The science fiction genre has evolved over time, reflecting technological, social, and cultural changes.

The genre has been influenced by historical events like World War I and the Great Depression.

Liu Cixin's bestselling novel "Three Bodies" won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015.

Liu Cixin's work has brought Chinese science fiction to a global audience, with "Three Bodies" selling nearly 9 million copies worldwide.

Digital platforms and social media have significantly impacted the science fiction genre, facilitating the discovery of new authors and creation of online communities.

The internet has helped increase the number of women writing science fiction by removing barriers for non-male writers.

The science fiction genre has become more diverse, with significant contributions from women and people of color.

Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin have made significant contributions to the genre, exploring power, identity, and social justice.

The genre has evolved to include sub-genres like steampunk and solarpunk, and elements from fantasy and horror.

Speculative fiction has evolved into a universal mode of entertainment and a tool for social change and creating hope.

Diverse authors have enriched the science fiction genre with new perspectives and ideas.

Chinese female writers are thriving in science fiction, with authors like Regina Kanyu Wang and others being recognized through Hugo nominations and published anthologies.

Authors like Liu Cixin, Wang Jinkang, and R.F. Kuang are gaining international recognition with their works translated into multiple languages.

Science fiction is evolving to include a more diverse range of voices, themes, and perspectives from authors of different demographics.

The science fiction genre has evolved over time, reflecting technological, social, and cultural changes.

Title:

Content: Science Fiction and Politics in Literature and the Arts (Symposium, Toulouse)

Science Fiction and Politics in Literature and the Arts

The aim of this symposium run by the LLA-Créatis laboratory at the University of Toulouse Jean-Jaurès is to develop open thinking about “political” questions, in the broad sense of the term, that science fiction narratives allow. Different types of stories can be considered, in different literary genres or in cinema, video series and comics. It can be studied and interrogated from a historical, political and social perspective by involving, where appropriate, the possible contributions of different analyzes (anthropology, semiotics, feminist studies, postcolonial studies, etc.) Diversity of perspectives and questions raised by gender.

The entire twentieth-century period produced works in San Francisco that were marked by ideologies such as capitalism and its “communist” counterpart, but also by threats associated with civilian and/or military nuclear power, religious-related abuses, racism, minority liberation struggles, and pollution. , etc. These perceptions persisted, but in the period from the last 20 years of the 20th century to the first 20 years of the 21st century, other concerns were voiced: ecological pesticides, the climate crisis, demographic crises, resource depletion, or the danger. The scientific and technical potential (transhumanism, “artificial intelligence”, etc.) is being carried away.

The link to the realities of the times (as in the collection “Le Passager Clandestin / Dyschroniques”) can of course depend on one or more authors, take into account a work or compare several (especially in the case of short stories and short films). The broader perspective will consist in considering the basic ideologies, either in relation to the literary prizes awarded, or in relation to the works themselves, the semantics of these presenting themselves from the outset sometimes as criticism, sometimes as propaganda, the two being able to be combined according to modalities that tend to be ironic, Satirical, disruptive, etc.

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In any case, it would be a matter of highlighting the “exploratory potential” in these works, of identifying the “problematic tools” and of making the ideas put forward in fictional form productive from the point of view of political theory. (Y Rambhala).

Of course, it is advisable to include works belonging to different geographical and linguistic fields so that the panorama of this search is sufficiently realistic.

Provisional schedule of courses (date adjustments possible)

Oct 20, 2-4 PM / Nov 17, 2-4 PM / Dec 15, 2-4 PM / Jan 19, 2-4 PM / Feb 9, 2-4 PM / Mar 15, 2-4 PM / May 31 , 2-4 p.m

Contribution proposals must be sent Before October 1, 2023 To the following addresses: frederics[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

The genre has been influenced by historical events like World War I and the Great Depression.

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Content: The Nazi regime has perished, but the Soviet Union, the perceived threat, embodies the same evil.
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British historian and Hitler research authority Ian Kershaw, the 20th century epic two, "The Journey to Hell", "The Age of Turbulence". 1914 to 1949 was an era of chaos. Kershaw was based on four intertwined main lines of national hatred, national interests, class conflicts, and economic crises. The change of cover.
Written by Ian Kershaw
Intellectuals and the Crisis in Europe
Throughout almost the first half of the twentieth century, European intellectuals, the leading thinkers and writers of all disciplines, paid close attention to societies in crisis.
The disaster of the First World War greatly reinforced the idea that the world was irrational in social thought, which had emerged since the 1890s.
Society seems to have fallen into the depths of insanity.
Many people believe that civilization is vulnerable to a single blow, such as walking on thin ice, and may be plunged into new disasters at any time.
This feeling even contributed to the cultural boom of the 1920s.
For a few short years in that decade, the situation seemed to be in jeopardy, but as the unprecedented capitalist crisis of the Great Depression increased fascism ’ s appeal to the public, intellectual anxiety about the impending catastrophe of civilization began to escalate significantly.
The bourgeois values of freedom that have caused this deformed civilization have been antagonized on all sides.
As early as the 1920s, intellectuals began to realize that they could no longer stay in an ivory tower and not eat human fireworks.
Hitler ’ s victory in Germany confirmed this.
In May 1933, the new masters of Germany torched the works of writers they deemed unacceptable.
The book burning shocked the country and forced many of the most prominent people in German literature and art to emigrate, most of them Jews.
It is widely believed that civilization is in crisis.
The number of intellectuals who firmly support liberal democracy has been at a record low, and most of them doubt whether the current system can solve the crisis through fundamental change, because they believe that the crisis is the product of the current system.
Intellectuals are utterly disillusioned with bourgeois society and lose faith in the political system that represents it.
Their reaction is two-fold.
The most common reaction is to turn left, to some variant of Marxism, however, there are also intellectuals who turn to the fascist right.
These two people have one thing in common, that is, they believe that it is necessary to wipe out the old society, build a new society, and realize the utopian ideal of social renewal.
But they differ widely on how to achieve their goals.
Intellectuals rarely join the social democratic forces of the left, because they believe that the latter is relatively moderate and cannot cope with the extreme forces that confront it, and can not really solve the serious crisis. (Britain is basically free of the extreme politics that have ravaged much of Europe, and Scandinavian countries have generally agreed on social democratic reforms.)
These countries were relatively detached from the general trend.) Many turned to communism to find a solution, and saw the Soviet Union as a bright line in the dark.
They are mired in a deep pessimism about the present world, placing their hopes for the future on the communist world revolution.
The abolition of the class, the realization of equality for all, internationalism, the breaking of the chains of capitalism – these Marxist ideas have great appeal to idealistic intellectuals.
Marxist political theorists such as Gramsci (who was imprisoned in Fascist Italy and wrote mainly during the long window years), August Thalheimer in Germany, the exiled Trotsky, Otto Bauer in Austria and Lukacs Georg in Hungary have made precise and detailed analyses of the crisis of capitalism, The rigid interpretation of Stalinist orthodoxy is completely different.
Apart from these people, however, the intellectuals of the interwar period were enthusiastic about Marxism, not because they had studied the theoretical writings of Marxism seriously, but because they were emotionally supportive of Marxism (though not always of its political form in the Soviet Union) as the framework for a free, just, and egalitarian new social order.
Such people include Henri Barbusse, Romain Rolland, André Gide and André Malraux of France, Brecht and Anna Seghers of Germany, Aleksander Wat of Poland and Spébel of France, Arthur Koestler of Hungary. John Strachey, Stephen Spender, W. H. Auden, and George Orwell.
For them, the most important thing is anti-fascism.
Communism, they argue, represents a complete rejection of the barbaric Nazi creeds of racism, extreme nationalism, and militarism.
The vast majority of intellectuals are deeply distressed by the insane attacks of Nazism on progressive values and cultural freedom, but what touches their core bottom line is that Nazism tramples on the very nature of humanism.
The most obvious example of Nazism ’ s blatant advocacy of violence against what it sees as its political and racial enemies is its brutality against the Jews.
Many intellectuals therefore felt that they had only one option, and that was to support the Soviet Communist Party, the most staunch and fiercest anti-fascist force.
Long after the end of World War II, the world-renowned historian and prominent left-wing intellectual Hobbesben explained that in his youth in Berlin, he had witnessed the painful struggle before the death of the Weimar Republic, and that the choices he made formed the basis of his lifelong support for communism and the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union invaded Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the enthusiasm of many intellectuals ceased, but Hobbes' position remained unchanged.
“People like me have only one choice, ” he recalled,“ especially for a child who has come to Germany emotionally left, what other option is communism? ”
After the serious problems of the Soviet Union under Stalin were exposed, many intellectuals still had illusions about Soviet communism.
Some were dazzled by the Soviet propaganda that it was creating a brilliant new society, and took it all without thinking.
Two prominent leaders of the British Labour Party, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, published Soviet Communism: A New Civilization? in 1935, in which they fleshed out Stalinism.

