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I don't go into science fiction expecting to learn something about history. I also didn't expect anything quite this heavy; after all, Ken Liu is the person responsible for The Paper Menagerie and the cute little tinfoil shark!This story addresses the horrors of Unit 731, the Japanese WWII unit that used human subjects for biological warfare testing, among other things. I'd never heard of it, not one bit, and kept interrupting my reading to look things up, all which appear to be based in actual
This is the first novella that I've read from this year's Hugo selection and if the others are of as high a standard, then it's going to be an extremely good year. I loved this story, from start to finish.A lot of people have said that they found this very melancholy and very sad. I agree, but it didn't make me cry; it's not as sad as 'The Paper Menagerie', for instance. The ending is depressing but entirely believable; if the world was faced with the knowledge that it could explore its past, I
I’m in awe of almost everything Ken Liu creates. This is a creative take on time travel, with a tie to an actual historical event I knew little about. The topic matter in this story is difficult, but handled very well. I’m glad this novella shed some more light on unit 731 for those of us who would not have known about it otherwise
I was deeply impressed by this book, as I don't think I've ever read anything where the content and the form of the story fit together so perfectly. Despite this being a work of science fiction, there was not a moment's doubt that the historic events described occurred in real life. There are many aspects about the storytelling that work very well, and I would definitely like to reread in time to find out why they work.
It's short but brillant! I'm surprised I never heard of it.
I loved the translation Ken Liu did for Liu Cixin: his flawless language command and writing style made me love the books even more. This novella is also written perfectly, even if the subject will tear you apart.A couple of American scientists, she a Japanese by origins and he a Chinese, discovered the possibility to travel back in time as an eye witness and they use it for bringing to public opinion the atrocities committed by Unit 731 in Pingfang during WWII – these are real facts; search the...
A very interesting and provoking ‚fictional documentary‘ (it‘s own genre, I suppose) on the (non-fictional) atrocities and war crimes commited by the Japanese research unit 731 during the Sino-Japanese War.The actual philosophical provocation here lies within Liu‘s examination of the tasks of an historian: Is it simply to research and discuss different aspects of our past? Or does he - in the case of a previously hidden and then widely denied war crime - automatically assume the responsibility t...
This made me read up on Unit 731 and learn something new, so definitely kudos for that.Unfortunately, this story didn't work for me on a number of levels. Firstly, while bringing awareness to the topic through a short story was commendable, it also came across as a bit exploitative. Thanks to the sci-fi backdrop, it was hard to know what to believe and what was made up for effect. A preface would have helped a lot.Secondly, the sci-fi concept was really stupid. Not even taking into account the s...
Available for free on Ken Liu's site: http://kenliu.name/binary/liu_the_man...Ken Liu starts with an idea first, and creates a story around it. Here, as usual, he does a mind-blowingly good job of it.The point of this story is to draw attention to the atrocities committed by Japan's 'Unit 731' in Pingfang, preceding and during WWII. It also uses that era as a jumping-off point to explore the different (and largely avoidant) attitudes that humans take when dealing with almost unimaginable horrors...
This novella is a brilliant exploration of time travel and the ethics of historiography, told in the form of a documentary — interviews, Senate hearings, excerpts from TV documentaries, and journal entries. Ken Liu's notes at the end show that he did his research about a story that he obviously cared about, basing his fictional Senate hearings and textbooks and interviews on real ones.The SF gimmick in the story is the discovery of the Bohm-Kirino particle, a sort of quantum particle traveling o...
So we can’t go back in time—but what if we could see back in time? Glimpsing the past is almost as common as stories involving actual time travel. In The Man Who Ended History, however, Ken Liu puts a very intimate and emotional twist on reliving and remembering the atrocities of war. Coupled with the archaeological premise that these observational trips to the past are always a one-time affair—each act of observation destroys the particles that allow the observation to happen—this allows Liu to...
This was a really good novella. I was already familiar with some of this history behind Unit 731, so some of this was not a revelation for me, but the way it was done was really affecting and emotional, and did a good job of illustrating some of the issues that Japan still faces. The idea of who owns the past, who writes the stories of our history is something that affects us all, whether if be Unit 731, the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust, or any other number of genocides and unpleasant periods o...
I think I would have found this a stronger story if I knew less about Unit 731. That's not to critique Liu's accuracy--he's done a thorough job of research. It's just, I've read the sources he's working from. I've had the gut-punch moment when I comprehended the atrocities. And revisiting them here, through the thin lens of fictionalization Liu provides, can never hope to match the emotional impact of that first encounter.For me, I think it would have worked better if the details had been elided...
A few comments on Ken Liu's Nebula nominated novella The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary can be found here.
This is such a clever concept.Ken Liu uses a Time "Travel" (Glimpse) concept, in a Fictional Documentary, to retell events from accurate history. You get to see what the Japanese experimental science group (Unit 731) did during WWII.I didn't even know there was something like an Asian Holocaust.Very thought provoking. Should history be left alone, so that we can move on. Or should it be kept alive for future generations to experience and learn from.Some brutal and morally questionable events are...
Featured in The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, this story captures the brutal historical relationship between Japan and its neighbouring countries in the context of World War II horrors, particularly Unit 731 in Pingfang. When a scientist invents a means of observational time travel by exploiting the principles of particle physics, his hope is to bring closure to relatives of WWII crimes. However, his efforts only stir up political controversy and hateful backlash from denialists. Prescient
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary is a science fiction story about historiography. That is a fantastic idea! I was so excited to pick up this novella.The story surpassed my expectations. It is a heavy and thought-provoking work. It uses science fiction to comment on trauma, history, and politics in ways nongenre stories simply could not. Author Ken Liu masterfully blends the personal, the historical, and the technological. He starts with an interesting science fiction concept - the Kirino...
★★★★★ (5/5)A selection of my favourite passages from the book• Every night, when you stand outside and gaze upon the stars, you are bathing in time as well as light.• The pairs of Bohm-Kirino particles are under quantum entanglement. This means that they are bound together in such a way that no matter how far apart they are from each other physically, their properties are linked together as though they are but aspects of a single system. If you take a measurement on one member of the pair, there...
It is always gut wrenching to remember that the most terrifying sci fi & dystopia universes are based on real life events. If not, they are based on real possibilities. It is a story so well compacted and so incredibly written that at the end we will be left with horror and a void of sadness. Worth the read and worth the schlock of learning about this events, only so that the people who lived this events (beyond the fiction) are not forgotten. That their pain and sorrow should NEVER be repeated
I didn't like the writing style that the author chose and I have an issue with the science. But once you accept the format and the premises that are presented at the beginning, the story is consistent and the message is powerful.I have never heard of Unit 731 or the Pingfang district. But I can tell you that the atrocities cited in this book are horrific. Ken Liu does an excellent job in presenting these horrors in as palatable a manner as one could expect. I truly appreciate that he focused on