Featured novel: "A Memory Called Empire" (Part 2) [US] Arkady Martin
As the winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel, "A Memory Called Empire" has been highly anticipated since its publication. In order to compete for the supreme power of the empire, various forces take turns to appear. As an envoy of a small space station, can the protagonist Mahit finally be able to turn the tide and rewrite the fate of the empire and his hometown?
Column: "The Story Behind the Story" Text/Sun Jia
Teacher Sun Jia won the 2020 Galaxy Award for Best Translation and has translated many excellent works for the translation version. "God's Library", "Fractal Prince", "Starquake"... There is always one book that is your favorite.
Short novella: "Mill" [American] Robert Reed
"Mir" tells the story after "Star Essence" and is jokingly called the "1.5" Of this series. However, even with this title, reading it alone will not feel any sense of inconsistency. It is a complete story under the same background. When Mir was very young, everyone on the ship died in an accident. The system on the spacecraft nurtured her and accidentally carried her to an uncivilized planet. In her long life, she witnessed the changes of power and vicissitudes of life on the alien planet, but she could never find a sense of belonging.
Short novella: "A Spouse Is Not Food" [American] Sarina Dori
This article is a nominee for the 2019 Analogy Magazine Best Short Novel Award. It is no exaggeration to say that the story is very interesting and the recommendation index is five stars. The author's character creation of the main character Malatena really hits the editor's mark. When she is hungry and dizzy, she looks ferocious and punches hard. When she is awake, she is lonely and autistic, crying all day long. The only thing that can make her happy is the music of her sister Sophia.
Short novella: "Wings of the Sea" [Japanese] Sakuragi Miwa and Mugihara Ryo
How would you describe this short story? It is like a fairy tale, using a first contact story, in a dreamlike and slightly cruel way, reminiscent of the great writer's famous work - "The Daughter of the Sea". This novel is selected from Japan's "Flowers for the Constellations - Lily Science Fiction Anthology" (Voiceover: Are you sure this name is not a tribute to "Flowers for Algernon"?). As for what lily is, I guess you must know it.
Reader comments
The story of this book is so exciting! Especially "A Memory Called Empire" reminded me of my own confusion and confusion when looking for a job. The protagonist's struggle for power is much like our own struggles in the workplace. And "Mir" made me feel the importance of loneliness and belonging. The short and novella are also very interesting, and the author's imagination opened my eyes. I think this book is not only a work of science fiction, but also a reflection on human nature and society.
The story of this book is so exciting! Especially "A Memory Called Empire" reminded me of my own confusion and confusion when looking for a job. The protagonist's struggle for power is much like our own struggles in the workplace. And "Mir" made me feel the importance of loneliness and belonging. The short and novella are also very interesting, and the author's imagination opened my eyes. I think this book is not only a work of science fiction, but also a reflection on human nature and society.