'altra entità impalpabile che pur ci sembra chiara: il tempo stesso.
Una teoria dell'evoluzione: questo è più di genere fantastico, favolistico e immaginifico, con un finale liberatorio.
L'ultimo lupo: un testo intersemiotico, con immagini e simboli che riflette sull'autoreferenzialità della specie dominante del concetto di intelligenza, dove l'incomunicabilità per differenza di espressione porta a incomprensioni. Inoltre mostra la dipendenza del sottoposto al padrone, che pur non sentendosi visto davvero, lo ama e pensa che forse una vita agiata seppure non possa pienamente essere sé stesso è un compromesso che è disposto a compiere. Un finale con un'illusione di speranza. Tanti paragoni, non solo meramente politici ma anche semplicemente di rapporti sociali e compromessi fra necessità di espressione del sé e sopravvivenza economica. Infine: proiettiamo sui nostri animali domestici i nostri bisogni e desideri o davvero cerchiamo di comprendere la loro natura? Sicuramente li si ama ma facciamo il loro bene?
Il cielo della terra: Nella comunicazione fra sistemi culturali diversi è fondamentale l'uso delle parole, che vanno però interpretate cercando di dedurne il sistema di riferimento che le ha generate e non secondo il proprio modo di pensare.
Cosa è la malattia? Una deviazione dalla norma che limita le funzioni vitali/sociali, una definizione quindi altamente dipendente dal sistema di riferimento ed è per questo che soprattutto le condizioni trattate in psichiatria subiscono continue riclassificazione, e quindi considerate necessarie o meno di cura, in base alla sensibilità della società che le analizza. Ma il malato si sente affetto da una patologia o siamo noi che proiettiamo delle aspettative non necessarie per vivere?
'Non voglio guarire, non sarei me stessa'.
La collana Asia gestita da Ilaria Benini per me è ormai una garanzia e amo le copertine di Lucrezia Viperina, l'abito non fa il monaco ma quando è bello è un valore aggiunto.
Questo è un libro che parafrasando Guccini 'ogni tanto del lavoro di uno scrittore non si dice è bello, è brutto, si dice: maledizione perché non l'ho scritto io'.
Ho trovato tutti i racconti di alto livello, e, pur avendo i miei preferiti ovviamente, non ce ne sono che abbassino il godimento della raccolta. Spero vivamente che add editore porterà altri lavori di questa scrittrice qui in Italia.
Tutti i pezzi hanno una trama, l'inversione di prospettiva, e un ordito, la necessità di definizione, su cui vengono costruiti creando mondi lontani, eppure vicinissimi perché speculari al nostro, dove le tematiche non vengono riproposte come identiche alla nostra contemporaneità ma integrate nel mondo creato. Definire vuol dire limitare, come sosteneva Oscar Wilde, qui vediamo una estremizzazione in cui definire è escludere: si crea un confine fra chi è dentro e chi è fuori, e in base a questo diritti e ruoli sono definiti senza possibiltà di dubbio, ed è proprio nelle zone d'ombra, nelle sfumature esistenti anche in modi rigidissimi che si muovono i personaggi dei racconti, che tirano le categorie all'estremo cercando di rompere la linea delimitante e mostrare la gradualità di passaggio fra x e y. L'autoreferenzialità di chi crea il sistema di catalogazione è ciò che cerca di separare drasticamente ciò che rimane sfumato, e rende altro ciò che non è poi così diverso.
Cercando di non fare spoiler, ma non assicuro, vi lascio considerazioni su ciascun racconto
L'origine della specie: un mondo di robot che crede nella teoria dell'evoluzione, perché le conoscenze e il modus vivendi sono state impiantate dall'uomo, ormai estinti, che li ha costruiti: vediamo quindi i nostri pensieri essere riadattati a un nuovo mondo, e quindi essere ribaltati e rivoluzionati nell'essenza seppure uguali a loro stessi nel concetto. Un'inversione fra evoluzionisti e creazionisti rispetto al nostro mondo, con un sistema religioso ottimamente costruito e dove le tre leggi di Asimov da protezione diventano distopia, per il nuovo mondo dove la vita inorganica è la forma principale e ci si chiede se la materia organica possa essere vita anch'essa. Il finale è mozzafiato, e seppure abbia poi apprezzato moltissimo il sequel di cui non sapevo di aver bisogno, può benissimo essere considerato autoconclusivo.
Il problema ecologico è molto presente, ma in maniera inaspettata, e domande su quanto sia giusto mantenere un ambiente conforme alla propria vita a discapito di altre forme non trovano risposta per noi, ma sicuramente i protagonisti si polarizzano in maniera chiara.
In sintesi: cosa è vita? Domanda a cui anche noi non sappiamo dare una risposta univoca nonostante a tutti sia chiaro a cosa ci riferiamo quando diciamo che qualcosa è vivo, ma poi ci sono i virus e c'è la proiezione di come potrebbe essere l'intelligenza artificiale.
Script: se avete visto san jupitero o upload, dimenticateli e leggete questo. Cosa è reale? La differenza fra concreto, materico e virtuale influenza anche la definizione di esistenza stessa? E cosa rende un essere umano umano?
Forse il mio preferito ma la scelta è difficile.
Tra zero e uno: è il più delicato e malinconico, con un accennato rapporto intergenerazionale. Viaggi del tempo, con un'interessante risoluzione del paradosso che sempre li accompagna, ma centrale non è come e cosa succede bensì capire un'altra entità impalpabile che pur ci sembra chiara: il tempo stesso.
Una teoria dell'evoluzione: questo è più di genere fantastico, favolistico e immaginifico, con un finale liberatorio.
L'ultimo lupo: un testo intersemiotico, con immagini e simboli che riflette sull'autoreferenzialità della specie dominante del concetto di intelligenza, dove l'incomunicabilità per differenza di espressione porta a incomprensioni. Inoltre mostra la dipendenza del sottoposto al padrone, che pur non sentendosi visto davvero, lo ama e pensa che forse una vita agiata seppure non possa pienamente essere sé stesso è un compromesso che è disposto a compiere. Un finale con un'illusione di speranza. Tanti paragoni, non solo meramente politici ma anche semplicemente di rapporti sociali e compromessi fra necessità di espressione del sé e sopravvivenza economica. Infine: proiettiamo sui nostri animali domestici i nostri bisogni e desideri o davvero cerchiamo di comprendere la loro natura? Sicuramente li si ama ma facciamo il loro bene?
