2002 Best Chinese Science Fiction Anthology

Author: Han Song
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: This book is an anthology of the best science fiction works from China in 2002. The selected works emphasize diversity, aiming to showcase various styles and forms, allowing readers to marvel at the boundless creativity and imaginative ideas of the authors while being moved by their hearts of truth, goodness, and beauty. Don't hesitate—take flight with your imagination and join us in exploring the colorful realm of fantasy, experiencing the exhilarating joy of intellectual stimulation. The 2002 Anthology of Best Chinese Science Fiction includes sixteen works. Among the authors are both established science fiction giants like Wang Jinkang, Liu Cixin, and He Hongwei, as well as emerging talents such as Hu Junhua, Lala, and SIEG. Compared to the previous collection, this one also features excerpts from longer science fiction novels, further expanding its scope. Through these masterpieces, the author feels that science fiction writers have made significant progress, their writing skills more mature, and their thoughts deeper. Authors of all age groups have continued to explore without resting on their laurels. This spirit of innovation provides strong momentum for Chinese science fiction. Outstanding science fiction is not like clouds floating in the sky of imagination; rather, it is like a kite, with real life as the string held by the author. The Chinese Sun (by Liu Cixin) vividly illustrates this kite metaphor. The protagonist, Shuiwa, comes from a remote mountain village and achieves one goal after another in life: moving to the city, earning money, and becoming a Beijing resident, gradually "flying" toward the sky of destiny, and finally soaring into space as a space worker to clean the mirror of the giant spacecraft The Chinese Sun. Shuiwa is uneducated, not like Yang Liwei, a space hero. His and a group of migrant workers being able to wear spacesuits and enter space is part of a commercial venture. But it is precisely this grassroots quality that gives the story a solid foundation. Over the years, as Chinese science fiction writers have grown older and gained more life experience, many have begun to return to reality. The Chinese Sun is a prime example of this trend. And this path is also the necessary route for Chinese science fiction to transition from a niche hobby to mainstream culture. He Hongwei works in a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province. He can be considered a local figure, but since debuting, he has always been part of the core circle of Chinese science fiction writers. This collection includes his Six Paths of Existence. Using the Buddhist doctrine of the six realms of rebirth to metaphorically describe six parallel universes, the story demonstrates great ambition. The author portrays a sense of humility and omnipotence, dominating everything, in a chillingly vivid manner. However, after finishing the story, one feels that the theme could have been developed into a grand epic. Its presentation as a short story feels somewhat regrettable. In this collection, Zhao Haihong's My Love, My Treasure, My Love holds special significance. Han Song's evaluation of the story is "the most female-centric science fiction of the year." I wholeheartedly agree and even believe it could be called "the most female-centric science fiction in the history of Chinese science fiction." Science fiction literature is already a branch of literature, and female science fiction is a further branch within that. Yet, a work like this—one that embodies a completely female perspective while being a genuine piece of science fiction—belongs to the rarest category. After reading it, the image of Zhao Haihong as a slightly awkward young female author immediately fades from my mind. It shows that Zhao Haihong, as an author, has matured. The collection also includes The Nightmare Beast, which was written by another female author. Zhang Zhuo lives in the words of Kafka, Vonnegut, and Murakami, where language always carries a dreamlike beauty. Moreover, this is a science fiction story about dreams. As a relatively unconventional author, Zhang Zhuo's works have been selected for this collection for two consecutive years. Hu Junhua's Fly, Fly stands out with its unique charm. It takes a direction rarely seen in science fiction literature—one that is both unconventional and fresh: retro science fiction. Placing inventions and creations in a modern context, using industrial revolution-era technological relics to recite chapters of innovation and progress—this is the principle of retro science fiction. In the story, an aviation competition held before the successful experiments of the Wright brothers is depicted in a convincing manner. The authors out the first scientific popularization climax in Chinese history (the late Qing Dynasty), a period long forgotten by modern people, and gives it a significance that remains profound to this day. Traditional scholars tend to view history from the perspectives of emperors, generals, and political struggles, but Fly, Fly reveals another side of human history after the birth of science. Fly, Fly also vividly portrays the strong local flavor of Wuhan. Unlike mainstream literature, it is difficult to infuse science fiction with local characteristics, and the author's attempt is highly valuable. The language throughout is humorous, almost "wuxia-style." It adds an indispensable flavor to this diverse collection. In recent years, Wang Jinkang has been busy, and his science fiction output has been relatively limited. However, the included Survival Experiment significantly breaks from his previous style. For those familiar with his works, though unexpected, it is also reasonable. The story's extreme Darwinian depiction is suffocatingly brutal, yet it is a natural result of the author's intellectual development. Setting the story on an unnamed alien planet also gives the author fewer reservations, allowing him to freely explore his thoughts on human destiny. Wang Jinkang's reflections may not be to everyone's taste, or even liked by some readers. But as a friend in publishing once said, great works must push boundaries. Survival Experiment writes this extremity using the blood and lives of a group of children. In this regard, it reminds us of the bloodshed and meaning in Lord of the Flies. The collection concludes with Liu Cixin's The Call of Duty, another science fiction story that pushes boundaries. This allegorical work is grand in imagination and imposing in tone. The scientists in the story are "crazy," not just in others' eyes but also proudly acknowledging it themselves. Their almost religious fervor for the ultimate truth of science is vividly portrayed on the page. The author believes that friends in the mainstream literary world should read this short story to experience its perhaps radical scientific. In China, the conflict between Eastern and Western cultures is far less direct, intense, and immediate than the clash between science and humanity. The Call of Duty sets up a peculiar stage where pure scientific values clash head-on with other value systems—practical, emotional, political, artistic—and even collide violently, leading to the destruction of homes and lives. "One does not speak without aiming to shock." The Call of Duty is a powerful example of how pushing boundaries in a specific direction can one's soul.