Sinopticon - A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction translated and edited by Xueting Christine Ni

I would like to thank Solaris for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Solaris

Published – 11/11

Price – £8.99 paperback £5.99 Kindle eBook

This celebration of Chinese Science Fiction thirteen stories - all translated for the first time into English - represents a unique exploration of the nation's speculative fiction from the late 20th Century onwards, curated and translated by critically acclaimed writer and essayist Xueting Christine Ni.

From the renowned Jiang Bo's ' Starship: Library' to Regina Kanyu Wang's ' The Tide of Moon City', and Anna Wu's ' Meisje met de Parel', this is a collection for all fans of great fiction.

Award winners, bestsellers, screenwriters, playwrights, philosophers, university lecturers and computer programmers, these thirteen writers represent the breadth of Chinese SF, from new to old: Gu Shi, Han Song, Hao Jingfang, Nian Yu, Wang Jinkang, Zhao Haihong, Tang Fei, Ma Boyong, Anna Wu, A Que, Bao Shu, Regina Kanyu Wang and Jiang Bo.

Trying to say at any moment in time this is what a genre looks like is a very difficult task. Science fiction carries a huge range from tales of hard-core physics to tales exploring our humanity and beyond. A key factor we are increasingly aware of is every country has its own take on science fiction and they too are evolving – every story is not just having a dream of the future but is in conversation with the issue of today. This became even more clearer after reading he excellent Sinopticon – A Celebration of Chinese Fiction brilliantly translated and edited by Xueting Christine Ni which provides a myriad of modern Chinese SF authors providing a great range of stories and demonstrating a genre in very good health.

Amongst the stories I enjoyed were

The Last Save by Gu Shi – Humanity has managed to create the ability to rewind your life, so you don’t make mistakes. Primarily to help people pass exams and progress in their careers but also their relationships. This impressive opener though looks at the human impact and how our desire to live perfect lives can often leave to unfulfilled ones. I loved the science fiction concept of people finding they’d created their perfect life and then their loved ones vanish because they have decided to seek theirs. It’s a tale of love and loss but ultimately one with hope combined with some smart ideas over how this time travel idea would work and impact the mindsets of people.

Tombs of the Universe by Han Song – this is another remarkable tale and one I really enjoyed as it looks explores how we honour the past and the dead. It’s a tale of two halves linked to one strange grave. A young man becomes fascinated by the concept of graves left to mark those who died in the early years of space exploration and then we hear the tale of someone who made the graves. I loved the eeriness of this story but also the point it makes about our need for symbols to inspire us to carry on (something so many countries do). This tale adds in the danger and drama of space exploration and the cost it has for those who pushed the frontiers, but it also talks about obsession and a strange growing sense of mystery that something else is going on around these graves. The one sour note is the use of the male gaze when two female characters appear but that’s not central to the story’s theme happily.

Qianku and Alex by Hao Jingfang - a huge planet sized AI is told to look after a child. A fascinating short tale that explores human and machine learning. How curiosity can lead to us pushing our boundaries and also may be essential to learning to be more human. I loved how such a huge theme is delivered in just a few pages.

Cat’s Chance in Hell by Nian Yu – I loved this story for completely wrong footing my expectations. It starts off a classic hard as nails space marine on a huge mission against robots. Nian YU really captures the golden age SF style of man versus technology but then makes the reader suddenly feel the floor drop away from them as the wider plot emerges. It is a clever tale exploring human and machine intelligence and what makes us human and the emotional intensity of our simple soldier’s journey really makes the tale stay in the memory. Rather brilliant.

The Heart of the Museum by Tang Fei – Another of my favourites a small group of aliens have arrived on Earth and one is acting as a baby sitter fr a young human. However, her race allows her to see past present and future together and so we see a young child playing in the sand who their sitter also sees becomes a brilliant architect who create sa museum that itself will last for eons. I loved the voice of the alien and their very different perspective to humans that is crested here and how in miniature a huge examination of the growth and end and rebirth of humanity all come together around a message that children are the future. Very smartly delivered.

The Great Migration by Ma Boyong – Another of my favourites combing a slice of life about three people all desperate to go to earth for the holidays and the perils of interplanetary travel. This tale is brilliant at creating the feel of a huge bustling space port familiar to any heavy traveller and yet we see the impact of Martian terraforming; solar flares and technology. A brilliant mix of the new and old worlds and the low stakes goal for the characters doesn’t overpower the story in fact we really want to see if they can succeed. It captures how humanity is very much always going to act human whatever the setting. One that really stuck in my mind after reading it.

Flower of the Other Shore by A Que – a marvellous tale of zombies that is not necessarily a horror story told to be us largely by one of the undead. Its witty, emotional and carries us through various adventures as our unnamed zombie starts to weirdly feel more human. Fans of the movie Warm Bodies will really enjoy this slightly different take and the exploration of zombie culture and a surprisingly powerful final scene. Excellent storytelling

The Absolution Experiment by Bao Shu - a terrorist is offered a choice between death and being experimented on. A short dark powerful SF tale that would easily fit into the spaces between Black Mirror and the Twilight Zone.

Starship Library by Jiang Bo – the tale of the last library of Earth and what happened to it next. A love letter to the power of the book and science fiction crossing future versions of humanity, aliens and artificial intelligence. I loved the way that learning, and the power of books is at the heart of improvement (well what else would I think!).

This is an expertly blended collection, and I particularly liked that Xueting Christine Ni makes it very clear they were looking to collect a range of voices in the collection both male and female so while there are some definite male gazes in some tales (something I still see in many western male authors too lest we forget), we also get plenty of tales exploring the role of women in science fiction. Very helpfully for each story we also get a few notes on the author; their approach to storytelling and the element of culture/humanity the tale is discussing. The range of tales from epic to the very human is brilliant and I think all lovers of SF will find many tales in here that speaks to them. I cannot wait to see more anthologies like this in the future! Strongly recommended!