What time period produced science fiction works that included idealogies such as capitalism, and communism, and also threats of nuclear power, racism, pollution, and more?

Liu Cixin's bestselling novel "Three Bodies" won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015.

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Science fiction "Three Bodies" adapted into a new drama on the Internet to impact the Chinese scale
Created by Chinese writers, the “Three Bodies ” was adapted by Western producers as a series performed by a number of foreign actors, which not only greatly reduced the Chinese elements, but also opened with scenes of the Cultural Revolution fighting dead.
Like the story of the alien invasion of Earth, it is also impacting the “beliefs ” of many Chinese and the“ yardstick ” of the Beijing authorities.
“Three Bodies ” is a bestselling novel by renowned Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin, who has won one of the world ’ s most influential awards in science fiction literature. In China,“ Three Bodies ” has been considered “difficult to adapt ” for its puzzling time jumps, philosophical dilemmas and intensive exploration of scientific theory.
Today, the “Three Bodies ” are on the international screen through Netflix, a rare breakthrough in foreign media observation, in contrast to the suppression of science fiction in Chinese history.
★ A rare breakthrough under Beijing ’ s repression
Produced by Game of Thrones producers, Netflix ’ s new series “3 Body Problem ” is based on China ’ s best-selling science-fiction novel of the same name, according to the BBC. The novel is still popular in China despite China ’ s ongoing censorship of the genre.
The story structure of the “Three Bodies ” is roughly the same: one day in 1967, Ye Wenjie, an astrophysics student in Beijing, witnessed her father being beaten to death by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.
She joined a military project in Inner Mongolia to avoid being punished by a series of sit-ins, but on the condition that she never leave the base.
At this cold outpost, under a huge parabolic antenna, Ye Wenjie lost all confidence in humanity.
She devoted her life to research and made scientific breakthroughs, broadcasting high-power radio signals into outer space.
This action will have serious consequences, and it all stems from that disastrous day in Beijing.
In addition to the trans-cosmic plot, the Three Bodies also involve secret scientific projects; an alien species in the solar system beyond the stars; and a strange video game depicting the rise and fall of great civilizations over the millennia.
“The Three Bodies ” is the first of a trilogy of“ Past Events on Earth ” written by Beijing-born Liu Cixin. A Chinese adaptation of the film was shelved in 2017.
But now it ’ s on the international screen via Netflix, the belated return of Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and DB Weiss.
Early reviews were divided over whether they could be successfully adapted.
What ’ s more, the original novel has been an incredible success. It was first serialized in China ’ s Science Fiction World magazine in 2006 and translated to Western readers by Liu Yukun in 2014.
Its fans include former US President Barack Obama and "Game of Thrones" author George RR Martin.
He is the author of the Qur ’ an.
Liu Cixin won the most prestigious Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015, and the book and its two sequels have sold nearly 9 million copies worldwide.
Today, Liu Cixin is credited with bringing Chinese science fiction to the world.
This is an incredible feat considering China ’ s historical suppression of science fiction.
The English translation begins with the words: “In more than 40 days, in Beijing alone, more than 1,700 victims were beaten to death at a protest meeting ” and“ many others have chosen an easier path to avoid this madness. ”
Set in 1967, the novel kills as many as 2 million people in the Cultural Revolution over the next decade as the student-led radical Red Guards gradually turned violent in support of the Communist policies of then-Communist leader Mao Zedong.
Many of the victims committed suicide to “end their suffering. ”
The report believes that, in the modern episode of the “Three Bodies, ” the unexplained suicides that have occurred in the scientific community hint at this fact.
But what ’ s more striking than how this real history shapes events in Liu ’ s work is how the Mao regime shaped the course of science fiction in the real world.
It was dormant in the 1960s.
Liu Cixin was born in 1963, three years before the Cultural Revolution.
Li Hua, a professor of Chinese at Montana State University, said that in that era, scientists, writers and other intellectuals were branded “counter-revolutionaries ” and sent to labor camps for“ ideological transformation, ” with few literary works published, “Chinese science fiction remained dormant from the early 1860s to 1967, ” and it was especially difficult to survive the turbulent political situation, with many common themes being taboo, such as Mao ’ s. Marxist-Leninism makes no provision for the existence of aliens in the universe.
But as the “three bodies ” postscript reveals, after witnessing China ’ s first artificial satellite painting the sky in April 1970, six-year-old Liu Cixin will still be moved by“ unspeakable curiosity and longing. ”
A few years later, he found a box of books under his father ’ s bed, including Jules Verne ’ s “Journey to the Heart of the Earth. ” Liu found that he had a determination, like the character in his book, Ye Wenjie, that would ultimately have a profound impact.
Mao Zedong died in 1976, and Ye Wenjie described that year in “The Three Bodies ” as“ the horrors experienced during the Cultural Revolution gradually subsided ”. After Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1977, science fiction flourished for a short time. Deng Xiaoping said that “science and technology are the first productive force. ” Creation.
Fearing a greater spread of Western ideas to China, the CCP launched a campaign in 1983 to “clean up mental pollution. ”
Li said: “It aims to eradicate the Western-inspired trend of ‘ bourgeois liberalization ’.
The Propaganda Department singled out specific literary genres to attack and suppress, including sci-fi works of ghost stories, violence, sex, anti-scientific assumptions, and veiled criticisms of socialism, and classified them as “spiritual pollution. ”
Leading writers such as Ye Yonglie, who wrote stories about space travel when China launched its first satellite into orbit, were condemned, and Science Literary magazine was forced to publish non-fiction works, and in the process renamed the more unobtrusive “Strange Tales. ”
Li said that after a few months, Deng Xiaoping ended the event, but "many science fiction writers, disappointed and emotionally hurt, left the field."
Even if science fiction is revived again, political sensitivities are holding back its development.
Liu Cixin ’ s first full-length novel, China 2185, in 1989, describes cyberpunk fantasies about Mao ’ s resurrection in virtual reality.
This suggests that sci-fi narratives “were prevented from appearing in print due to sensitive sociopolitical topics, but were later published online, ” Li said, but many such works would soon be removed.
Most writers are self-censoring.
With its rapid economic growth in the 1990s, China is now a modern and prosperous country, and science fiction has flourished in China. In the 1990s, with films such as Jurassic Park and The Hacking Empire, Western works by Hugo Award winners Philip K Dick and Arthur C Clarke hit bookshelves.
By the turn of the century, “Science Fiction World ” had reached 400,000 copies, the largest of its kind. In 2019, another film,“ Wandering Earth ”, directed by Liu Cixin, became a hit in China, marking a watershed moment for Chinese science fiction films.
Li Hua believes that the change during this period is that the Chinese government's censorship system is relatively strict on social and political issues, but relatively lax on technical issues, so most writers will self-censor their works and avoid mentioning sensitive topics.
But the report believes that sociopolitical criticism is not impossible for Chinese writers.
Liu Yukun, a translator, said at the Reddit “Geek ” conference in 2015 that“ criticism of the Cultural Revolution is not a forbidden topic in China. ”
Liu Tsz Hin became the first Asian to win a Hugo Award, but his book nonetheless exposes the sensitive nature of his ideas. After all, chapters with a Cultural Revolution background were moved to the middle part of the original Chinese version for fear that government censors might find them too politicized, which is the beginning of the English version of the “Three Body ”.
Netflix ’ s new series “Three Bodies ” starts in the same way as the English version of the book, and they don ’ t worry about censorship.
But the new series is based on Liu Cixin ’ s original novel, and unlike the original novel, they will face the critical judgment of the audience.
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Liu Cixin's work has brought Chinese science fiction to a global audience, with "Three Bodies" selling nearly 9 million copies worldwide.