Il cielo della terra: Nella comunicazione fra sistemi culturali diversi è fondamentale l'uso delle parole, che vanno però interpretate cercando di dedurne il sistema di riferimento che le ha generate e non secondo il proprio modo di pensare.
Cosa è la malattia? Una deviazione dalla norma che limita le funzioni vitali/sociali, una definizione quindi altamente dipendente dal sistema di riferimento ed è per questo che soprattutto le condizioni trattate in psichiatria subiscono continue riclassificazione, e quindi considerate necessarie o meno di cura, in base alla sensibilità della società che le analizza. Ma il malato si sente affetto da una patologia o siamo noi che proiettiamo delle aspettative non necessarie per vivere?
'Non voglio guarire, non sarei me stessa'.
La collana Asia gestita da Ilaria Benini per me è ormai una garanzia e amo le copertine di Lucrezia Viperina, l'abito non fa il monaco ma quando è bello è un valore aggiunto.
November 16, 2025
Okuması keyifli, ilginç bir bilimkurgu eseri. Kore Edebiyatı böyle farklı, kafa açan eserlere sık sık ev sahipliği yapar zaten. Dizileri, filmleri kitapları bilirsiniz ki Kore'lilerin genelde böyle farklıdır. Burada da insanlar gibi tüm Dünya'ya hakim bir tür olan robotların organik bir türü ortaya koyması(yani insanları) konu alınıyor. Kitap üç ana kısımdan oluşuyor. Bu bölümlerde hikâye her seferinde farklı bir yere doğru evriliyor. Ben kitabı beğendim. Hiç fena değildi. Tavsiye ederim.
July 7, 2022
"But I have no way of knowing any of this. Just as they have no way of knowing that these thoughts fill me with sadness. We live in different universes, and so do not know each other's true selves. We love each other's shadows but do not know the truth. We live in the same world but may as well exist in different dimensions."
Sunyoung Park describes it in perfect detail: "Bo-Young Kim's stories feature humans who morph into animals, as well as other non-human, subhuman, or yet-to-be human protagonists, many of whom are threatened by evolution in all its biological, technological, and social forms." The central question that Kim poses is simple: whither humans and whither humanity? These stories excavate the anthropocentric world, positing scenarios of a posthuman one where humanity's cocky claim to centrality is exposed as a hollow shell. We claim ourselves the masters of the universe based on our own conceited sense of our intellect, devising a hierarchical food chain where we come out right on top using methods that clearly favour us without any required regard for anyone or anything else.
What are the limits of the human? Until what point a human remains human? Do implants, surgical interventions, psychological and physiological enhancements sustain or supplant the human? One can think of Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future (2022) and the creation of a category that must work with exclusions and policing those exclusions. Alternatively, in the current paradigm where the human is the standard against which intelligence, acuity, and sentience are measured what of those who do not conform to our narrow scales or even transcend them? What about speciesism which situates humans above the non-human, whether it be plants or other animals? What happens when this precarious, deceptive balance is upended, either through extinction or predation?
In "Scripter", the characters in an old, abandoned online RPG attempt to prove their humanity with no conclusive results. In both "An Evolutionary Myth" and "Last of the Wolves" humans mutate according to their immediate needs and evolve to accommodate their new non-human masters respectively, even though the first is a historical fantasy set in the ancient Goguryeo kingdom and the latter is a future vision where dragons rule the earth. In "Between Zero and One" the gaping generation gap between parents and children within an intense demand for academic excellence gets highlighted through theoretical possibilities and practical limitations of time machines. I did not care for any of these stories and considered DNFing the collection exactly halfway through it.
In "Stars Shine in Earth's Sky" people of an alien planet 28,000 light-years away from Earth have evolved beyond the need for rest and consider sleep a sickness. In the two-parter titular story, the futuristic post-human post-apocalyptic robot civilization upends all of our popular conceptions of life, both organic and inorganic which by extension muddies our understanding of evolution and creationism, giving rise to a revolutionary experiment with very horrifying results. I loved all three latter stories to the point where I was forced to change my rating for the entire book from 1 star to 4 stars. They are more than made up for my prior disinterest and indifference, highlighting Kim's conceptual excellence and imagination. I believe fans of Ted Chiang will really like this collection.
(I received a finished copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)
July 15, 2022
[Stories reviewed individually below.]
Bo-Young Kim is a god. I'm completely enamored and I'll read anything she writes. Publishers, please work on translating all of her work and getting it out into the world.
I took my time and savored these stories. I want to say she's tied with Sherwood Anderson as my favorite short story author, but Kim has actually become my favorite above him. I wish more people would pick up her stuff. Her other collection, I'm Waiting For You and Other Stories is one of my favorite books of all time. Bo-Young Kim's work has an audience here, and I really want the right people to find these collections.
Her stories are all over the place, all connected by a thread of sci-fi. Some would be great Black Mirror episodes, some are just thought provoking or heartbreaking or hopeful tales to hold inside you. They can be confusing and strange, they can feel fantastical or historical or absurd or familiar. I just adore them and I wish I was better at reviewing books. These stories are for people who aren't picky about what makes something SFF, and people who like blending genres.
- Author's Introduction: 4 stars? I'm counting this as a very short story.
- Scripter: 5 stars. Damn this is a good one. Such a great story to start off the collection. Really hooked me. Wish someone would make it into a movie.
- Between Zero and One: 4.5 stars. Not an immediate win for me, but it grew on me immensely. Gets you thinking and addresses the issues between older and younger generations, especially in modern times. I read these stories slowly, so I've had about a week to let this one soak in, and I keep finding myself coming back to it and thinking about it.
- An Evolutionary Myth: 4 stars? I'm not sure. Overall, it wasn't 100% satisfying for me, but it was so strange that I can't help but say it was wonderful. I won't forget it, that's for sure. Fascinatingly bizarre twist on a historical Chinese setting, complete with a storytelling-tone.
- Last of the Wolves: 5 stars. This is the story that slowed my reading pace. I read one story per night before hitting this one. I started it and couldn't get past the first page, so I just didn't read for a few days. I set my expectations for this author really high, so I think it threw me off when this story didn't immediate capture my interest. Eventually I picked it back up and ended up really enjoying this one, because of course I would. It made me think of my dog children, which made me both sad and happy.
- On the Origin of Species: 5 stars. Fantastic. All of Kim's work (that I've read) is philosophical, but this one was more obvious about it. In a world without humans, robots have their own bible, and talks of creationism and evolution start off this wildly interesting ride. It made me think of Battlestar Galactica (the 2004 one), which is my all time favorite show. Don't let that throw you off though, it's definitely not the same.
- Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky: 5 stars. I wrote a similar (less awesome) story that I’m definitely now scrapping because it’ll never live up to this.
- On the Origin of Species—And What Might Have Happened Thereafter: 4.5 stars. Part two of the other story. These two together might’ve been long enough for a novella actually. Solid end to one of my new favorite books.
Bo-Young Kim is a god. I'm completely enamored and I'll read anything she writes. Publishers, please work on translating all of her work and getting it out into the world.
I took my time and savored these stories. I want to say she's tied with Sherwood Anderson as my favorite short story author, but Kim has actually become my favorite above him. I wish more people would pick up her stuff. Her other collection, I'm Waiting For You and Other Stories is one of my favorite books of all time. Bo-Young Kim's work has an audience here, and I really want the right people to find these collections.
Her stories are all over the place, all connected by a thread of sci-fi. Some would be great Black Mirror episodes, some are just thought provoking or heartbreaking or hopeful tales to hold inside you. They can be confusing and strange, they can feel fantastical or historical or absurd or familiar. I just adore them and I wish I was better at reviewing books. These stories are for people who aren't picky about what makes something SFF, and people who like blending genres.
- Author's Introduction: 4 stars? I'm counting this as a very short story.
- Scripter: 5 stars. Damn this is a good one. Such a great story to start off the collection. Really hooked me. Wish someone would make it into a movie.
- Between Zero and One: 4.5 stars. Not an immediate win for me, but it grew on me immensely. Gets you thinking and addresses the issues between older and younger generations, especially in modern times. I read these stories slowly, so I've had about a week to let this one soak in, and I keep finding myself coming back to it and thinking about it.
- An Evolutionary Myth: 4 stars? I'm not sure. Overall, it wasn't 100% satisfying for me, but it was so strange that I can't help but say it was wonderful. I won't forget it, that's for sure. Fascinatingly bizarre twist on a historical Chinese setting, complete with a storytelling-tone.
- Last of the Wolves: 5 stars. This is the story that slowed my reading pace. I read one story per night before hitting this one. I started it and couldn't get past the first page, so I just didn't read for a few days. I set my expectations for this author really high, so I think it threw me off when this story didn't immediate capture my interest. Eventually I picked it back up and ended up really enjoying this one, because of course I would. It made me think of my dog children, which made me both sad and happy.
- On the Origin of Species: 5 stars. Fantastic. All of Kim's work (that I've read) is philosophical, but this one was more obvious about it. In a world without humans, robots have their own bible, and talks of creationism and evolution start off this wildly interesting ride. It made me think of Battlestar Galactica (the 2004 one), which is my all time favorite show. Don't let that throw you off though, it's definitely not the same.
- Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky: 5 stars. I wrote a similar (less awesome) story that I’m definitely now scrapping because it’ll never live up to this.
- On the Origin of Species—And What Might Have Happened Thereafter: 4.5 stars. Part two of the other story. These two together might’ve been long enough for a novella actually. Solid end to one of my new favorite books.
March 7, 2022
Favo boek 2021 🤖💙.
Ik wou hier eigenlijk mijn meest laaiende review ooit over schrijven, maar verveeld op de trein en verdwaald in gedachten van robotten, draken, dode servers, Isle of Dogs, tijdreizen als kritiek op (Koreaans) onderwijs en Darwin - die deze kortverhalen in mij zaaiden - kan ik maar zeggen: geboeid door one of the above? Lezen!
De verhalen zijn fabuleus in hun densiteit, inspirerend in hun korte duur. Mensen transformeren in een oogopslag, de dictator in een varken, de reizigers in schaaldieren, de gevluchte prins in een steen of cycloon of kat. In een ander verhaal, het titulaire On the Origin of Species, zet Bo-Young Kim op geniale wijze, die van inversie en bevreemding, de evolutieleer op zijn kop. Ze brengt de lezer echt tot doorgronden: wat is organisch leven nu, een hoopje cellen of een hoopje perspectieven op metalen bouten en groene planten? De pers noemt haar werk - duur genoeg - posthumanistisch en wetenschapsfilosofisch. Ik sta bij, en het is nog supergrappig ook, zoals de beste Koreaanse fictie (in cinema: Parasite, The Host, Book of Fish) dat maar kan mixen.
Thesis gered, met passie gelezen. Hoera!
🤖❤💙
Ik wou hier eigenlijk mijn meest laaiende review ooit over schrijven, maar verveeld op de trein en verdwaald in gedachten van robotten, draken, dode servers, Isle of Dogs, tijdreizen als kritiek op (Koreaans) onderwijs en Darwin - die deze kortverhalen in mij zaaiden - kan ik maar zeggen: geboeid door one of the above? Lezen!
De verhalen zijn fabuleus in hun densiteit, inspirerend in hun korte duur. Mensen transformeren in een oogopslag, de dictator in een varken, de reizigers in schaaldieren, de gevluchte prins in een steen of cycloon of kat. In een ander verhaal, het titulaire On the Origin of Species, zet Bo-Young Kim op geniale wijze, die van inversie en bevreemding, de evolutieleer op zijn kop. Ze brengt de lezer echt tot doorgronden: wat is organisch leven nu, een hoopje cellen of een hoopje perspectieven op metalen bouten en groene planten? De pers noemt haar werk - duur genoeg - posthumanistisch en wetenschapsfilosofisch. Ik sta bij, en het is nog supergrappig ook, zoals de beste Koreaanse fictie (in cinema: Parasite, The Host, Book of Fish) dat maar kan mixen.
Thesis gered, met passie gelezen. Hoera!
🤖❤💙
September 17, 2025
Watch my review on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqbLz...
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
“For #KoreaBookClub, @barrypwelsh reviews a short story collection by celebrated #sciencefiction author Kim Bo-young titled 'On the Origin of Species and Other Stories.' This collection, published by @kayapress, explores themes on AI, time travel, virtual worlds and more! The book, translated by Sora Kim-Russell (@spacenakji) and Joungmin Lee Comfort, was earlier listed on the national book award longlist for translated literature. #김보영작가 #종의기원 @boida_SF”
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #책추천 #책스타그램 #북스타그램 #bookstagram #book #reading #KoreanLiterature
19:10-20:00 KST, Mon-Fri on KBS WORLD Radio.
