Invisible Planets

3.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews

A collection of science fiction by Chinese authors, translated by Ken Liu.

Recent Chinese science fiction essentially came to my notice via Ken Liu's translations in Clarkesworld. I enjoyed what I found, and picked up this book with enthusiasm. That enthusiasm was largely, but not entirely, satisfied.

I don't speak any form of Chinese, and certainly don't read it, so I'm dependent on translation for my access to Chinese works. That's always frustrating; no matter how good the translator, there's a lot of nuance that's lost, and much is dependent on the translation approach. I've found Liu's translations to be literate and intelligent, but dry. That's largely true of his own English fiction as well, and it's true of the stories here - to an extent that 340 pages of it felt more flat than exciting.

The stories are virtually all well written, but Liu's introduction sets the somewhat clinical tone that much of the book follows. He argues that there is no such thing as ‘Chinese science fiction'. The argument is fair enough, but is so academic that I wondered exactly what audience he had in mind, and he repeats the point several times. The discussion would have been better off in the essays at the end of the book, which are equally aggressive about not taking a firm point of view, and which engage a far different part of the mind than the one that reads SFF for fun.

So, a slow start, but the stories themselves are more enjoyable, and the thumbnail sketches of each author were helpful. The best of the book were:

• The Fish of Lijiang, by Chen Qiufan. In a controlled society, what choices do we really have? While the story could have used a stronger ending, it's still a good read.


• TongTong's Summer, by Xia Jia. A look at remotely guided elder assistance. This was one of the stories I'd read before, and it stuck with me. Unlike the preceding story in the anthology by Xia Jia, it's focused, well-rounded, and moving.


• The City of Silence, by Ma Boyong. A study in censorship. Very reminiscent of 1984 in both tone and concept, but still effective and interesting.


• Invisible Planets, by Hao Jingfang. A description of selected planets. Very reminiscent in tone and structure of Liu's own story, “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species”, but with more of a resolution.


• The Circle, by Liu Cixin. An analog approach to computing and duty. I've read this twice before - as a standalone, and as part of Liu's book Three Body Problem. I like it a lot (and wish the novel itself had been better).


• Taking Care of God, by Liu Cixin. Earth's creators come back to visit. While the concept here is a very familiar one, the tone of Liu's story makes this work.

Received free copy of book in exchange for honest review.

Readers at Tor and around the SF world have recently become familiar with Ken Liu and his Chinese translation work via the bestselling and award nominated novel The Three-Body Problem, by acclaimed Chinese author Cixin Liu. Readers who have developed a taste and excitement for Chinese SF by these means will be excited to hear that Ken Liu, the translator of that volume is assembling, translating, and editing an anthology of Chinese science fiction short stories. The thirteen stories in this collection are a strong and diverse representation of Chinese science fiction, including two by Liu Cixin. Some have won awards in translation, some have garnered serious critical acclaim, some have been selected for Year's Best anthologies, and some are simply Ken Liu's personal favorites. To round out the collection, there are several essays from Chinese scholars and authors, plus an illuminating introduction by Ken Liu. At the Publisher's request, this title is...