Digital platforms and social media have significantly impacted the science fiction genre, facilitating the discovery of new authors and creation of online communities.

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Content: Science Fiction: Chinese Female Writers | Culture | DW | 21.10.2023
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Cultural warp and weft
Science fiction: the rise of Chinese women writers
While the space for feminist expression in China has shrunk further over the past decade, there ’ s good news from this week ’ s World Science Fiction Conference in Chengdu: Chinese female writers are thriving in the science fiction world, making them one of the most striking trends in the genre.
The rise of Chinese female writers in science fiction has become one of the most striking trends in the genre, according to participants at this week's World Science Fiction Conference in Chengdu.
The World Science Fiction Conference, the world ’ s oldest and most influential science fiction event, was held in China for the first time this year and attracted a large number of local fans, both male and female.
China remains a relatively socially conservative country, and under President Xi Jinping, the space for feminist expression has narrowed further over the past decade.
But author and editor Regina Kanyu Wang, who was nominated for two prestigious Hugo Awards at the World Science Fiction Conference this year, said the number of women writers in science fiction has soared in recent years.
She said more and more women are now realizing that "it's not just nerdy, nerdy science-fiction novels like Liu Cixin [author of the three-body series] that can be published, or can be considered science fiction." Liu Cixin is great, and we all like him.
But there's a lot more to it than Liu Cixin's style. "
The good news, says Wang, is that once women start to become writers, they don ’ t feel they ’ re being treated unequally.
The market and readers need a new perspective, she said.
The 81st World Science Fiction Conference will be held in Chengdu from October 18 to 22.
"Now, many Chinese female science fiction writers focus on issues that women face that men may not feel," Zhou Danxue, a literary scholar at XJCC Liverpool University, told AFP. "These writers can reflect unique female experiences in their own way."
Wang said that in the past two years, four anthologies of Chinese fantasy novels written only by female or non-binary authors have been published, which is a major breakthrough.
There wasn ’ t even an all-female science fiction writer ’ s portfolio before that.
Before the 1990s, there were very few female science fiction writers.
An article in the collection "The Way Spring Comes", which Wang Kanyu participated in compiling, pointed out that the Internet is a training base for women and queer talents.
Author Ni Xueting explained that the widespread use of the Internet “not only brought a new sense of community to people, but also … removed many barriers to writing based on industry and social stereotypes, especially for non-male writers. ”
Chen Qiufan, one of China ’ s leading science fiction writers, told AFP that the genre had traditionally not received special attention and was seen as “written and read by boys. ”
He said there was now a "wider and more diverse audience", estimating that his readers were split equally between men and women.
Chinese women writers begin to make their mark in science fiction
Monet, a 21-year-old woman who visited the science fiction convention on Friday, said she sometimes felt isolated among her own fan base.
“It ’ s hard to share my interests with people who don ’ t understand me.
They ask, "Why does a girl like science fiction?"
She is optimistic about these changes in attitude, pointing out that there are a lot of interested primary and secondary school students at the conference site.
“I think interest in Chinese science fiction has to be nurtured from an early age, ” she says.“ We didn ’ t have that opportunity when we were young … I really envy them, to be honest. ”
(AFP)
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The internet has helped increase the number of women writing science fiction by removing barriers for non-male writers.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

The science fiction genre has become more diverse, with significant contributions from women and people of color.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

Who wrote "Binti," a Hugo-award-winning African futuristic science fiction horror story?

Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin have made significant contributions to the genre, exploring power, identity, and social justice.

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Content: Hulu’s ‘Kindred’ Series Premieres All Eight Episode

Hulu’s New Sci-Fi Series ‘Kindred’ Takes You On A Time Traveling Experience Through American History

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After the success and popularity of award-winning writer Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred, fans everywhere have been waiting to see these characters come to life.

Source: Pari Dukovic / FX

Kindred Showrunner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Opens Up About Adapting Octavia Butler’s Work

In Hulu’s new sci-fi series, audiences will witness time travel, puzzles to solve, American history and more.

Bossip contributor Liz Smith caught up with the cast of Kindred to chat about what fans can expect from season one.

Source: Pari Dukovic / FX

First Liz chatted with Kindred writer, producer and showrunner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins who spoke about the challenge of adapting the popular Octavia Butler novel.

People have been clamoring for Octavia Butler projects for some time now, can you talk about the pressure of helping carry on that legacy?

There’s a lot of pressure! I am one of the #1 fans out here and so everyday I realize if I wasn’t making this I would be one of those people clamoring. So I come with a lot of respect for that group. What’s really funny is when we began developing this project in 2016, you could not get Octavia Butler arrested in California it was wild and it’s been really profound and such an honor to watch the world and Hollywood catch up to her. I have to say I’m more excited than anyone for all the various projects in the making. Why not let this be the next iteration of her legacy. – Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Continue for more from the cast of Kindred

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Content: Julia Nagel/Sun Photography Editor

Fantasy author N. K. Jemisin speaks at a Bartels World Affairs Lecture in Klarman Hall on Oct. 4.