Download the KBS Kong / KBS WORLD Radio Mobile apps or subscribe to the Korea 24 podcast for your daily updates!
http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/progra...
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
“For #KoreaBookClub, @barrypwelsh reviews a short story collection by celebrated #sciencefiction author Kim Bo-young titled 'On the Origin of Species and Other Stories.' This collection, published by @kayapress, explores themes on AI, time travel, virtual worlds and more! The book, translated by Sora Kim-Russell (@spacenakji) and Joungmin Lee Comfort, was earlier listed on the national book award longlist for translated literature. #김보영작가 #종의기원 @boida_SF”
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #책추천 #책스타그램 #북스타그램 #bookstagram #book #reading #KoreanLiterature
19:10-20:00 KST, Mon-Fri on KBS WORLD Radio.
Download the KBS Kong / KBS WORLD Radio Mobile apps or subscribe to the Korea 24 podcast for your daily updates!
http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/progra...
December 12, 2021
Incredible and fascinating.
Would love to read the original Korean.
Would love to read the original Korean.
February 28, 2024
Credo proprio che arriverà una mia presentazione. Stay tuned! :)
June 8, 2024
4 stars.
As with all anthologies I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, but the ones I enjoyed, I REALLY liked.
The standouts for me were Between Zero and One, On the Origin of Species, and Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky.
Kim’s work in this collection reflects on the essence of humanity- how we are made, how we change, what makes us different from other life (if we are at all), and our transformative nature. To aid in these speculations, Kim plays with time, distance, and extremely unique postulations on our future as a species.
One of the things I loved about all the stories is how there is almost no exposition. Almost all of the world building and plot takes place through dialogue; you’re able to get a sense of place through what characters do (or often don’t) say. She trusts her readers to make the intuitive leaps left behind and I appreciate when an author does that.
While the last story will stick with me in ways I don’t particularly care for, there can be no denying that Kim’s writing is dynamic and the ideas she presents are worth your time.
As with all anthologies I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, but the ones I enjoyed, I REALLY liked.
The standouts for me were Between Zero and One, On the Origin of Species, and Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky.
Kim’s work in this collection reflects on the essence of humanity- how we are made, how we change, what makes us different from other life (if we are at all), and our transformative nature. To aid in these speculations, Kim plays with time, distance, and extremely unique postulations on our future as a species.
One of the things I loved about all the stories is how there is almost no exposition. Almost all of the world building and plot takes place through dialogue; you’re able to get a sense of place through what characters do (or often don’t) say. She trusts her readers to make the intuitive leaps left behind and I appreciate when an author does that.
While the last story will stick with me in ways I don’t particularly care for, there can be no denying that Kim’s writing is dynamic and the ideas she presents are worth your time.
June 15, 2021
hauntingly beautiful. mind-bending. I couldn’t stop reading … first time in a long time that I could not put down a book …
August 11, 2024
There's really not much to say, I really really really loved this book and the stories it contained.
August 17, 2022
I don’t typically read a lot of sci-fi but I found this to be strangely beautiful. I think Kim herself puts it best when she says that these are stories about humanity. Her stories touch upon deeply human themes and universal experiences. Things I took away were the desire for connection and community, the deeply ingrained instinct to search for our origins, the loneliness and heartache of being misunderstood, and how to relate and make sense of faith.
Favorites were “An Evolutionary Myth”, “Last of the Wolves”, “Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky”, and “On the Origin of Species”.
Favorites were “An Evolutionary Myth”, “Last of the Wolves”, “Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky”, and “On the Origin of Species”.
July 19, 2021
Olipa hieno kokoelma korealaisia scifinovelleja! Kaikissa on teemana jonkinlainen evoluutio. Eräässä novellissa ihmiset muuttavat muotoaan jatkuvasti, toisessa nukkumisesta kärsiviä olentoja pidetään sairaina. Yksi tarina paljastaa, miksi vanhemmat ihmiset tuntuvat usein jämähtäneen menneisyyteen. Suosikkini oli kuitenkin niminovelli, jossa robottiyhteiskunta pohtii orgaanisen elämän mahdollisuutta. Jotain Ursulamaisen antropologista otetta näissä. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
July 23, 2022
bo-young kim 大大, master of tackling the (post)human condition, you have transcended the anglophone world of science fiction that is polluted by too many -isms to count, and i have gladly joined your cult following. this was an incredible reading experience… shit
July 17, 2022
Korean sci-fi written by a woman!
May 30, 2025
I have a bad habit of never reviewing my favorite books. It seems like a futile effort to try to match my words with theirs. Can’t I just tell you to read it and have you listen to me? No? Well, then.
Ever since I read Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others more than 8 years ago, I have always been on the lookout for books and authors that can compare. Few have come close to achieving that magical combination of high-level science being used to explore deeply human concerns, wrapped in a package of eloquent prose.
Behold: Kim Bo-Young.
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES is actually the second story collection of hers that I’ve read, the first being I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories. That one is slightly more commercial (the paired “across space and time” epistolary love story is probably her most popular and approachable story, though I felt it only scratched the surface of its scientific and world-building by focusing more on the romance and not the world), but it was the deeply confusing but impressively ambitious second story, “The Prophet of Corruption,” that left me in awe and desirous of seeking out Kim’s other writing.
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES is much more like “Prophet” than “I’m Waiting for You.” (I, of course, like that; you might not.) Like “Prophet,” most of the stories in ORIGIN are grounded in high-level scientific concepts, the extrapolation of which allows Kim to ask questions about deeply human things.
Here is a story-by-story overview, and a memorable quote from each:
-
“Author’s Introduction: A Brief Reflection on Breasts” - BREASTS. Okay, j/k, but it really is about breasts. In this brief introduction, Kim confronts “patriarchy as default” ways of thinking. Not to say that this book is entirely feminist, but I appreciate Kim’s challenge to us to notice what framework of thinking we’re operating under, and consider smashing it. Don’t skip.
Favorite quote: “A man who lacks adequate exposure to women might think that whatever a woman does is ‘because she’s female,’ especially if her femaleness is what he notices the most about her.”
