New Voices in Chinese Science Fiction

by Neil Clarke (Editor), Xia Jia (Editor), Regina Kanyu Wang (Editor)

Science fiction is international in scope, but many works are often unavailable to readers because of language barriers or the costs involved in transcending them. In the eleven years I've been publishing science fiction works from China, I've had the privilege of working with and featuring stories by both of my co-editors, as well as dozens of other authors. Anthologies and projects like this one are an editor's joy. We've been given the opportunity to shine a light on eight Chinese authors that have not been previously published (at that time) in English. Authors you should know about. New voices, or at least new to you.

Includes stories by:

* Shuang Chimu 双翅目
* Liu Xiao 刘啸
* Yang Wanqing 杨晚晴
* Hui Hu 灰狐
* Congyun "Mu Ming" Gu 慕明
* Liang Qingsan 梁清散
* Shi Heiyao 石黑曜
* Liao Shubo 廖舒波

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Anthologies

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 2022

About the author

Neil Clarke is best known as the editor and publisher of the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning Clarkesworld Magazine. Launched in October 2006, the online magazine has been a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine four times (winning three times), the World Fantasy Award four times (winning once), and the British Fantasy Award once (winning once). Neil is also a ten-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form (winning once in 2022), three-time winner of the Chesley Award for Best Art Director, and a recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award. In the fifteen years since Clarkesworld Magazine launched, numerous stories that he has published have been nominated for or won the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Locus, BSFA, Shirley Jackson, WSFA Small Press, and Stoker Awards.

Additionally, Neil edits  Forever —a digital-only, reprint science fiction magazine he launched in 2015. His anthologies include: Upgraded, Galactic Empires, Touchable Unreality, More Human than Human, The Final Frontier, Not One of Us,  The Eagle has Landed, , and the Best Science Fiction of the Year series. His next anthology, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven will published in early 2023.

He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Yev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction - Xia Jia (2022)
I was surprised by the quality of the works in this anthology. Then I saw that they almost all won a prestigious award for the best SF of the year in China. That seems appropriate to me. In the introduction Xia Jia writes that we're in the Post-Liu Cixin era. That seems like a good thing to me, especially going by the stories included, and because I'm not a fan of his work. As to whether it's true, I wouldn't know. She also notes that this anthology was a stretch goal for her Kickstarter campaign to have her first English science fiction collection published. I'm not much a fan of her writing either, so I may or may not read A Summer Beyond Your Reach later.

My Family and Other Evolving Animals - Shuang Chimu, Carmen Yiling Yan (2019)
The year is 2119. In four years a new space megastation, one of almost a hundred already in space, will set off to begin its deep space ecological experiments. This story is almost entirely speculation about how ecosystems may change in space, with a focus on fruit flies. Its scientific narrative is presented through the lives of a particular family, especially the youngest daughter. This was a pleasing speculative slice-of-life story.
Enjoyable

The Bridge - Liu Xiao, Andy Dudak (2019)
I think I would like this story if I knew the specific context for its allegories rather than only vaguely being about the changes that modernity has brought to isolated areas. I assume it's an allegory about Atulie'er and other cliff villages in China, though that may only be at face value.
Ok

Tombstone - Yang Wanqing, Andy Dudak (2017)
Catastrophic climate disasters brought forth the Great Scattering of humanity. New Anchorage, population twenty million, is one of the last bastions of civilization that remain. Everything is devoted to Osiris Tower, which promises an afterlife through the creation of a soul. This is told through the life of a Charon, a ferryman of the dead, and his relationship with the love of his life. I wasn't liking this for almost half its duration, but by the end I was won over by its allegories.
Enjoyable

PTSD - Hui Hu, Rebecca Kuang (2016)
A VR journalist seeking clout radicalizes a young boy online hoping to goad him into becoming viral content. Four years later working at NetLord (NetEase) the consequences of his actions have caught up to him in a way that he never could've seen coming. This was a fun SF thriller about being unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. It also considers some problems that may arise from 3D printing and virtual reality.
Enjoyable

By Those Hands - Congyun "Mu Ming" Gu, Judith Huang (2018)
I'm astounded by the masterful craft that created this beautiful work. Its emotionality is admirable and its science praiseworthy. A master bamboo weaver is distraught that he will not be able to pass on his craft and that all the traditional ways are being replaced by low-quality automation. A neuroscientist with a specialty in hands is distressed about the kinesthetic knowledge that is lost upon death. Perhaps by using the newest technologies traditional ways may yet be preserved.
Highly Enjoyable

The Kite of Jinan - Liang Qingsan, Emily Jin (2017)
In the introduction to this book this story is called "fictional nonfiction", which is apt. This story is simply a guy who saw something he thought was interesting and unsolved in the historical record. In this case the truth behind why a series of gunpowder workshops exploded and whether the primary suspect was indeed responsible. So, he took it upon himself to deeply research the matter for no other reason than personal curiosity. This is probably somewhat similar to the research that goes into making edutainment videos on Youtube. One example would be some of the videos CGP Grey has made. This was more interesting and enjoyable than may be expected.
Enjoyable

