Ken Liu openly states in his introduction that these stories are selected based on his tastes. There is a variety of some known Chinese science fiction writers, and some new voices. Most of them were new to me as I'm woefully behind on books like the Three Body Problem, among others. There is also an earlier volume of Chinese science fiction in translation that is probably worth the read.Not only are there stories in this anthology, but three essays about the current state of Chinese science fic...

We played and fought, fought and played, and before we knew it, our childhood had escaped us.—"What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear," by Baoshu, p.155When we—science fiction fans in the United States, that is—were growing up back in the 20th Century, most of the stories we read and told ourselves reassured us that the future was ours. Over and over, the same unspoken assumptions were the backdrop for so many extrapolative English-language epics: the U.S. would be large and in charge for

Great collection of stories, more in the speculative fiction range than sci-fi, all of them with original ideas and fine writing.Also, the three essays at the end are a very informative and interesting journey in the origins and history of Chinese science fiction literature. Here's one thing: "the first text in the science fiction genre can be found [in China] as early as 450 BC to 375 BC". Who would have thought that someone from that age had been thinking about automatons...To my shame, except...

Another excellent collection which was translated by Ken Liu but which includes various Chinese SF stories by an array of the writers who are currently making waves. The stories were diverse and mostly enjoyable, although a few were a little less interesting to me as a Western reader because I couldn't relate as easily to them as I had wanted to, but in general even these had a fascinating undertone to them. Some comments on individual stories below: 86.04% "Chen Quifan's Coming of The Light was...

Another masterful collection by Ken Liu after Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation. Of course, as with all anthologies, not every included story was great but overall the imagination present in Chinese SF is quite breathtaking. Maybe "so-called" sci-fi authors like Peter Hamilton or Neal Asher can take some inspiration from them.My favourites:Goodnight, Melancholy by Xia Jia What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear by Baoshu Broken Stars by Tang FeiThe Robot...

If you look back to my review of Invisible Planets , I praised Ken Liu for bringing more Chinese SFF to Western audiences after the flashbulb-debut of Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past and delighted in the seven writers' works he'd selected for the collection. Going into Broken Stars I was hoping it would hit some of the highs of the first collection--Folding Beijing still sticks with me!--and introduce some new voices. Liu certainly went bigger on this one: we've got a higher page coun...

Having read quite a lot of Chinese sci-fi in recent years, I approached this collection with excitement and confidence. I was very quickly humbled as it seems that I've only been skimming the easily relatable surface of what turns out to be a vast, depthless sea of highly original, difficult to understand, and culture-specific sci-fi.Some of the stories in the collection were great, different yet captivating (Laba Porridge, The First Emperor's Games), but others were strange, featuring a hoard o...

A wonderfully diverse (and wonderfully translated) anthology. Highly recommended.My impressions of the individual stories are here:https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...

Exceptional in breadth and depth, this anthology is nothing short of magnificent. It contains quirky humor pieces as well as the artful sort of stories that are blatantly ignored by those who wish to brush off any genre fiction as childish or unserious. With only one tale that I disliked, picking favorites from this one is a challenge. Nevertheless, I pick the following as my top three while reserving the right to change my mind tomorrow (or perhaps even in the more immediate future):Goodnight,

I can't believe I actually enjoyed reading this book. I have picked up Sci-Fi books before - like The Martian by Andy Weir - but never managed to finish any of those. However, this one is a bit different from the Sci-Fi books I read in the past. Broken Stars / Zerbrochene Sterne is a collection of short stories by China's finest Sci-Fi writers like Cixin Liu, and the majority of these short stories don't have a strong Sci-Fi element to them. That is why this book was perfect for someone like me

8/4/19This book came out in February? How has it not been reviewed yet? I bought this today in the book store because I had a conversation with someone last week about Chinese literature/science fiction and how much Ken Liu has been trying hard to make it available to English speakers. I have been studying Chinese for some while and am nowhere near reading such advance literature, so I am really thankful for Liu's work. I can't wait to have a read and review it! :)You can find me onYoutube | Ins...

Favorite stories:"Goodnight, Melancholy" by Xia Jia (a reread for me, I enjoyed it even more the second time)"What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear" by Baoshu (it's a love story where historical events run backwards, and it made me cry)"The First Emperor's Games" by Ma Boyong (a ton of fun and kind of similar in concept to "The Snow of Jinyang", but worked better because it was short)My rating is probably more accurately 3.5 stars, if I average out what I would rate each story. There are

Ah, Ken Liu, I guess our taste differs this time. I enjoyed Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation more than this one. The stories in there are more touching. This one felt a bit more distant, and I am not sure why there are stories with so many Western pop culture references in there. Good effort, nonetheless.The highlights from this anthology for me:"Goodnight, Melancholy" by Xia JiaAny AI/robot fans need to read this. Hands down, Xia Jia, you are one of the bes...

Average Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.1I’ve been waiting to read this collection as well as Invisible Planets for a while, but as always, my backlist books get lost in the many shiny new arcs and releases I tend to gravitate towards. So, when I got the chance this month to add this to my tbr owing to two readathons, finally I was excited. And it didn’t disappoint at all. This collection of stories felt so different from the usual books I’ve read, not that I have too much experience of reading sci-fi. Thi

Considering “Invisible Planets...” was the best SF short story anthology I’ve ever read, I NEED this book. I can’t wait for this release!

Thanks so Cixin Liu and Ken Liu, I've become a big fan of Chinese science fiction over the years, both long novels and short stories. In this anthology, Ken Liu presents (and translates) an anthology of sixteen short stories by fourteen Chinese science fiction writers, as well as three essays on the history and rise of Chinese science fiction. The stories varied in their appeal to me but there are some corkers. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.Chinese Dystopias: "Broken Stars - Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation" by Ken LiuDystopian fiction is always a bit frustrating, possibly because, as a depressive, it mirrors the way I catastrophise stupid little problems. I know that that impulse is irrational, so it's weird for an author to essentially explain why it isn't. Too often, dystopian fiction is anti-technology, relying on very conservative, slippery-slope l...

Experiencing fiction from another culture is always interesting even if it might be harder to connect to it. Ken Liu did a good job of collecting stories which, for the most part, don't have a barrier for western audiences to enjoy them. I would say, with exceptions, they are pretty similar in style and themes to what is popular in short SF in the US, but with inspirations and twists from Chinese culture added. The introductions and essays provide a good background for further understanding.Whil...

This is Ken Liu's second collection of contemporary science fiction after Invisible Planets and it is a great read. There is a wide variety of styles and lots of female authors. I hope some more of their longer work gets translated into English. Makes me want to go back and re-read The Three Body Problem and I grabbed a Kindle version of Waste Tide as well!

Broken Stars is a collection of contemporary science fiction short stories in translation, edited by Ken Liu. These stories all come from the burgeoning science fiction genre in China. Stories are varied, from fantastical tales akin to Chinese myth and legend, to historical Wu XIa style stories, conventional science fiction, and even copypasta. Topics range from AI and its interaction with depression, to morality tales, to time travel fiction. These stories are generally of high quality, and are...