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The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

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Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#41

Post by mercutio2 »

Jerry2 wrote: post #34

Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he ma…

Wow. I couldn’t stand the first book of this series. Interminable, I never built any empathy for any of the characters.

I’ve been told it gets better after the first book, but why would I subject myself to another book after my experience of the first?

Anyway, to each their own, but as a huge sci-fi fan, I generally love the Hugo winners and nominees. The Chinese sci-fi that’s been nominated has all left me cold.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#42

Post by pnw_hazor »

toufiqbarhamov wrote: post #31
forkLding wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CCP thrives on atheism, most Chinese science fiction novels actually are also non or anti-religion which wins them points in the censor department. At least I've read several post-2015 Chinese sci-fi and whenever religion comes up, the religious figures are always greedy, corrupt and using their religious title for power, "polygamous-cultish" or fanatically stupid. Although the ones I've read have been remixing Cthul…

So don’t hold my breath for the Chinese Version of ‘Black Mirror’ hm?

China is Black Mirror

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#43

Post by Hasknewbie »

Jerry2 wrote: post #34

Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he ma…

I read the first book in that trilogy, and it struck me how much it was a product of the Hu Jintao era. Under the presidency of Xi Jinping this book would have never been allowed. Way too snarky about the Cultural Revolution (I mean, in it there's a university professor that gets literally lynched by 'revolutionary' students because he refuses to parrot some party line. And that's just chapter one), and the Xi administration are not known for their sense of humour.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#44

Post by Jerry2 »

mercutio2 wrote: post #41
Jerry2 wrote: post #34

Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he ma…

Wow. I couldn’t stand the first book of this series. Interminable, I never built any empathy for any of the characters. I’ve been told it gets better after the first book, but why would I subject myself to another book after my experience of the first? Anyway, to each their own, but as a huge sci-fi fan, I generally love the Hugo winners and nominees. The Chinese sci-fi that’s been nominated has all left me cold.

>I’ve been told it gets better after the first book, but why would I subject myself to another book after my experience of the first?

I was not a huge fan of the first book either but saw the potential. Second book, The Dark Forest, is the greatest of the three (IMO anyway). Third book is also amazing. Definitely 'endure' reading through the first one and then you'll be rewarded with 2nd and 3rd.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#45

Post by tomoya »

Jerry2 wrote: post #34

Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he ma…

I am also a fan of Da Liu. I think that Da Liu’s novel sci-fi color is only a part of it. It brings us more of his thoughts on human nature in a close-up environment. It is worth pondering.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#46

Post by koboll »

georgeecollins wrote: post #38
treephen wrote: post #2

I bet none of the books will tackle topics like censorship, big brother, and concentration camps for minorities

The Three Body Problem (which I recommend highly) begins with a terrifying scene during the cultural revolution. I think most Chinese people are generally proud of modern China. They know it has problems, but they see problems in the west too.

I was blown away by the beginning of that book. Was not expecting something coming out of contemporary China to be so pointedly, brutally critical of the revolution.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#47

Post by ceejayoz »

mercutio2 wrote: post #41
Jerry2 wrote: post #34

Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he ma…

Wow. I couldn’t stand the first book of this series. Interminable, I never built any empathy for any of the characters. I’ve been told it gets better after the first book, but why would I subject myself to another book after my experience of the first? Anyway, to each their own, but as a huge sci-fi fan, I generally love the Hugo winners and nominees. The Chinese sci-fi that’s been nominated has all left me cold.

I had the same experience with the first book, and never proceeded further. I kinda wonder if it's a translation/cultural issue - the characters' decision making processes and the ways things were described felt very foreign to me.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#48

Post by samatman »

yumraj wrote: post #9
BurningFrog wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have plenty of western books on that. Hopefully Chinese SF can deal with some western neglected or taboo topics!

Such as? Edit: especially curious about which topics folks think might be considered taboos in Western science fiction.

Can you think of a Western science fiction novel that portrays eugenics in a positive light?

Sterling’s Shapers come to mind, but it’s not common.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#49

Post by _greim_ »

Jerry2 wrote: post #34

Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he ma…

I read the first book and I liked it conceptually. Sometimes I feel like sci-fi authors try too hard to follow "show don't tell" [1] when it comes to characters' emotional state, but this author tells us at every point explicitly how astounded or confused the character is, almost to an absurd degree.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show,_don%27t_tell

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#50

Post by twelfthnight »

Jerry2 wrote: post #34

Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he ma…

'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy is spectacular. At the risk of this becoming a list of everyone's favorite novels, I'd put the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons in the same league as that trilogy.
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