Pixiu - Shi Heiyao, Andy Dudak (2018)
A biologist is hired by a mining company to create a new bacteria that can bioleach low quality ore effectively and as cheaply. He relates its development to his relationship with his grandmother from his birth to her death. There's a considerable amount of philosophizing about the purpose of life and the nature of interpersonal relationships, including for bacteria.
Enjoyable

The Postman - Liao Shubo, Rebecca Huang (2016)
An interstellar postman keeps receiving messages from a little girl asking if he has any mail for her. He doesn't and he takes a memory-erasing pill after he finishes delivering the mail, but then one day...
Meh

[John Folk-Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her introduction to New Voices in Chinese Science Fiction, Xia Jia explains how she and the other editors selected and found translators for the work of eight writers who had never before had their stories presented to the English-speaking world. I found the eight stories the editors chose to be fascinating. Several are brilliant by any standard, others more revealing of the different traditions of Chinese science fiction and the imaginative exuberance of the writers in reinterpreting them for new audiences. Most of the writers are well-established figures in China, and it’s unfortunate that we don’t have more of their work to read. These are “new” voices in Chinese science fiction mostly from our perspective, and that says a lot about how much the Anglophone world needs to open up to the great new literature of China. I’m still absorbing these stories, but five out of the eight in this volume made an especially deep impression.

There are two stories in New Voices in Chinese Science Fiction, “The Bridge” by Liu Xiao (translated by Andy Dudak) and “By Those Hands” by Congyun ‘Mu Ming’ Gu (translated by Judith Huang) that dramatize the confrontation of traditional skills developed by gifted individuals and modern technical thinking and scientific innovation.

........

New Voices in Chinese Science Fiction is one of those collections that I not only found deeply interesting at first reading but also wanted to go back at once to read all over again. We need more collections like this and also translations of the novels and other stories these eight writers have produced. I hope the editors and translators can keep on with this exciting work to bring the full scope of Chinese science fiction to the English-speaking world.


Read the full review at SciFi Mind.

[Kab · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25
"My Family and Other Evolving Animals" by Shuang Chimu ★★★¼
"By Those Hands" by Congyun “Mu Ming” Gu ★★★★
"Pixiu" by Shi Heiyao ★★★
"The Postman" by Liao Shubo ★★¾

[John Devenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most anthologies this book is a bit of a mixed bag. The stories are all worth reading while some are excellent and the rest good to very good. No duds in this collection.
It’s such a pleasure to read stories from a different culture especially when the authors are all unknown to me.

[Rogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The following review text will contain spoilers, but I will post the title and score first so simply skip the body text for each story to avoid spoilers:

My Family and Other Evolving Animals (4/5):

To start off this anthology, we have a shorter story about a person's particular ambitions on a starship containing an entire ecology. From the onset of the story, it becomes clear that a lot of work went into how these animals start to evolve and adapt into their new environment.

The main character has a personal ambition that is understandable, there is an interesting family dynamic that is focused on just enough to make each other character likeable. I very much enjoyed the story, the only hang-up I had was the crisis point in the story. I, personally, felt that it was too brief, it was resolved way too quickly and almost felt out of place in the narrative. Other than that, I highly recommend it.

The Bridge(3/5):

My personal least favorite of the anthology, though I didn't dislike it. The Bridge is about an older man (which I've found to be a recurring trope in this anthology), named Old Ji, whose profession became impossible for him to continue due to age, and his son having no interest in continuing his job.

At its core, it's a story about letting go of older ways. As the story ends with his son leading the charge up the bridge using a railway and Old Ji accepting this. I didn't hate it, but I really didn't connect to it as much as I wished.

Tombstone(4/5):

We have a dystopian story, in which our world is dependent on the death of people, using their souls for energy via a massive monolithic structure in a megacity. Millions depend on this as mostly everything else has been destroyed because of environmental chaos. But there is more to this structure, and society as a whole that is told.

I really enjoyed this story; my only main hang-up is that it is a dystopian story, and it follows it beat by beat. So certain aspects will be predictable, but other than that, I highly recommend it.

PTSD(5/5):

This is where the collection shines. A very interesting take on 3D printing and VR, which by itself would be interesting enough, but the characters and story are also extremely fascinating, to the point where I won't spoil much. But I think that the heavy topics were handled well. My favorite of the bunch.

By Those Hands(4/5):

Using both first person and third person to tell this story, This story deals with the rise of automation, and the endurance of tradition. I felt that it told this story very well, the only thing that I felt was lacking was how the protagonist was saved from death.

I'm not opposed to the idea, but I don't really buy that they were able to do something like this to such a degree, but I am not a cancer expert. Regardless, I do highly recommend it.