-
“Scripter” - Taking place entirely within a game world, a company goon goes in to kick out the last player that’s been preventing the company from being able to shut down the unprofitable venture. He quickly gets confused with who is human-made and who is AI.
Review: I loved this one because it addresses the very relevant topic of our eroding ability to distinguish (or even want to distinguish?) between AI and manmade nowadays. On top of that, I appreciated Kim’s critique of current, male-dominated forms of thinking, most of which dismisses a human or a concept as inhuman/irrelevant if they cannot understand it with their limited mindset. Sound familiar, anyone?
Favorite quote: “From the moment you forcibly entered my life, I accepted you as a fellow human being without question. Why do you refuse to show me even the slightest shred of decency in return?”
-
“Between Zero and One” - A non-linear story featuring a mother who’s lost her daughter, and possibly time travel.
Review: I LOVED this one too. Kim’s idea is that memory and nostalgia are basically time travel–a person who was educated in and reminisces about decades past is essentially a person from the past, and their nostalgic way of thinking creates a time travel machine that has the power to warp our perception of cause and effect, such as a parent feeling guilty for pressuring their daughter academically to the point of suicide. What is the cause and what is the effect, the daughter’s suicide or the mother’s pressure and lack of understanding?
Favorite quote: “History is full of tribulations and errors and events that might have gone otherwise if only the consequences that would result had been known. This much seems to prove that we will never be able to build a time machine! We have all made countless mistakes in our lives, yet nobody’s ever shown up to warn us about them.”
-
“An Evolutionary Myth” - Biological evolution tends to happen over hundreds of generations, so slowly it’s easy to think that evolution doesn’t happen at all. In this story, the main character goes on a journey of survival and vengeance, its biology changing in a matter of days and weeks depending on the environments or situations it meets, the interactions it has, and the choices it makes.
Review: Didn’t love it as much as the first two, but I still liked what it gave me to think about. Change often happens so slowly that it’s easy for us to think that change doesn’t occur; thus, we cling on to a mistaken assumption that things–and people–should and do stay the way they are, regardless of what happens to them.
Favorite quote: “What does original form mean, anyway? Ought every creature to spend its whole life as a newborn infant?... You’re fighting now to hang onto this human shape, but ultimately you’ll realize the effort is pointless. What’s so precious about dying in the same form you were born into?”
-
“Last of the Wolves” - A… creature (?) escapes (?) its master (?) to seek out a hidden prehistoric spiritual creature (a… dragon?) to better understand the world and its place in it.
Review: As you can probably tell by the number of question marks in my one-sentence summary above, this was probably the most confusing and least favorite story. But! It still gave me great things to think about. Here the theme is about representation. In the story it’s literally about icons and paintings and language, all of the concepts we human use to represent. But it’s also about our perception, particularly in relation to other human beings. A servant/slave may not see themselves as one, but rather as an equal companion. A master/oppressor may not recognize himself when someone is talking about a villain. Fascinating.
Favorite quote: “We live in different universes, and so do not know each other’s true selves. We love each other’s shadows but do not know the truth. We live in the same world but may as well exist in different dimensions.”
-
“On the Origin of Species” - In a future hundreds of thousands of years from now, a society of highly stratified robots makes a startling discovery that will upend everything they understand about history, life, and evolution.
Review: LOVED. The way I read it is, what is scientific understanding but just the latest iteration of all that we think we know? Truth and understanding are not fixed. It was really entertaining, enlightening, and humbling to read about these robots struggling to wrap their minds around the discovery of organic life and how it upends their own theory of evolution (yes! you get to read about how robots evolved!). I enjoyed the way in which this story decenters the “humans/us first” perspective that is the assumption that most stories we read and tell ourselves take. As our world has already shown us, simply being objectively human and living isn’t enough to convince all of humanity that one is a living human (see: colonialism, slavery, genocide). And often, we humans would rather ignore the truth, or new revelations, even with all the evidence staring straight into our faces, for the preservation of what we think we know about ourselves, humankind, and life.
Favorite quote: “If ‘transformation’ was proof of life, then all robots would be non-life…. How about that? We are non-life! There’s a thought that stretches the frontier of philosophy. It would pose a serious threat to the identity of robotkind. Robot life and death, our great intellect and civilization and history, why, our very souls! Wiped out by a single sentence.”
-
“Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky” - An intergalactic from a faraway alien civilization allows this story’s protagonist to finally rid herself of the shame she felt at suffering from an “illness” of regular “loss of consciousness” each day when the sun sets that her society has deemed frightening, irregular, and shameful.
Review: Also loved. Damnit, Kim Bo-Young, you just can’t do any wrong. I love how she takes an aspect of human society that we take as totally normal, sleep, and frames it using the discourse we often use to talk about less “desirable” concepts such as mental illness, new cultures, and other forms of “Otherness.” It makes me think about just how arbitrary, superficial, and unempathetic our definition of “normal” is, a definition that is influenced mainly by population groups in positions of power.
Favorite quote: “How wonderfully bizarre… Imagine! When darkness falls, Earthlings casually retreat to their private quarters to enjoy a period of unconsciousness. No one ridicules this habit. No one grips a person by the shoulder and tells them, ‘You can beat this’.... No child has to live in shame because of a condition they can’t overcome. No one even thinks of any of this as an affliction that needs to be cured.”
-
“On the Origin of Species–and what might have happened thereafter” - A followup to “On the Origin of Species” that takes a dramatic turn, as the discovery made in the first story causes the robot world to descend into fanatical chaos.
Review: Hmm, probably not my favorite story in the collection, but still strong. Here, the themes are on love, religious faith, and fanaticism, and how easily it is to teeter into a world where emotions and beliefs end up causing harm.
Favorite quote: “Kay understood at last what had happened to all the robots who worked at the lab. They had fallen in love… They existed for one reason and one reason alone: these beautiful creatures, these living embodiments of what the robot race had long been thirsting for, what philosophers and theologians had long been in search of…. Nothing matters except worshipping and serving them…. They would have erected a dome over the entire country if they could.”
Ever since I read Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others more than 8 years ago, I have always been on the lookout for books and authors that can compare. Few have come close to achieving that magical combination of high-level science being used to explore deeply human concerns, wrapped in a package of eloquent prose.
Behold: Kim Bo-Young.