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N.K. Jemisin Gives Bartels World Affairs Lecture, Speaks on Building a Better World

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N. K. Jemisin, best-selling science fiction and fantasy author well known for her book trilogy “The Broken Earth,” spoke about building a better world at this year’s Bartels World Affairs Lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 5:30 p.m. in a packed Rhodes-Rawling Auditorium. Jemisin spoke about how building fictional worlds helps her discuss the reality of our society, and concluded by calling on the audience to make choices in order to build the world they wish to see.

Following her talk, Jemisin joined a panel of Cornell faculty to kickstart the latest Global Grand Challenge: The Future. Global Grand Challenges bring together people and resources to understand and develop solutions to humanity’s most urgent challenges. The first challenge launched in 2019, and this year’s challenge, “The Future,” focuses on how to employ creativity to build a more equitable and sustainable future world.

Supported by the Henry E. and Nancy Horton Bartels World Affairs Fellowship, the Bartels World Affairs Lecture is an annual, signature event hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies that brings renowned individuals to Cornell’s campus to speak on international matters with students and faculty.

Seats at the event sold out and an estimated 330 people attended. In-person watch party tickets were made available as well, where attendees live streamed the lecture from an adjacent classroom near the auditorium. More than 270 local, national and international viewers who registered through eCornell also streamed the event live.

Vice Provost for International Affairs Wendy Wolford said that in addition to launching this year’s Global Grand Challenge, this event also fits into Cornell’s academic year theme of Freedom of Expression. Wolford explained that the world building, kindness and empathy in Jemisin’s work encouraged the Einaudi Center to select this event as the launch for the University’s new Global Grand Challenge.

“The theme of this new challenge is fittingly ‘The Future.’ With this challenge, we invite all of you, students, staff and faculty to step back from the immediate questions of your studies, your work and your research, to think about the world you want to live in,” Wolford said. “The Global Grand Challenge calls on us to go beyond the cutting edge… to imagine what the world would look like if we asked not just what can I do, but what do I want? What do we want?”

Jemisin began her lecture by describing her background in higher education, in which she spent 20 years working as a career counselor, academic counselor and director of experiential education before becoming an author. Jemisin writes science fiction and fantasy novels that explore a variety of themes, including power, cultural conflict and systems of subjugation.

“Many of the questions I tend to get are: Why science fiction? Why fantasy? Why would you, an ostensibly intelligent and mature person, write this kid’s stuff? And I tell people the same thing that Octavia Butler has said in interviews, which is in science fiction, I can do anything,” Jemisin said during her lecture.

Jemisin explained how people’s fears in a specific time period are reflected in their writing, especially in science fiction. She cited underlying fears of the sexual revolution displayed in 1960s feminist science fiction as an example.

“There’s another misconception out there that typically happens, which is that people think of science fiction as being about the future. They think of fantasy as being about the past,” Jemisin said. “It’s neither. Science fiction and fantasy are actually about our present world.”

Jemisin also described the process of science fiction worldbuilding on two levels — macro and micro. Macro worldbuilding involves creating the physical world of a story, including planets, continents, climate and ecology. Micro worldbuilding is crafting the society the characters will exist in, which includes species, morphology, racialization and power, among other things.

“The point of this [worldbuilding] exercise is to get people to start questioning their assumptions,” Jemisin said. “Understanding how our society functions is a lot more constructive than they think, so it’s important that I get across that all of this is changeable.”

Jemisin also spoke about how real people build worlds, and how our current world is not arbitrary, but rather the result of a series of choices. She emphasized that different choices remain possible, and that our understanding of ourselves and self-identity is evolving. Jemisin encouraged the audience to consider reasons for both creating and resisting change.

“We are being blasted with a constant firehose of disinformation which is fueled by a whole lot of money,” Jemisin said. “The only thing that we can do in order to resist this is begin to question and push back on how we became the society that we are and begin to recreate that society in our own design.”

Following her lecture, Jemisin joined a panel with Cornell faculty members Prof. Anindita Banerjee, comparative literature and feminist, gender and sexuality studies; Prof. John Albertson, civil and environmental engineering; and Prof. Kaushik Basu, international studies and economics. Each professor took turns briefly speaking about how their field of expertise relates to building a better world, and Jemisin followed with her thoughts.

“We see society now envisioning futures and being bold, making pledges of decarbonizing our energy supplies, decarbonizing our economy and setting ambitious timelines on which to do that,” Albertson said. “It’s relatively straightforward to plan the direct linear path of what you need to do there. But the question is: where are all the other parts of society that are touched by each of these changes?”

Asher Bergmann ’26 said his goal going into his sophomore year was going to more school  events, and was excited to find this lecture as someone who reads a lot of fantasy.

“I think she did a good job of not diving too deep into fantasy to where some people wouldn’t be interested, because while she’s a fantasy author, the point of this lecture wasn’t actually writing fantasy,” Bergmann said. “I think she did a good job of balancing her goal with what other people may have come here to see her speak about.”

Annabel Baniak ’24 decided to attend the event at the encouragement of both her professor  and her mom, whose favorite book is “The Fifth Season” by Jemisin. Baniak said she enjoyed the event and left feeling motivated and inspired to create change in the world.

Jemisin left the audience with a message to continue questioning the current world and to work towards building an ideal society.

“I have been having conversations all day with the students here, and they’re thinking ahead of me. I have to catch up. It is an innate part of youth to question our reality, and if the way that we live makes any sense,” Jemisin said. “I have to retain my own youthful questioning. They are right to question reality, and the rest of us need to keep doing that.”

Grace Liu ’27 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

The genre has evolved to include sub-genres like steampunk and solarpunk, and elements from fantasy and horror.

Title:

Content: 10 Science-Fantasy Books for You Funky Space Sorcerers

Science-Fantasy isn’t a new genre, per se, but it is one that is starting to get some clearer definitions within publishing, making it a buzzy place to read. Combining tropes and conventions of both science-fiction and fantasy, magic and time-space travel often go hand in hand. There are often unexplainable forces are at work alongside high tech machines and gadgets. Jumping off from the Spelljammer media list (which included a couple great science-fantasy books), I’ve conspired to get even more science-fantasy books on Gizmodo! Check out some of my favourites.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

I love This is How You Lose the Time War — it’s genuinely one of my favourite books. Two rival time agents leave messages for each other across worlds and universes, attempting to win the never ending Time War… and avoid falling in love. The twist at the end is so tone-perfect that it’ll make you want to read it again immediately.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

Taking fairy tale retellings and mashing them into a planet-jumping adventure/romance, How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a subtly magical space romp.

Winter’s Orbit

Definitely light on the actual science, Winter’s Orbit is much more of a romance than anything else, but it’s also a fun space opera full of court intrigue and politics. If you enjoyed Leia’s standalone Star Wars novel Bloodline, Winter’s Orbit is for you. Read an essay from the author on Gizmodo here.

