“My profession and experiences are both commonplace and mundane. I’m writing to alleviate the lonely hours before my death. I’ve always liked writing, and were it not my destiny to be astro-gravemaker, I’d have probably become a sci-fi writer.”
Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction, Xueting Christine Ni, 2021.
Sinopticon is a strong collection of stories, many with particularly distinct and enjoyable Chinese characteristics. All are recognizable as SF, but definitely part of the kehuan tradition. Editor Xueting Christine Ni’s introduction and post-story comments are as integral a part of the collection as the stories themselves. She provides some invaluable perspectives and context on the authors and how they and their stories fit into the evolution of the scene.
The heart, of course, are the thirteen stories themselves, which represent a wide range of dates and styles. None were bad, although naturally a few resonated more or less than the others:
The Last Save, Gu Shi. Jerry Xu has a great toy: a wrist-mounted device which lets him save his progress through life, video-game style, then return to saved moments. It prevents him from having to live with the consequences of his mistakes. It doesn’t, though, help him actually make better decisions.
Tombs of the Universe, Han Song. This is a fascinating story about how a future human race relates to the burial places left behind by early waves of explorers, and the very personal consequences of this for one space-farer.
Qiakun and Alex, Hao Jinfang. An all-powerful, all-knowing AI still has things to learn from a small child. A touching story with real humanity.
Cat’s Chance in Hell, Nian Yu. In an age when humans are outlawed from participating directly in war, courage under fire means something different. Very different from the “contemplative and literary” tone the editor sees in much of the rest of the collection.
The Return of Adam, Wang Jinkang. Adam Wang returns after 202 years in space to find that almost everyone is a New Human–enhanced with “Second Intelligence.” The dilemma: does he join the majority, or stay true to his roots?
Rendezvous: 1937, Zhao Haihong. A time-traveler returns to Nanking just as the infamous Japanese sack of it and myriad crimes that followed, starts. There, she’ll meet huge dangers and a Japanese counterpart on a mission aimed at her. This story carries a heavy load of raw emotion; the past here clearly isn’t over yet.
The Heart of the Museum, Tang Fei. A wealthy child is given a bodyguard with an unusual gift: visibility into that child’s future. Ethereal, almost otherworldly prose distinguished this sort story, with its odd and indirect ending.
The Great Migration, Ma Boyong. On the Mars of the mid-future, “seasonal work” is tied to a two year cycle of departures of spacecraft heading back to Earth. This was far and away one of the most striking pieces in terms of tone. Boyong paints a beautiful, sometimes amusing and sometimes sad portrait of humans in transit.
Meisje Met De Parel, Anna Wu. Food and music frame this literary young adult story about a girl navigating her parents’ stormy emotions. The catalyst for the latest spat is a painting which proves to be very unusual, and is the key to a surprising truth.
Flowers of the Other Shore, A Que. This is a full-blown zombie post-apocalypse story, told mostly through the point of view of one of the “Stiffs”–who turns out to be a surprisingly philosophical and practical-minded zombie. As trope-filled as any English-language zombie work, this is some of the most beautifully-written SF horror I’ve read.
The Absolution Experiment, Bao Shu. When does helping someone drift into punishing them? When does justice shade into revenge? Be careful what you wish for… Short, stylish and surprising story.
The Tide of Moon City, Regina Kanyu Wang. Youthful potential and ambition, thwarted by distance, politics and things emanating from the darkest recesses of the human heart. This was one of the tougher pieces, with a strong negative emotional valence. It’s also a keen observation on human foibles, strengths and weaknesses.
Starship: Library, Jiang Bo. Knowledge for the cosmos. This was another relatively tough read, although it offers a fascinating look at knowledge and the dynamics of a unique kind of exile.
It’s evident that these are all talented writers. Some stories offer exceptional visions of the future, but all are interesting. A striking difference from much of what I usually read is the often-ambivalent tone of much of the writing. Some endings are happier than others, although none of the main characters leave the stage to flags waving and bands playing for them. No one here is owed a happy ending. It’s interesting that this seems to apply across the various genres and styles represented here–which are quite varied.
This fell on in my reading queue after the very strong New Voices In Chinese Science Fiction – although ironically, I bought this several months earlier (April, 2022) than that volume. The two can be read in tandem without losing impact. The editors’ styles and selections are broad enough that there’s not much overlap. What both have in common is an abundance of strong stories from talented authors.
There are some subtle but fascinating differences in individual writers’ approaches to big questions and social issues between the volumes. There may be social or political criticism buried in some of the stories here (Qiakun and Alex, maybe The Return of Adam) but it’s much more subtle and more allegorical. (This may also reflect that these were selected with a more literary bias in mind than the stories in New Voices. I’m honestly unsure.)
Thirteen worthwhile stories from the heart of what seems to be a rapidly-expanding SF ecosystem.
“‘The Great Migration was created by the devil, to drain the last vestiges of hope from humanity before they enter hell.’ This line of poetry suddenly flashed across my mind. Its author had gone quite mad in the middle of one GM, and subsequently won the Nobel Prize for Literature.”
Smirk factor: All clear: 2pts (1 smirk in 13 stories; points to the authors and translators)
Immersion factor: Full-body: 2 pts
Writing quality: High: 2 pts
Character/plot development: Average: 1 pt (YMMV, and so did these.)
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 8.5/10 (Rounded up to 5 stars)