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES is actually the second story collection of hers that I’ve read, the first being I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories. That one is slightly more commercial (the paired “across space and time” epistolary love story is probably her most popular and approachable story, though I felt it only scratched the surface of its scientific and world-building by focusing more on the romance and not the world), but it was the deeply confusing but impressively ambitious second story, “The Prophet of Corruption,” that left me in awe and desirous of seeking out Kim’s other writing.
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES is much more like “Prophet” than “I’m Waiting for You.” (I, of course, like that; you might not.) Like “Prophet,” most of the stories in ORIGIN are grounded in high-level scientific concepts, the extrapolation of which allows Kim to ask questions about deeply human things.
Here is a story-by-story overview, and a memorable quote from each:
-
“Author’s Introduction: A Brief Reflection on Breasts” - BREASTS. Okay, j/k, but it really is about breasts. In this brief introduction, Kim confronts “patriarchy as default” ways of thinking. Not to say that this book is entirely feminist, but I appreciate Kim’s challenge to us to notice what framework of thinking we’re operating under, and consider smashing it. Don’t skip.
Favorite quote: “A man who lacks adequate exposure to women might think that whatever a woman does is ‘because she’s female,’ especially if her femaleness is what he notices the most about her.”
-
“Scripter” - Taking place entirely within a game world, a company goon goes in to kick out the last player that’s been preventing the company from being able to shut down the unprofitable venture. He quickly gets confused with who is human-made and who is AI.
Review: I loved this one because it addresses the very relevant topic of our eroding ability to distinguish (or even want to distinguish?) between AI and manmade nowadays. On top of that, I appreciated Kim’s critique of current, male-dominated forms of thinking, most of which dismisses a human or a concept as inhuman/irrelevant if they cannot understand it with their limited mindset. Sound familiar, anyone?
Favorite quote: “From the moment you forcibly entered my life, I accepted you as a fellow human being without question. Why do you refuse to show me even the slightest shred of decency in return?”
-
“Between Zero and One” - A non-linear story featuring a mother who’s lost her daughter, and possibly time travel.
Review: I LOVED this one too. Kim’s idea is that memory and nostalgia are basically time travel–a person who was educated in and reminisces about decades past is essentially a person from the past, and their nostalgic way of thinking creates a time travel machine that has the power to warp our perception of cause and effect, such as a parent feeling guilty for pressuring their daughter academically to the point of suicide. What is the cause and what is the effect, the daughter’s suicide or the mother’s pressure and lack of understanding?
Favorite quote: “History is full of tribulations and errors and events that might have gone otherwise if only the consequences that would result had been known. This much seems to prove that we will never be able to build a time machine! We have all made countless mistakes in our lives, yet nobody’s ever shown up to warn us about them.”
-
“An Evolutionary Myth” - Biological evolution tends to happen over hundreds of generations, so slowly it’s easy to think that evolution doesn’t happen at all. In this story, the main character goes on a journey of survival and vengeance, its biology changing in a matter of days and weeks depending on the environments or situations it meets, the interactions it has, and the choices it makes.
Review: Didn’t love it as much as the first two, but I still liked what it gave me to think about. Change often happens so slowly that it’s easy for us to think that change doesn’t occur; thus, we cling on to a mistaken assumption that things–and people–should and do stay the way they are, regardless of what happens to them.
Favorite quote: “What does original form mean, anyway? Ought every creature to spend its whole life as a newborn infant?... You’re fighting now to hang onto this human shape, but ultimately you’ll realize the effort is pointless. What’s so precious about dying in the same form you were born into?”
-
“Last of the Wolves” - A… creature (?) escapes (?) its master (?) to seek out a hidden prehistoric spiritual creature (a… dragon?) to better understand the world and its place in it.
Review: As you can probably tell by the number of question marks in my one-sentence summary above, this was probably the most confusing and least favorite story. But! It still gave me great things to think about. Here the theme is about representation. In the story it’s literally about icons and paintings and language, all of the concepts we human use to represent. But it’s also about our perception, particularly in relation to other human beings. A servant/slave may not see themselves as one, but rather as an equal companion. A master/oppressor may not recognize himself when someone is talking about a villain. Fascinating.
Favorite quote: “We live in different universes, and so do not know each other’s true selves. We love each other’s shadows but do not know the truth. We live in the same world but may as well exist in different dimensions.”
-
“On the Origin of Species” - In a future hundreds of thousands of years from now, a society of highly stratified robots makes a startling discovery that will upend everything they understand about history, life, and evolution.
Review: LOVED. The way I read it is, what is scientific understanding but just the latest iteration of all that we think we know? Truth and understanding are not fixed. It was really entertaining, enlightening, and humbling to read about these robots struggling to wrap their minds around the discovery of organic life and how it upends their own theory of evolution (yes! you get to read about how robots evolved!). I enjoyed the way in which this story decenters the “humans/us first” perspective that is the assumption that most stories we read and tell ourselves take. As our world has already shown us, simply being objectively human and living isn’t enough to convince all of humanity that one is a living human (see: colonialism, slavery, genocide). And often, we humans would rather ignore the truth, or new revelations, even with all the evidence staring straight into our faces, for the preservation of what we think we know about ourselves, humankind, and life.
Favorite quote: “If ‘transformation’ was proof of life, then all robots would be non-life…. How about that? We are non-life! There’s a thought that stretches the frontier of philosophy. It would pose a serious threat to the identity of robotkind. Robot life and death, our great intellect and civilization and history, why, our very souls! Wiped out by a single sentence.”
-
“Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky” - An intergalactic from a faraway alien civilization allows this story’s protagonist to finally rid herself of the shame she felt at suffering from an “illness” of regular “loss of consciousness” each day when the sun sets that her society has deemed frightening, irregular, and shameful.
Review: Also loved. Damnit, Kim Bo-Young, you just can’t do any wrong. I love how she takes an aspect of human society that we take as totally normal, sleep, and frames it using the discourse we often use to talk about less “desirable” concepts such as mental illness, new cultures, and other forms of “Otherness.” It makes me think about just how arbitrary, superficial, and unempathetic our definition of “normal” is, a definition that is influenced mainly by population groups in positions of power.
Favorite quote: “How wonderfully bizarre… Imagine! When darkness falls, Earthlings casually retreat to their private quarters to enjoy a period of unconsciousness. No one ridicules this habit. No one grips a person by the shoulder and tells them, ‘You can beat this’.... No child has to live in shame because of a condition they can’t overcome. No one even thinks of any of this as an affliction that needs to be cured.”
-
“On the Origin of Species–and what might have happened thereafter” - A followup to “On the Origin of Species” that takes a dramatic turn, as the discovery made in the first story causes the robot world to descend into fanatical chaos.
Review: Hmm, probably not my favorite story in the collection, but still strong. Here, the themes are on love, religious faith, and fanaticism, and how easily it is to teeter into a world where emotions and beliefs end up causing harm.
Favorite quote: “Kay understood at last what had happened to all the robots who worked at the lab. They had fallen in love… They existed for one reason and one reason alone: these beautiful creatures, these living embodiments of what the robot race had long been thirsting for, what philosophers and theologians had long been in search of…. Nothing matters except worshipping and serving them…. They would have erected a dome over the entire country if they could.”
February 14, 2025
Questa raccolta di racconti di Kim Bo-Young fonde fantascienza, filosofia e mitologia coreana con una grande sensibilità poetica. Il suo approccio ribalta molti topoi della fantascienza tradizionale, esplorando temi come la coscienza artificiale, la percezione della realtà e la costruzione di nuovi miti. Le influenze di autori come Asimov e Dick si intrecciano con elementi della cultura coreana, creando un effetto spiazzante e affascinante. Una scoperta stupefacente.
February 25, 2025
Refleksjoner over hva det betyr å være menneske uttrykt gjennom fortellinger om mennesker, ikke-mennesker og nesten-mennesker. Beste sci-fi/fantasy jeg noensinne har lest.
July 17, 2025
I really shouldn't have finished this before bed. Gonna go and contemplate humanity and my own existence for a bit...
May 23, 2022
I enjoyed this less than I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories. There were some good stories here, but also lots of stories that felt only half-finished and/or filler stories.
A Brief Reflection on Breasts: kinda boring but thankfully very short essay on literary genres. A woman is not simply a man with breasts, and not all women have breasts; and on the same note, SF is not simply a story with rayguns and not all SF stories are hard SF. 1*
Scripter: a Greg Egan-esque story about a MMOG, where only one player remains. The corporate employee tries to convince the player to quit, so they can shut the whole project down. 4*
Between Zero and One: Why are the youth today so lazy and unwilling to study harder? Or: why can't the parents understand their children? What causes the rift between generations? Pretty funny, kinda, even if the story also handles such a dark things like teen suicides. 3*
An Evolutionary Myth: a fairytale that tells the story of a prince, who has to escape after his uncle orchestrates a palace coup. The prince changes a lot in his exile, since this is set in a world where evolution doesn't happen within species, but within individuals: all living beings adapt very fast to the environment they find themselves in. It was okay, but nothing more. 3*
Last of the Wolves: the dragons have returned, and they keep humans as pets. They don't understand people are sophont, since their senses are so different from humans'. One of these pet humans tries to find the last free humans, the "wolves". This story didn't really go anywhere and felt a bit too didactic. 2*
On the Origin of Species: in the world of robots there is a big scientific battle about organic matter: can you call it "living", even if it doesn't have any chips and isn't made in a factory? This had good elements, but the robots' society was too much like human society, so this felt more like a satire than a proper SF story. 2*
Stars Shine in Earth's Sky: the protagonist has a condition that causes her to lose consciousness for hours at a time. Her parents tried to push her into not give in to her condition, but she discovers it's much better to not fight this condition but learn how to live with it. Again too didactic: yes yes, social model of disability, I get it. And the science is just terrible here: I'm pretty sure the planet in question would be thermodynamically unable to support life. 1*
On the Origin of Species - And What Might Have Happened Thereafter: we're back in the planet of the robots. The organic biology department seems to have gone through some weird changes: nobody leaves anymore, everyone seems like brainwashed cult members. This story reminded me a lot of the premise in Saturn's Children, although the story was very diffent in all other aspects. Much better than the first robot story. 4*
A Brief Reflection on Breasts: kinda boring but thankfully very short essay on literary genres. A woman is not simply a man with breasts, and not all women have breasts; and on the same note, SF is not simply a story with rayguns and not all SF stories are hard SF. 1*
Scripter: a Greg Egan-esque story about a MMOG, where only one player remains. The corporate employee tries to convince the player to quit, so they can shut the whole project down. 4*
Between Zero and One: Why are the youth today so lazy and unwilling to study harder? Or: why can't the parents understand their children? What causes the rift between generations? Pretty funny, kinda, even if the story also handles such a dark things like teen suicides. 3*
An Evolutionary Myth: a fairytale that tells the story of a prince, who has to escape after his uncle orchestrates a palace coup. The prince changes a lot in his exile, since this is set in a world where evolution doesn't happen within species, but within individuals: all living beings adapt very fast to the environment they find themselves in. It was okay, but nothing more. 3*
Last of the Wolves: the dragons have returned, and they keep humans as pets. They don't understand people are sophont, since their senses are so different from humans'. One of these pet humans tries to find the last free humans, the "wolves". This story didn't really go anywhere and felt a bit too didactic. 2*
On the Origin of Species: in the world of robots there is a big scientific battle about organic matter: can you call it "living", even if it doesn't have any chips and isn't made in a factory? This had good elements, but the robots' society was too much like human society, so this felt more like a satire than a proper SF story. 2*
Stars Shine in Earth's Sky: the protagonist has a condition that causes her to lose consciousness for hours at a time. Her parents tried to push her into not give in to her condition, but she discovers it's much better to not fight this condition but learn how to live with it. Again too didactic: yes yes, social model of disability, I get it. And the science is just terrible here: I'm pretty sure the planet in question would be thermodynamically unable to support life. 1*
On the Origin of Species - And What Might Have Happened Thereafter: we're back in the planet of the robots. The organic biology department seems to have gone through some weird changes: nobody leaves anymore, everyone seems like brainwashed cult members. This story reminded me a lot of the premise in Saturn's Children, although the story was very diffent in all other aspects. Much better than the first robot story. 4*
May 31, 2025
I dunno. It's certainly a smart book. And I'm very grateful it's been published in America... and the translation is terrific... I'm glad we're reading something from a Korean person who, in her essay, uses language like "born with breasts" instead of simple female/male.