Iron Widow

An absolute genre wreck of a novel, Iron Widow combines Confucian-based wuxia fantasy tropes and mashes them into giant evolving battle machines as the main characters fight aliens in this alternate-history retelling of Chinese historical figures. Read an excerpt on Gizmodo here.

The Unspoken Name

I’ve screamed about The Unspoken Name before, and I’ll do it again, but this debut epic fantasy novel has it all. It’s definitely more fantasy than science fiction, but with jump gates, flying ships, and ancient stasis technology, it definitely belongs here.

The All-Consuming World

Clones, a sentient universe, and the magic of memory all come to play in The All-Consuming World. With fervor and flair, this book navigates trauma and technology without missing a beat. Read an excerpt on Gizmodo here.

Saga

If you haven’t heard of Saga at this point, I’m just thrilled I get to introduce you to this incredible science-fantasy epic comic run that took the nerd world by storm nearly 10 years ago. It’s just been picked up again after a few years on hiatus, and I cannot recommend this emotional and fantastic tale of a family who are fighting the whole universe to stay together.

Dreadnought

I can’t mention science fantasy without at least one steampunk novel, and while Dreadnought is technically the sequel to Boneshaker, it stands entirely on its own, and was my first introduction to the Clockwork Century books. With an incredible heroine in Mercy and enough world-building to make you really believe in the proposed alt-history, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe

With a stunning magic system that spans an entire universe, making up the very code of existence, A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe is one of those books that starts out fast (literally, during an intergalactic space-race) and never stops.

Phoenix Extravagant

Following up the science-heavy science-fantasy Ninefox Gambit (which launched a rather wonderful series), Yoon Ha Lee dove into fantasy-heavy science-fantasy with Pheonix Extravagant, which takes place in an alt-fantasy Korea amid invasions and occupations and explores how different cultural magic systems interact with technology in a beautiful and totally original way. Also there’s a mecha-dragon. So if that doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will.

Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.

Speculative fiction has evolved into a universal mode of entertainment and a tool for social change and creating hope.

Title:

Content: Dartmouth Speculative Fiction Project considers next steps for the genre

The project brings together authors and Dartmouth professors to collaborate on new speculative fiction work rooted in scientific research on campus.

by Sophie Chadha | 53 minutes ago

From April 13 to 16, speculative fiction authors from around the country came to Hanover to participate in the Dartmouth Speculative Fiction Project, a series of events which included interdisciplinary activities between visiting authors and Dartmouth faculty, as well as readings and panel discussions open to the public. The project aimed to foster collaboration between authors and Dartmouth faculty – with a focus on designing stories rooted in scientific research – and addressed the present and future of the speculative fiction genre.

The project was co-organized by engineering professor Solomon Diamond, English professor Rebecca Clark, the Design Initiative at Dartmouth program manager Paula Olson, Hugo award-winning speculative fiction editor Liz Gorinsky and author and former visiting film and media studies professor Sharang Biswas Th’13.

According to Hugo and Nebula awards finalist Nibedita Sen, speculative fiction is a general term that provokes valuable questions.

“The term ‘speculative fiction’ … works as an umbrella term: It is fiction which imagines things that do not currently exist, things that may come into being through science or through magic,” Sen said. “It could be advancement, or it could be, ‘What if we went backwards? What if we stepped to the side?’ It could be a different dimension, a different timestream.”

In a Q&A panel on April 15, some authors touched on the exchange of knowledge that occurs between scientific researchers and speculative fiction writers. Author K.M. Szpara said he believes the future of speculative fiction will become increasingly interdisciplinary and collaborative.

Nebula award-winning author Sam J. Miller  said we should reframe one stereotype about fiction — that it is dismissive of reality’s problems — and instead view its creation of a world without societal problems as proof of the possibility that our society could exist without them.

“It is as simple as, ‘ … And then the housing crisis is over … And then all the people standing in the way of progress are gone.’” Miller said.

Calvin George ’24, who attended the Q&A, said he was intrigued by Miller’s concept of speculative fiction as a tool for social change.

“It was really interesting to hear from these authors [about] how imagining worlds where a huge problem like climate change is gone can actually help us solve those problems by giving us a sense of hope that they are not absolute or inevitable,” George said.

Sen said she views fiction as an important lens through which we can better understand the reality of our problems.

“A lot of people view escapism as a form of writing that is less than, but I don't believe in that. Like Tolkien said: Is it not a prisoner's duty to try to escape? Fiction is the spoonful of sugar that helps the truth go down,” Sen said.

Sen said this belief manifested in her own writing following the results of the 2016 presidential election, when she pivoted into the realm of horror as a form of catharsis.

“[In 2016,] people like me were being viewed as monsters, so I decided, ‘Well, I will show you what a monster really is,’” Sen said.

Looking to the future of speculative fiction, teacher, linguist and author Rob Cameron points to the genre’s growth over the past few decades from a niche, isolated faction of enthusiasts to a universal mode of entertainment.

“With the popularization of science fiction through film, especially Marvel, ‘geek culture’ has become much more expansive — you do not have to be a geek to enjoy it,” Cameron said. “At the same time, authors’ expectations of their readers have changed with these new mediums: Are people really going to sit down and read this book? This kind of thinking sparks novel ideas like ‘choose your own adventure’ narratives, comic books, video games and more.”

According to Biswas, the Speculative Fiction Project came to life when pitched the idea of centering speculative fiction around scholarship at Dartmouth to Diamond. When selecting the authors for the panel, Biswas shared that the organizers primarily aimed to represent diversity in both background and writing experience.

“If you’re claiming to do a project that looks at the future of humanity, you need to represent diverse perspectives,” he said.

Biswas added that if the project were to happen again, he hopes it can bring together an even more diverse group of people with more funding.

“In the future, with better channels of funding, we hope to have more geographic diversity and be able to bring in international authors,” Biswas said.

The Speculative Fiction Project will continue as authors workshop their stories with their research partners. These works of fiction will be presented at a Dartmouth symposium in June and will subsequently be synthesized into an anthology in Lightspeed Magazine next year.

According to Clark, students will be invited to submit their own stories and up to four of them will be chosen and featured in the professional collection.

Diverse authors have enriched the science fiction genre with new perspectives and ideas.

Title:

Content: Review: Queer love and redemption from newly minted royalty of sci-fi fantasy

For those who have been paying attention, the field of science fiction and fantasy has entered a spectacular Platinum Age.

Among the cohort of exciting new writers who have emerged in the past decade is Foz Meadows, a genderqueer fantasy author and essayist born in Australia and living in California since 2018.

Meadows has been nominated multiple times for the Hugo Award and its Australian equivalent, the Ditmar, in a category she describes as “yelling on the internet” (a.k.a. “fan writing”). She won the Ditmar in 2017 and the Hugo in 2019 for exceptional yelling, but in recent years, the awards and nominations for her fiction have been piling up as well. Her fantasy novel “An Accident of Stars” was a finalist for the Bisexual Book Awards in 2017, and in 2018, her novella “Coral Bones” received Australia’s Norma K. Hemming Award for Excellence in the Exploration of Race, Gender, Sexuality, Class or Disability in speculative fiction.

Her fifth novel, “A Strange and Stubborn Endurance,” is a high fantasy tale of queer romance and political intrigue, featuring two heroes who find themselves in a snarl of murder and mayhem arising from their arranged marriage. The tale begins with a familiar scenario, as the youngest son of one noble family is pressured to wed the youngest daughter of another — the problem being that the lordling they’ve chosen to play the groom, Velasin vin Aaro, not only has never met this woman but has no interest in women at all.

The novel becomes genuinely engaging when the foreign envoy, completely unfazed by the revelation that Velasin is gay, simply pivots to marry him off to a more gender-appropriate partner — instead of Laeca Aeduria, the ambitious daughter of a foreign satrap, Velasin will be promised to Caethari, the battle-hardened son.

What emerges is a complex portrait of love and recovery focused mainly on one character. Caethari Aeduria is the hard-bodied cinnamon roll that every romance novel needs, yet it is Velasin who holds our attention. The survivor of a viciously homophobic parent culture and brutal mistreatment from loved ones, Velasin has a past that will be sadly relatable to many readers. But his will to live and his profound emotional intelligence are also familiar, and it is Velasin’s refusal to surrender to despair or hate that gives the book its title.

The quest to find love, home and family in a hostile world really does require “a strange and stubborn endurance” from queer people, now more than ever. Despite the many content warnings in the author’s note (the book contains sexual assault, suicidal ideation and self-harm as critical points in the plot), Velasin’s world is better than our own in many ways. My own hope is that we will all live happily ever after in Tithena someday — a land where marriage equality is taken for granted, all gender identities are respected and no one ever stumbles over a pronoun.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance
By Foz Meadows
(Tor/MacMillan; 544 pages; $27.99)

  • A.D. Cirulis
    A.D. Cirulis A.D. Cirulis is a tech writer in Washington state.

Chinese female writers are thriving in science fiction, with authors like Regina Kanyu Wang and others being recognized through Hugo nominations and published anthologies.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

Authors like Liu Cixin, Wang Jinkang, and R.F. Kuang are gaining international recognition with their works translated into multiple languages.

Title:

Content: Interview with Wang Jinkang, 2024 Hugo Finalist

INTRODUCTION: Eight Light Minutes(8LM) Culture of Chengdu has given permission for File 770 to reprint the series of interviews with Chinese science fiction writers which they have been running this week on Facebook. The first one is a question and answer session with Wang Jinkang, whose novella Seeds of Mercury is a 2024 Hugo Award finalist.

SUPPORTING CHINESE WRITERS SERIES (1): 2024 HUGO AWARD NOMINATION INTERVIEW WITH WANG JINKANG

Translated by Joseph Brant.

Wang Jinkang(王晋康) was born in Nanyang, Henan Province in 1948. He is a senior engineer, and a member of the Chinese Writer’s Association (CWA), The China Popular Science Writing Association (CPSWA), The Committee of Scientific Literature and Art, and the Henan Writers’ Association. Since the publication of his first story, The Return of Adam, in 1993, he has published over 90 short works, and 20 full novels, including Cross, We Together, Escape from The Mother Universe, Parents of Heaven and Earth, and Cosmic Crystal Eggs, totaling over six million words. He has won China’s Galaxy Award 16 times, as well as The Chinese Science Fiction Nebula’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is considered one of Chinese science fiction’s ‘Four Heavenly Kings’, and his emblematic work Seeds of Mercury was shortlisted for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

Hello Mr. Wang! Before we start, I would like to congratulate you on Seeds of Mercury’s shortlisting for 2024’s “Best Novella” Hugo Award. This is news that has excited countless Chinese science fiction fans. Ever since the publication of Chinese Science Fiction: An Oral History, readers have commented that your contributions have particularly appealed to them and would like to know more about your life and work. Hopefully, this long-awaited interview will provide some of the insights the sci-fi community has longed for.

Q1Mr. Wang, despite having produced many great works, this is the first time you’ve been shortlisted for the Hugo. How did you feel when you learned that you’d been shortlisted?

Wang Jinkang: Of course I was elated. Although I’ve won many awards in China, in fact the most Galaxy Awards in history, this is the first time I’ve been shortlisted for a Hugo. It felt like 31 years ago, when I first saw The Return of Adam in print, and when I won my First Galaxy Award. I think every author experiences these moments of excitement. It’s excellent that Chinese science fiction has reached a certain level, after years of growth, it’s now more and more visible internationally, which is fantastic. Of course, what we value even more, is these works transcending their era, and surviving the tides of time to reach future generations.

Religion and Science are enemies who love each other.

Q2Mr. Wang, as one of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ of Chinese science fiction, you’re already very well known in China, with a creative career spanning over thirty years, with works such as Leopard Man, Ant Life and Survival Experiment and so on. This shortlisted work is such a quintessential piece. However, this interview is not just intended for the Chinese sci-fi fans, but for readers around the world, who may not be familiar with Seeds of Mercury. Could I ask you to introduce it for the benefit of the overseas sci-fi fans?

Wang Jinkang: Seeds of Mercury is a two-threaded story. The first one follows a female scientist named Shawu, who discovers a new formula for life, and creates a fluid metal nano life form. When she dies, she entrusts that formula to Chen Yizhe, a businessman with a pure heart, along with the message “real life cannot be bred in pens. In the Solar System, there happens to be a suitable place for it to breed freely – Mercury”. Chen Yizhe accepts this monumental legacy enthusiastically, using his personal wealth to maintain the laboratory. In order take the next step, of “seeding Mercury”, he must turn to the society around him. Mr Hong, a multi-billionaire with a disagreeable personality but a benevolent soul, decides to liquidate his empire to facilitate the spaceship’s construction. Furthermore, Hong makes another astonishing decision: to relocate to Mercury, have his body frozen in the millennia-old ice caves of the planet’s north pole, to be awakened every 10 million years, to assist the evolution of these micro-lifeforms. In just 15 years, Chen Yizhe sends Hong to Mercury to seed the nano-life into the liquid metal lakes of Mercury, after which Hong settles down in its polar caves. Meanwhile, Hong’s lawyer, and soulmate named Yin, bids her painful farewells from the distant Earth.

The second storyline is set 100 million years later, when the Suola race have evolved on Mercury, their metal bodies adapted to the hundred-degree temperatures of the planet. They are sustained by light (drawing energy directly by photosynthesis). With no sense of hearing, they rely on the flashing of light through two orifices in their abdomen to communicate in binary. The entire Suola race are devout followers of Shawu, venerate the Star Father, the great god Shawu and her earthly incarnation. They have been initiated in science, and after studying their Holy Book, scientist Tu Lala discovers that much scientific knowledge has been disguised and hidden within. From this he deduces that life on Mercury originates from The Blue Planet. He implores the high priest to send an expedition to search for the Holy Site in the depths of the ice, with the excuse of reviving the incarnation of Shawu, as the Book prophesied. The high priest consents, sending a chaplain to supervise the mission. Tu Lala actually locates the Holy Site, and discovers the incarnation of Shawu (Mr Hong), frozen in the ice, along the sacred rites of “how to revive the incarnation of Shawu”.