The Kite of Jinan(5/5):

A story in which a historian ends up uncovering breakthrough research of a long dead engineer.

The other story that I cannot recommend enough. The presents a somewhat rare hard science fiction story where the "hard science" focus is in the realm of the social sciences. This story was so grounded, I had to do my own personal research to make sure this was purely fiction but was so interesting that I was hook from start to end. Very hopeful to have more translated from this author.

Pixiu(4/5):

An interesting story about a man creating a lifeform meant to help with resource extraction and his own personal understanding about his grandmother. This one was the closest of the 4/5 to be a 3, but I think it pulls through enough. The lifeforms and how they work are very interesting, but I honestly couldn't care for the family story. I also found the solutions to some of the issues to be... problematic. Such as the inability for the author to come to a solution avoiding such resource extraction.

The Postman(5/5):

A very short touching story about loneliness, so short that I don't have that much to say about it other than it follows the beats of an emotional plot. If you connect with stories about loneliness, you'll find this cathartic.

TL:DR:

Overall, I highly recommend this anthology. I really hope this book puts a spotlight on these authors to have more of their works translated. The only grip I have with the overall structure of the book is that I wish the introductions for the authors were at the beginning of their respective story and not at the end of the book.

5 stars because the work introduces a number of new writers that I very much enjoyed. Recommended

[Rafael Morillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading Chinese short story sci-fi, after the movie Arrival, based on a short story by Ted Chiang. I picked up this collection to discover other Chinese writers. The stories were interesting, and provided different perspectives on technology and society. A couple of stories caught my eye including, "The Bridge" about a world wonder called the Canted Bridge connecting Earth to another world called Magna Luna and an old bridge jumper. Two younger men arrive in the town with four wheelers and, the bridge jumping becomes a relic of the past.

"By Those Hands" is a beautiful story involving a master craftsman that weaves bamboo and a young scientist that is trying to map neural networks and creates a human hand. This mechanical AI hand can also weave bamboo. "The Kite of Jinan" was my favorite story and, it is a fictional history regarding a photograph and a scientific invention. Research reveals the strange kite, is a plan for an ornithopter researched during the late 1800s during the Qing Dynasty. Research into the historical database creates interest in the old project and promise to create the idea in modern time.

In conclusion, the stories were good and the stories offered fresh perspectives on Chinese culture. I am interested in reading some of the works by some of these authors and another sci-fi book collection.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection! Especially the story “by those hands” which reminded me so much of robert hayden’s poem “those winter sundays”

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightful discovery. It’s among the many things purchased in fits of enthusiasm which them languish for a bit in the bottomless morass that’s my Kindle—nine months in its case. And this is one the rare ones that I really wish I’d gotten to earlier. All of these stories are good, and they span a dizzying range of styles and approaches.

A couple of favorites, although I felt spoiled for choices:

• Tombstone, Yang Wanqing, translated by Andy Dudak (2021). New Anchorage is kept safe and prosperous by harvesting the energy from departing souls in the giant, tombstone-like Osiris Tower. Xiaofan is a conductor of those departing, but gradually, like cracks at the base of a tombstone, doubt is beginning to creep into his mind about what, exactly, he’s working with. In the shattering of old certainties, he finds a new purpose. This was dystopian, but crackled with vibrant energy.

• The Kite of Jinan, Liang Qinsan, translated by Emily Jin (2018). In the introduction to the volume, Xia Jie calls the story “a factually fictional history of technology.” Written in a non-fiction style, this centers on a fictional amateur historian’s deconstruction of a 1910 explosion at a small gunpowder factory in Shandong province. Done in a style completely unlike the other stories—for once calling this “unique” is not a stretch—it nonetheless tells a fascinating story about a restless inventor at a pivotal, turbulent period in Chinese history.

• The Postman, Liao Shubo, translated by Rebecca Kuang. This was a shortish story about an interstellar postman who gets an unusual, life-changing message from the past. The story deals in universal themes of loneliness and love, as well as the irony that sometimes we never quite see the whole truth about the things which move us. Just lovely work.

I was struck by the historical consciousness of some of the stories. The Kite of Jinan is an obvious example, but a couple of others, e.g. The Bridge and By These Hands, expressed it indirectly in the form of discussing how “the old ways” are being displaced. Change, of course, has been a continuous feature of the last decades of Chinese history, so it would make some sense if that was close to the surface in its popular literature as well.

It is also fascinating to wonder how political some of these stories are when looked at from a Chinese perspective. PTSD, My Hands and Tombstone make interesting reading if looked at through a—admittedly American—political lens. I found myself speculating about whether these stories are used to express mass opinion or offer commentary in a veiled way, using allusion and analogy to make points. I don't know enough, though, to read between the lines--or know if there's anything there in the first place.

All in all, an excellent collection.

8.5/10 (4.25 stars, felt like it deserved being rounded up)

Slightly longer version on my blog.