But somehow the stories don't have power over me. I may be losing my talent for entering into newly imagined worlds, as by my failure to appreciate certain other works of speculative fiction, though, so don't take my word for it - this collection, if on your list, is indeed probably worth your time. I'm just thankful I waited until I could simply borrow a library copy.
Anyway. Only one bookdart from the text, from *Last of the Wolves*: It's a story which raises the same question as the title of one of my favorite science books, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?. If the species we're studying lives a life completely different from ours, because it focuses attention on different senses, perhaps, and/or has different motivations, etc., how can we test it to tell if it's sentient? For example, birds see UV so we don't even know what we're showing them, and cats don't care whether they perform for us....
The other bookdart I used is in the afterward, in which the editor points out that this collection of stories is not adventure, not plot-driven, but very much about "What If." Which is another reason for me to be glad to give it the fourth star.
But somehow the stories don't have power over me. I may be losing my talent for entering into newly imagined worlds, as by my failure to appreciate certain other works of speculative fiction, though, so don't take my word for it - this collection, if on your list, is indeed probably worth your time. I'm just thankful I waited until I could simply borrow a library copy.
Anyway. Only one bookdart from the text, from *Last of the Wolves*: It's a story which raises the same question as the title of one of my favorite science books, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?. If the species we're studying lives a life completely different from ours, because it focuses attention on different senses, perhaps, and/or has different motivations, etc., how can we test it to tell if it's sentient? For example, birds see UV so we don't even know what we're showing them, and cats don't care whether they perform for us....
The other bookdart I used is in the afterward, in which the editor points out that this collection of stories is not adventure, not plot-driven, but very much about "What If." Which is another reason for me to be glad to give it the fourth star.
October 25, 2021
I did not much enjoy the intro (on breasts) or first story. The second story I liked a bit more, and then the rest were quite good. The stories after the first 2 (and intro) all consider evolution in some way: people evolving, the Earth's life forms evolving, even robots "evolving". I found these stories much more interesting than the computer-based stories.
Scripter: inside an old video game with just one logged-on player. Too much discussion of C and video game stuff for me
Between Zero and One: about time machines
An Evolutionary Myth: a king's heir leaves the kingdom and his usurper uncle; evolves while living on a mountain
The Last of the Wolves: humans have evolved into pets for dragons. Dragons and humans have different hearing/vision, so dragons cannot tell that their pets speak, and cannot see the same colors/parts of light as people. And vice versa.
On the Origin of Species: excellent part 1 in the distant future, where the earth is very cold and robots are the only "life"; they have hints in stories, their own looks, religion, of what might have come before. (Eg who made the factories?)
Stars Shine in Earth's Sky: someone on a distant planet writing a letter to her brother, discussing her "disability" and wondering about a line of text that came from Earth
On the Origin of Species--And What Might Have Happened Thereafter: part 2 of the robots, consdering what might happen if they managed to understand organic matter
Scripter: inside an old video game with just one logged-on player. Too much discussion of C and video game stuff for me
Between Zero and One: about time machines
An Evolutionary Myth: a king's heir leaves the kingdom and his usurper uncle; evolves while living on a mountain
The Last of the Wolves: humans have evolved into pets for dragons. Dragons and humans have different hearing/vision, so dragons cannot tell that their pets speak, and cannot see the same colors/parts of light as people. And vice versa.
On the Origin of Species: excellent part 1 in the distant future, where the earth is very cold and robots are the only "life"; they have hints in stories, their own looks, religion, of what might have come before. (Eg who made the factories?)
Stars Shine in Earth's Sky: someone on a distant planet writing a letter to her brother, discussing her "disability" and wondering about a line of text that came from Earth
On the Origin of Species--And What Might Have Happened Thereafter: part 2 of the robots, consdering what might happen if they managed to understand organic matter
December 31, 2021
Really enjoyable. I liked how each story focused on a possible future (and/or past). I liked that my expectations kept being turned around. I also liked the flip side of that where I felt in on the backstory that some characters seemed to not know (sometimes until my “understanding” proved incorrect). I felt like there were a few stories I wanted to read again immediately knowing what I know now.
I think this was a 4.5 for me. I loved “Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky”. I had a harder time with “Between Zero and One”; there was a bit too much unexplained science for me. “Scripter” was enjoyable and definitely made me think, but I wanted slightly more resolution. “An Evolutionary Myth” didn’t capture me. I liked “Last of the Wolves” a lot and enjoyed the thought experiments about what we can experience and communicate between species. I really liked both of the “On the Origin of Species” stories. The parallels between humans and robots and creation and evolution was great. I liked the limits of science and knowledge too. That said, the scientific process of Kay’s “discovery” felt a bit off.
Overall a great read.
I think this was a 4.5 for me. I loved “Stars Shine in Earth’s Sky”. I had a harder time with “Between Zero and One”; there was a bit too much unexplained science for me. “Scripter” was enjoyable and definitely made me think, but I wanted slightly more resolution. “An Evolutionary Myth” didn’t capture me. I liked “Last of the Wolves” a lot and enjoyed the thought experiments about what we can experience and communicate between species. I really liked both of the “On the Origin of Species” stories. The parallels between humans and robots and creation and evolution was great. I liked the limits of science and knowledge too. That said, the scientific process of Kay’s “discovery” felt a bit off.
Overall a great read.
February 4, 2022
I bought this collection off the strength of An Evolutionary Myth alone and Bo-Young Kim and her genius galaxy brain doesn't disappoint!!! I loved a lot of these stories, some of them had me gasping from the adrenaline.
My favorites besides Evolutionary Myth were Scripter, Between Zero and One, and Stars Shine in Earth's Sky. The ideas behind them was just so breath taking.
And the drama of On the Origins of Species and what might have happened thereafter!!!!
Highly recommend!!!!!
My favorites besides Evolutionary Myth were Scripter, Between Zero and One, and Stars Shine in Earth's Sky. The ideas behind them was just so breath taking.
And the drama of On the Origins of Species and what might have happened thereafter!!!!
Highly recommend!!!!!
April 4, 2022
I was knocked out by this, and am still thinking about these stories—particularly the title one and "Scripter," which I found moving and strange and unexpectedly beautiful. Young's prose is direct, often a little cold, sometimes humorous. Her imaginative depiction of post-human existence combines science, philosophy, literature, and horror. I usually have no desire to re-read something, no matter how much I liked it (so many books, so little time)—but this one merits a revisit.
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