However, unexpected occurrences, mainly due to the ignorance and blind devotion of the believers, result in Tulala’s unfortunate violent death (as metallic organisms, the Suola can easily resurrect after a sudden death, but those who do are considered an untouchable caste). In order to protect Mr Hong’s body, Tu lala risks the humiliation, but tragically, his student Qi Qiaqia denounces him, exposing his untouchable status, and inciting the crowd to him, During which time, Mr Hong’s body is destroyed in the scorching sunlight. To avoid blame, Qi Qiaqia suddenly declares that the incarnation of Shawu was a false god, which is why the Father Star could destroy it. This narrative is accepted by the devotees, who hail him as their new high priest. In the thousands of years that follow, Suola society descends into darkness, religious cruelly suppressing science, but from among the population comes a new “Sect of Repentance”, apparently founded by an untouchable. Silently they preserve everything related to science, awaiting the next rebirth of Shawu in future millennia.

Q3Seeds of Mercury was first published in 2002, and its appeal still endures, even after all this time. What inspired you to write this story?

Wang Jinkang: The initial inspiration probably came from a sad epiphany I had as a teenager. The human body is too fragile. Our proteins start to coagulate above 80°C, our brain suffers irreversible damage if we don’t breathe for five minutes, our body can’t withstand radiation, and we can die from disease, hunger, dehydration, drowning and freezing… It’s admirable that such a fragile life form has been propagated on for billions of years, but it also makes me apprehensive that humanity would not survive a disaster. Human civilisation is a great achievement, which is why we are proud of it; but it also makes me anxious, worrying that humanity may not survive the next cataclysm. I couldn’t help but imagine, what if a creator, or god of evolution, created a metallic life, invulnerable to fire and flood? Many years later, I combined these youthful imaginings with my subsequent concept of “Templates for Life” and turned it into this novella.

Q4Seeds of Mercury is a piece about the sublime act of Creation, and a reflection on the transitory nature of life. Did you write it with the intention of exploring the contradiction between Science and Religion? Or did that grow naturally out of the creative process? Also, do the sentient beings you write about reflect your own views and positions?

Wang Jinkang: I didn’t intend to construct that dichotomy between Science and Religion, but it’s exactly what happened on Earth, so when I created a history for Mercury’s civilisation, those episodes just appeared naturally. Religion and Science are enemies who love each other. European Papacy cruelly persecuted Galileo, Bruno, and other ‘heretics’, and strictly forbade the theory of evolution, but medieval Europe became the birthplace of modern science. When we look back at the history of Civilisation over millennia, you can’t help but sigh that history is full of paradoxes, and that The Creator is always full of mischief, making fun of the theories of Cause and Effect. As to whether this new life carries some of my own views or positions? Of course. Tu Lala is the heir to the human spirit, with his scientific rationality, adventurous spirit, sense of responsibility, fortitude, and self-sacrifice. In the story, when Tu Lala meets the holy body of Shawu Incarnate, and he figures out that the great god was a scientist. Thus, demonstrating that the intellectual spirits of all scientists are inter-relatable, even if they are alien. That is what I believe in my heart.

Today’s AI isn’t quite up to the standard of “Return of Adam”

Q5Mr. Wang, the world has moved on 22 years since the first publication of Seeds of Mercury. What changes do you think have occurred in science fiction writing in the present day, compared to the early years both in terms of the environment, and the core themes?

Wang Jinkang: These 22 years have brought great changes, and it could be said that civilisation has reached a critical point, that we’re on the cusp of drastic changes. However, for the science fiction writer, who is used to seeing the world from a god-like point of view (through the eyes of science) we think in millennia, so 22 years is too short a period to affect the themes of my work. For example, my debut story Return of Adam showed a society where AI had overcome natural humanity, though it had taken on a parasitic approach, augmenting the processing power (IQ) of the human mind to far outstrip the basic brain, and in fact, became the core of human consciousness. The rapid development of AI today, especially the LLM systems, is amazing, even frightening, but in general, today’s AI isn’t quite up to the standards of Return of Adam. Still, I’m saddened that some things I wrote about, which I assumed would be far in the future have come to pass in my lifetime. For example, in 1997, when many Chinese people asserted that AI could never triumph in the field of Weiqi (Go), I was convinced it eventually would, and wrote a scene of an ‘AI beating a human chess master’ in one of my stories, before it actually happened. I just never expected to see it in my lifetime.

Q6Before Liu Cixin appeared, you “held up half the sky” in Chinese Sci-fi. When you first appeared in China’s science fiction circles, you were relatively older, and more experienced. Do you think that maturity allowed your work to appear more rounded?

Wang Jinkang: My life and experiences have been quite unique. I’ve lived through a very special time in China’s history, worked as a rusticated youth, a miner and model maker. I went to university at 30, became a mechanical engineer, wrote literary novels, and only broke into the science fiction world by chance at 45, publishing my first sci-fi story. If anything, my near-fanatical reading of literature at university paved the way for my future writing. At that time, the reforms were already happening in China, and it was opening up to the world. A huge amount of foreign literature was pouring into the country, dazzling readers like me. There may be another special factor, which is, because I was studying engineering, I was standing atop this wall of science and watching this river of literature racing by, I had a sense of detachment. Add to that I only started writing SF decades after experiencing the rise, fall and distilling of the wave of literature. I suppose that’s why my writing style has a poised, bleak, and sombre character.

Q7What sort of stories do you think are expected from the current literary ecosystem? Which sci-fi genres do you expect to take off in the future?

Wang Jinkang: I have always felt that science fiction is unlike any other form of literature. The richness of mainstream literature does not necessarily coincide with the strength of a country. As the aphorisms go, “classics are born from chaos”, and “poets are fortunate when the country is not”. However, the success of science fiction is reliant on enough readers and authors being educated to a certain threshold, and so depends on the country’s economic, scientific, and technological development, which can be proven by the movement of science fiction’s centre from Britain and France to the United States over the last century. Over the past 40 years, China’s overall economic development has been good, and as one of the oldest sci-fi writers in the country, I’ve experienced this first-hand. I feel that as China continues to modernise and converge with the rest of the world, the creative environment of Chinese sci-fi will continue to improve. As for which themes, I feel will start to emerge? It’s expected that artificial intelligence and space themes, with more emphasis on exploring the human condition, are going to be the stories of importance, but other themes will also develop immensely.

Science fiction writers are used to seeing the world from a god-like viewpoint.

Q8 Mr. Wang, science fiction has taken root in China now for around a century, and you have played a pivotal role in the history of science fiction in the country. Irrespective of whether or not you win this Hugo Award, you have influenced a generation of sci-fi fans and creators. How do you view your own Creative Achievements?

Wang Jinkang: I’m flattered, but I only really played a leading and inductive role in the early stages of the so-called “New Generation” of Chinese sci-fi back in the 1990s. I’m content with the two aspects of my writing career, firstly, in forming the genre of Philosophical Science Fiction, which is based on the latest technological advances, and digs deep into the influence it has on alienation, civilisation, and so forth, to discover this genre’s philosophical uniqueness. This genre did not originate in my work, foreign writers including Mr. Arthur C. Clarke have long created excellent works of philosophical sci-fi, but these elements in my work are more concentrated. Furthermore, with regards science fiction as “the most cosmopolitan form of literature”, I consider my work, whilst still cosmopolitan, to be imbued heavily with Chinese styles and themes, which adds a certain flavour to the genre.

