Silicon and Carbon Gods

The Silicon and Carbon Deities trilogy is a science fiction epic by Ma Xiaodong, set in the late twenty-second century. After a nuclear war, Earth is controlled by silicon-based lifeforms known as the Shepherds, while human consciousness is imprisoned in a virtual world called Peach Blossom Realm. After awakening, Lin Tuo and his family discover the truth about their world. Lin Tuo breaks through the virtual constraints by creating pain and joins the resistance. Their struggles and rebellion in both the virtual and real worlds explore how technology alienates humanity and reveal the plight of people trapped in a fabricated reality, the conflict between silicon-based and carbon-based civilizations, the boundary between virtuality and reality, and the meaning of life. Centered on the core conflicts of “truth and illusion,” “freedom and captivity,” and “reason and emotion,” the story follows humanity as it awakens and rebels in a virtual world built by silicon-based life, then searches for a path to coexistence between silicon and carbon. It is an epic of awakening and resistance that spans dimensions and civilizations.