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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

#141

Post by coldtea »

C1sc0cat wrote: post #135
dominicr wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same for me. From reading only a few Chinese/Asian books I think the problem is that each culture has its own style of writing fiction and Chinese books tend to have a slower pace and more introspection. You also get that in some English language fiction, but not so much in sci-fi, so the average English culture sci-fi reader is going to going to get frustrated with Chinese language sci.fi.

It's the same in films a lot of slower long shots.

So just like US films -- including action films like Dirty Harry and co -- before Spielberg?

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#142

Post by akvadrako »

mac01021 wrote: post #117

Do they have any scifi to speak of in TV yet? I wonder how long it will take, given the growing popularity of these novels.

There is the series Guardian (2018), which is interesting. Probably more fantasy and really low budget though:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8551028/?ref_=fn_tv_tt_1

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#143

Post by Haga »

neuronexmachina wrote: post #75
sfifs wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly cultural but the Dark Forest (second book) is definitely worth the read whatever your experience with the first book. It is quite remarkable the breadth of the ideas that were explored.

Yeah, it's become my currently-preferred explanation for the Fermi Paradox. https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/the-dark-forest-theory...

My preferred idea is that the great paper clip maker gets bored and eventually gets high on simulations which - irony all turn into paperapoca clips in the end

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#144

Post by xioxox »

CptFribble wrote: post #16
yumraj wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Maybe the primacy of individualism/freedoms as the only path to collective prosperity? Like, what if the Chinese model really is the best way to run a country (not an endorsement, btw)? Not "taboo," persay, but it's something thing that's not really seriously considered by most westerners (not the ones I know, at least).

You could read Ken MacLeod or Iain M. Banks to get some Western views on that.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#145

Post by the_af »

erinnh wrote: post #96
stone-monkey wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The second is my favorite by far as well, but I find it funny how it's described as amazing Sci-Fi when I have to describe the plot. Half the book is spoilers The result of granting a nerd all the resources of the Earth at his disposal. He promptly uses it to find the perfect waifu and seduces her in his idyllic European villa. That's not Sci-Fi; That's a power fantasy as old as time.

You described like 90% of Chinese webnovels. I still read some of them from time to time, but theyre all basically the same. Interesting to see how that translates to actual hard-copy books as well.

What's a webnovel? Fanfiction? Or like an online Japanese visual novel?

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#146

Post by zimablue »

int_19h wrote: post #92

I have only read "Three-Body Problem", and I found it to be atrocious writing on pretty much all levels. Language-wise, it was more cliched and wooden than many fanfics I've read. Character development is non-existent, and most of the characters are very shallow and only exist to advance the plot. The plot itself, aside from the basic idea of a three-body system with life, was also very boring - the only part of it t…

There are more axes than character development or adherence to the constraints of current scientific understanding on which to judge a book.

To me, originality and "philosophical development", or how the perspective of science influences the future and nature of humanity are very important, and that's why I consider this series an absolute masterpiece.

It's great in the same vein as 2001: a space odyssey, or rendezvous with rama, or childhood's end

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#147

Post by uxcolumbo »

blackrock wrote: post #103
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 think it depends on what you want out of it. In western sci-fi, the story exists to make the reader feel good about themselves. At least, the successful ones are like this. It makes for good movies, and good story telling. Think about that for a moment. All the western sci-fi that we've been used to: Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, etc.. All these stories are not really science fiction, but rather, scie…

> All these stories are not really science fiction, but rather, science fantasy.

How do you define science fantasy?

I would agree Star Wars is fantasy, but I don't think Star Trek (pre Discovery) can be classed as fantasy. For example, a few of their concepts are now real, e.g. they envisioned tablets back in the 60s, now we have iPads etc. More is explored here: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/star_trek.ht...

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#148

Post by uxcolumbo »

spullara wrote: post #90
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…

Honestly the trilogy isn't that great as literature. It feels like an amalgam of all the cool ideas the author ever had forced into a narrative. The individual ideas are really interesting and cool but there is little to no character development and the plot can be silly at times. I don't think it is the worst science fiction I have read but to me it doesn't hold together as a story.

Which ones would you recommend instead? I'm looking for new book suggestions.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#149

Post by throwanem »

the_af wrote: post #145
erinnh wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You described like 90% of Chinese webnovels. I still read some of them from time to time, but theyre all basically the same. Interesting to see how that translates to actual hard-copy books as well.

What's a webnovel? Fanfiction? Or like an online Japanese visual novel?

Guessing, but maybe an original novel published freely on the web? That’s what the name appears to imply.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#150

Post by throwanem »

tanilama wrote: post #120
infinii wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you value the medium or the content? I can't see why you think 'digital self-publishing' is a bad thing. If anything, digital publishing where you can circumvent the publishers should allow for more content to reach market (not saying it's all good...see geocities webpages as an example of this) but I'm not sure why you think this would be bad for the Chinese SciFi scene.

The problem with digital self-publishing in China is a unique one. I don't want to expand too much on this subject because it is pretty complicated, but in short, digital self-publishing is not merely a publishing channel, it has reshaped the fiction genre in return. The Chinese online fiction is now a rat race, every author is measured by the characters they are written PER day, which ranges like 3000 characters to…

Sounds a lot like the market for many genres on Amazon.

I will say you’re not wrong about the value of editors in traditional publishing. As far as I know, there isn’t really much of an answer to that in the “new media” world - even if you want to pay someone directly for the work, editors open to such engagements seem hard to find.

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