Q9Do you feel that science fiction writing is shifting from short-form to long form, and what difficulties do you feel are associated with that?

Wang Jinkang: In my experience there are three main issues faced when moving into the long-form. Firstly, there must be enough knowledge, from the accumulation of experience and information. Secondly, there must be a more mature view of Nature and human society, in their entirety. These are not necessarily the dominant trait of the novel but will play important roles in the story’s development. Thirdly, the ability to comprehend the entirety of the larger story. This ability to grasp the complete story is equally important to mainstream literary writers, but in science fiction, concepts always play a driving role in the whole work and should be logically consistent in themselves.

Q10In your eyes, what is the role of Morality and Ethics in Science Fiction?

Wang Jinkang: Science fiction authors often look at the world from a godlike point of view, and in the eyes of a creator, survival comes first, and morality and ethics are just auxiliary codes established by humans once they reached a certain level of civilisation. They are also conducive to the overall survival of the human race. As Humanity develops, and “co-operation” becomes more central to society, the role of morality and ethics becomes more and more important, but they certainly won’t stay the same, and the rules will certainly have additions and deletions. For example, once technology becomes suitably advance, the ethics of “strict prohibition regarding editing the genes of a human being” are very likely to change.

Q11Throughout your career, which of your stories are you most satisfied with?

Wang Jinkang: Of my short and medium length works, I like Seeds of Mercury’, Bee Keepers and The Song of Life, and of my longer works, I’m most satisfied with Ant’s Life and the Alive Trilogy (Escape From The Mother Universe, Parents of Heaven And Earth, and Cosmic Crystal Eggs).

Thank you, reader, for giving meaning to my life.

Q12Mr. Wang, some sci-fi fans have pointed out you are ‘the oldest non-American writer shortlisted for the Hugo Award’, which is an impressive feat. What are your hopes for the Hugo Awards?

Wang Jinkang: There’s a bit of a special circumstance here, where a story I wrote 22 years ago, was only translated into English last year, and shortlisted according to the translation’s publication date, even though, I’m very happy to hold this “World Record”. I hope it will go further than just being a finalist, but even if it doesn’t, I still consider it a great honour to be shortlisted.

Q13What would you like to say to the readers regarding the inclusion of Seeds of Mercury in the Hugo Awards shortlist, which was voted for by individual sci-fi fans one after another?

Wang Jinkang: I’ve always had a reverence for my readers. The two most common inscriptions I write to fans at signings are “The reader is the god of authors”, and “Thank you reader, for giving meaning to my life”. Out of the millions of publications each year, in a sea of stories, to have any number of people read your work, enjoy it, and keep it in their memory after that relentless tide of time, is a rare blessing. One might even call it a great gift from the readers to the author.

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Title:

Content: 15th Annual Xingyun Awards for Chinese Science Fiction Finalists

The finalists for the 15th annual Xingyun Awards for Chinese science fiction have been announced by the World Chinese Science Fiction Association. Winners will be revealed at a ceremony to be held in Chengdu, Sichuan, China on May 18, 2024.

BEST NOVEL 2023

  • Gods of the Earth: Return of the Dead, by Fenxing Chengzi (Shenzhen Publishing House; Science and Fantasy Growth Foundation)
  • The City in the Well, by Liu Yang (People’s Literature Publishing House)
  • Cosmo Wings, by Jiang Bo (People’s Literature Publishing House; 8-Light Minutes Culture)
  • The Age of God Making, by Yan Xi (Sichuan University Press; Science Fiction World)

BEST NOVELLA 2023

  • “The Fleeting Gravity of Words”, by Zhou Wen (Visiting the Stars: Chinese Stories of Flying to the Outer Space)
  • “The Solar System on Set: The Teahouse at the End of the Universe”, by Shuang Chimu (Shanghai Literature, No. 4 2023)
  • “Our Martians”, by Bao Shu (Visiting the Stars: Chinese Stories of Flying to the Outer Space)
  • “The Salt Bridge”, by Liang Ling (Lighting up Mars: Collection of Winning Stories from the 6th Lenghu Awards)

BEST SHORT STORY 2023

  • “Lake Breezes that Brush Over the Palace of Moon”, by Wanxiang Fengnian (Visiting the Stars: Chinese Stories of Flying to the Outer Space)
  • “A Window with a View”, by Bao Shu (Non-Exist SF, January 24 2023)
  • “Let the White Deer Roam”, by Cheng Jingbo (Science Fiction World, November 2023)
  • “City of Choice”, by Gu Shi (Beijing Literature, July 2023)

BEST TRANSLATED WORK 2023

  • Babel, by R.F. Kuang, translated by Chen Yang (CITIC Press)
  • The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi, translated by Gen Hui (New Star Press)
  • SF Soul: Autobiography of Komatsu Sakyo, by Komatsu Sakyo, translated by Meng Qingshu (Sichuan Science & Technology Press; Science Fiction World)
  • Escape from the Future, by Kobayashi Yasumi, translated by Ding Dingchong (Yilin Press)

BEST NON-FICTION 2023

  • Unlocking the Future: The Urban Imagination in Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction, by Luo Xiaoming (Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House)
  • Gazing at the Stars: My Personal Encounter with Chinese Science Fiction, by Yang Xiao (Sichuan People’s Publishing House; Science Fiction World)
  • “Impressions of Chinese SF Practitioners on Foreign SF Culture: A Brief Analysis of the History of Introducing Foreign SF Culture”, by RiverFlow (Zero-Gravity SF, No. 12)
  • Chinese Science Fiction: An Oral History, Vol.1-Vol.3, edited by Yang Feng (Chengdu Times Publishing House; 8-Light Minutes Culture)

BEST REVIEW 2023

  • “From the Valleys to the Stars: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Speculative Anthropology”, by Jiang Weihe (The Beijing News, September 22 2023)
  • “The Curve of Human Destiny and the Poetics of Humanity: Reading ‘Last and First Men’”, by Shuang Chimu (Imagining Science: Reading SF Literature Classics)
  • “A Specter of the Anthropocene is Haunting: A Review of Mark Bould’s ‘The Anthropocene Unconscious: Climate Catastrophe Culture’”, by Lyu Guangzhao (Science Writing Review, Issue 1 2023)
  • “‘Journey to the West’: An Atypical Segment of the Science Fiction Community”, by Xi Xia (Literature Press Wechat Official Account, April 4 2023)

BEST NEW WRITER 2021-2023

  • Lu Hang*
  • Qi Ran*
  • Wang Cencen*
  • Wang Xiaohai**

(*Finalists in their 3rd year of eligibility, **Finalist in his 1st year of eligibility)

[Thanks to Feng Zhang and the World Chinese Science Fiction Association for the story.]

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Science fiction is evolving to include a more diverse range of voices, themes, and perspectives from authors of different demographics.

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?

What is considered a major breakthrough in science fiction publication?