Still, mere novelty wears out quickly, and it’s impossible to predict whether the hidden army, once revealed, can really become a force to be reckoned with and sustain the wave of cultural enthusiasm for sci-fi. Readers expecting more of The Three-Body Problem, or even The Four-Body Problem and The Five-Body Problem, would no doubt be disappointed. No one could (or should) replicate Liu Cixin. Today, although he hasn’t published a new novel since Death’s End, “Da Liu” remains peerless in China (some have estimated that yearly sales of his books exceed the sum of the yearly sales of all other science fiction books combined). After Chinese authors managed to bring home Hugo rockets two years in a row, what else can they do to keep the attention of mainstream society? If the ambitious sci-fi films currently in production don’t achieve commercial success—remember, Chinese audiences have been trained to have very picky tastes by a steady diet of big-budget Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters—how much longer will the financiers remain excited?
I imagine the answers to many of these questions will reveal themselves shortly. Most of the sci-fi authors I know are not concerned about them because they have day jobs—engineer, reporter, university instructor, science researcher, judge, entrepreneur, and so on. Even if the current wave of enthusiasm burns out and sci-fi once again retreats from the view of most people—I’m reminded of little Pluto, which was unknown until 1930, and which then enjoyed a brief few decades of attention before scientists mercilessly ejected it from the ranks of the planets—sci-fi authors will simply shrug and return to their hidden base, away from the bright and fickle beam of public attention, and continue to let their imaginations roam.
As for myself, I’m glad that I got to witness this wave of interest and so many fantastic happenings. Let me tell you a bit more about that arthouse director I mentioned at the beginning. At the time of his speech, I asked him why it was that Chinese films rarely showed the future. He answered perfunctorily that “exploration of history and the present already encompasses within it anticipation for the future.” At that moment, he probably wouldn’t have believed that in a few years he would make a film about the year 2025. When that film was released, some in the media praised the director for “opening a new path for expressing realism through the experimental techniques of science fiction.” I knew then that my long-held dream had been fulfilled: when I talk about sci-fi with others, none of us need feel embarrassed anymore.
About Ken Liu
KEN LIU is the winner of the Nebula, Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, Sidewise, and Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards. He is the author of The Grace of Kings and The Wall of Storms, in his epic series The Dandelion Dynasty. He is also the translator of Liu Cixin’s Hugo-winning and Nebula-nominated The Three-Body Problem and the trilogy’s Locus-winning conclusion, Death’s End.
The Dandelion Dynasty Series
Also by Ken Liu
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Copyright
First published in the United States of America in 2019 by Tor Books, a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © 2019 by Ken Liu
The moral right of Ken Liu to be identified as the author of this work has bee asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction and non fiction. All characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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ISBN (HB): 9781788548106
ISBN (XTPB): 9781788548113
ISBN (E): 9781788548090
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COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Stories:
“Goodnight, Melancholy” («晚安，忧郁») by Xia Jia (夏笳), translated by Ken Liu. First Chinese publication: Science Fiction World («科幻世界»), June 2015; first English publication: Clarkesworld, March 2017. English text © 2017 Xia Jia and Ken Liu.
“Moonlight” («月夜») by Liu Cixin (刘慈欣), translated by Ken Liu. First Chinese publication: Life («生活»), February 2009; first English publication in this volume. English text © 2017 Liu Cixin and Ken Liu. Used with permission from FT Culture (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
“Broken Stars” («碎星星») by Tang Fei (糖匪), translated by Ken Liu. First Chinese publication: ZUI Found («文艺风赏»), September 2016; first English publication: SQ Mag, January 2016. English text © 2016 Tang Fei and Ken Liu.
“Submarines” («潜艇») by Han Song (韩松), translated by Ken Liu. First Chinese publication: Southern People Weekly («南方人物周刊»), November 17, 2014; first English publication in this volume. English text © 2017 Han Song and Ken Liu.