gardner ☆ > Recent Status Updates

Maybe picking this up as my first audiobook in a year was a bad idea because why is this girl talking about the same 5 things for 2 hours straight. I thought I had to be only 30 minutes deep, but no.

Least zombie-filled zombie book ever. Also, they're called "unconsecrated." What a stupid mouthful.

The Robot Who Liked to Tell Tall Tales - Fei Dao

I'm losing steam a little because these aren't really science fiction at all. Most of them fall into the broader speculative fiction and are not really to my tastes :((

The New Year Train - Hao Jingfang

Finally some physics!

What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear - Baoshu

This story was long & refreshing after a landslide of shorter stories in this collection. It was neat to see history played out in reverse order. China has such a rich political history, so I really enjoyed the focus on revolution. It had a very stream of consciousness style that made the story feel very nostalgic. Minus points for being alternate history again.

Under a Dangling Sky - Cheng Jingbo

You can tell from this story alone that the author writes children's books. It felt like a fairytale I've never heard before with beautiful imagery. The writing throws you right into the story with little explanation, and it works wonderfully!

Salinger and the Koreans - Han Song

A silly little story, though I question whether I'd really call it science fiction. It's more like a historical rewrite that had little relevance to anything.

Submarines - Han Song

A short and beautiful story told from the perspective of a young boy who doesn't understand the mysterious group of impoverished people or the discrimination they face in his community. It's painfully realistic that the adults try to keep things hush hush while the children's fascination grows. So far, my favourite in this collection!

Broken Stars - Tang Fei

I just don't see the point. The "twist" is an overused concept that's been executed better in more interesting stories. I don't really think it needed the sci-fi elements to tell the story because they had almost no bearing on the plot, aside from a "where are they now" section at the end. It's a shame this is the story the collection is named after.

Moonlight - Liu Cixin

Unfortunately, Liu Cixin is one of those writers who has good execution of poor concepts. As much of his work as I've read, I've found him to consistently be a voice in the background. The Three Body Problem is one of his few works that breaks out of the constraints he has in science fiction.

Goodnight, Melancholy - Xia Jia

I couldn't get into it at first, but when I did, I felt very rewarded. It reads more like poetic philosophy than a science fiction story (something I find a lot of translated Chinese sci-fi has in common). Very relevant in regards to AI today, & I especially loved the fictional history the author manufactured & tested the believability of by sharing it with friends pre-publication.

It's so classic mystery that I'm a bit surprised by the publication date and also not sure that I'll finish it. It's just not something I'm particularly interested in, and while I love stepping outside of my comfort zone, I've already given the genre more chances than I really wanted to.
I will give some credit and say that the pacing is quite good. The short chapters and simple writing make it feel like a quick read