THe WanDering earTH

China Crises

released OuT nOW! 464 pages | Hardback/ebook

Author Cixin liu Publisher Head Of Zeus

Science fiction in other languages doesn’t often get translated, meaning it’s easy to have virtually no idea of what’s happening in the genre outside the English-speaking world. One of the most significant writers to break through this barrier in recent years is Chinese sci-fi author Cixin Liu, whose ThreeBody Problem trilogy was an acclaimed work of hard SF.

This latest Liu release collects together ten of his award-winning short stories, and gives an interesting window into his distinctive worldview. The tales featured in The Wandering Earth are all science fiction in the classical sense, harking back to the style of HG Wells, Olaf Stapleton or Isaac Asimov in the way they use the genre to discuss philosophical ideas.

Characterisation often takes a back seat to the detailed science, and his stories play more like dark fables in the way they examine human morality on a grand scale.

A common theme is the world being disrupted by visitations from beyond the stars, whether it’s a colossal spacecraft intent on consuming the Earth in “Devourer”, or the senile aliens who plead for assistance from humanity in “Taking Care Of God”. “For The Benefit Of Mankind” tells the tale of a futuristic hitman who is tasked with an unusual mission. Then there is “Curse 5.0”, which is probably the highlight of the book, delivering some surprisingly self-referential humour alongside the rise of an indiscriminate and chilling computer virus.

Liu conjures up a genuine sense of wonder, even when he’s working with old-fashioned ideas, such as miniaturisation or the exploration of the Earth’s core, but he also regularly avoids traditional SF optimism in favour of a surprisingly bleak tone. The result is a rather downbeat collection that’s always stimulating and varied, but which takes such a cerebral path that it only occasionally manages to truly engage the emotions. Saxon Bullock

Liu’s novel The Three-Body Problem has been adapted into a movie; it’s due for release in China later in 2017.