What do you think?
Rate this book
Summer Reading
The Library hasn’t had a visitor in over 5,000 years—until today.
Available in print and audiobook at serialbox.com
Available in print and audiobook at serialbox.com
Audiobook
23 people want to read
About the author
Ken Liu
468 books22.1k followersKen Liu (http://kenliu.name) is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards for his fiction, he has also won top genre honors abroad in Japan, Spain, and France.
Liu’s most characteristic work is the four-volume epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty, in which engineers, not wizards, are the heroes of a silkpunk world on the verge of modernity. His debut collection of short fiction, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. A second collection, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, followed. He also penned the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. His latest book is All That We See or Seem, a techno-thriller starring an AI-whispering hacker who saves the world.
He’s often involved in media adaptations of his work. Recent projects include “The Regular,” under development as a TV series; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in season one of Netflix’s breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, with Craig Silverstein as executive producer, adapted from an interconnected series of Liu’s short stories.
Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.
In addition to his original fiction, Liu also occasionally publishes literary translations. His most recent work of translation is a new rendition of Laozi’s Dao De Jing.
Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.
Liu’s most characteristic work is the four-volume epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty, in which engineers, not wizards, are the heroes of a silkpunk world on the verge of modernity. His debut collection of short fiction, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. A second collection, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, followed. He also penned the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. His latest book is All That We See or Seem, a techno-thriller starring an AI-whispering hacker who saves the world.
He’s often involved in media adaptations of his work. Recent projects include “The Regular,” under development as a TV series; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in season one of Netflix’s breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, with Craig Silverstein as executive producer, adapted from an interconnected series of Liu’s short stories.
Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.
In addition to his original fiction, Liu also occasionally publishes literary translations. His most recent work of translation is a new rendition of Laozi’s Dao De Jing.
Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 26, 2020
This is a sweet, lovely short story.
The library hasn't received a visitor in 5,000 years. Its elderly robot docent preserves all the books and data it can--but nothing lasts forever, and data that doesn't get recopied ultimately doesn't get preserved.
Then one day, a little girl walks in, and the old robot and the young girl read a picture book together.
The story is sweet and wonderful, and George Takei's narration is the perfect icing on this tasty little cake.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
The library hasn't received a visitor in 5,000 years. Its elderly robot docent preserves all the books and data it can--but nothing lasts forever, and data that doesn't get recopied ultimately doesn't get preserved.
Then one day, a little girl walks in, and the old robot and the young girl read a picture book together.
The story is sweet and wonderful, and George Takei's narration is the perfect icing on this tasty little cake.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
October 12, 2020
A charming treat of a short story about the timeless magic of books through the millennia. Lifelong readers will love this tale of an old robot and a little girl bonding over "The Adventures of Sophia, the Fastest Tortoise in Suburbia." (I love how the robot docent has protected this silly picture book as fiercely as an ancient manuscript of The Odyssey or Gilgamesh.)
George Takei's narration, along with original music and sound effects, turn this into a particularly sweet little storytelling bon-bon.
"It wasn't like a sim, but it was better than a sim. I couldn't touch anything, but I could feel everything in my head."
I listened to the SerialBox version.
George Takei's narration, along with original music and sound effects, turn this into a particularly sweet little storytelling bon-bon.
"It wasn't like a sim, but it was better than a sim. I couldn't touch anything, but I could feel everything in my head."
I listened to the SerialBox version.
January 1, 2021
Unfortunately, for me this audio book didn't work! I do love Ken Liu short fiction and tying Ken's work to George Takei an actor who's most noted for Space Opera seems like a no brainer. Right? Well wrong! George voice is just wrong! I hate to say it but his age might be a factor here, and I hate electronic modifications to an audio narration, which was done frequently!
January 25, 2021
Cute short story
January 5, 2022
Kid’s story.
December 30, 2023
Thoroughly surprised with how beautiful this short story was. I was just rushing to achieve my Goodreads goal and was totally not expecting to be moved by a story about some old robot and a kid.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews