I suspect I’m not alone in having Cixin Liu as my introduction to Chinese science fiction. I’m fairly certain I’d never knowingly read a translated SF novel prior to The Three-Body Problem, but when that novel took the Hugo Awards by storm in 2015, I happily jumped aboard the bandwagon. The follow-up, The Dark Forest, remains on one of my all-time favourite novels, and I can still remember the excitement when Death’s End wrapped up the epic saga. Along with Liu’s other works, this enthusiasm for translated fiction brought to my attention authors like Hao Jingfang, and I now eagerly grab and Chinese SF in translation Head of Zeus delivers to Britain. A new Liu book is a sure-fire early purchase for me.

Liu doesn’t have many novels, however, and so publishers have turned to his short fiction. A View from the Stars gathers stories from across Liu’s career, but of more interest to me is the essays accompanying them. Collections of essays such as this are vanishingly rare. Indeed, the only comparable title I can call to mind is the posthumous Isaac Asimov collection Gold (and, I suppose, it’s fantasy companion Magic). My inner cynic says this collection has been cobbled together to run alongside the Netflix adaptation of Liu’s most famous work, and at barely two hundred pages, it’s very slim indeed. That inner cynic is a very quiet man when I read Liu, however, and this book was a joy from cover to cover. The quantity may not be there, but the quality most assuredly is.

Combined, the stories and essays paint a vivid picture of the Chinese SF scene. It’s reminiscent of America’s own Golden Age of SF. Dominated by short stories, written by those with a scientific background, and only occasionally birthing an author who goes mainstream. Liu’s stories are particularly evocative of this period. His characters are scientists (some more mad than others), and the personal dramas are little more than a backdrop against which play out ideas of a grand and cosmic scale. Imagine a world where a scientist puts into practise the old adage that a butterfly’s wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. Or a superior species offering the answer to all of life’s mysteries, but only to those willing to sacrifice their lives at the altar of knowledge. This is brilliantly crunch science fiction, driven by ideas and imagery that few others could dream of, and none could execute so tidily.

The stories, through which Liu’s development as a writer are clear, are interesting enough, but it’s the essays that truly make this book. Don’t expect any connection between the two, however. These essays largely consist of introductions for magazines, or short think-pieces published online. In these Liu tackles topics such as the state of Chinese SF as a whole, the differences between science fiction and fantasy, and reflects on the experience of writing a trilogy that helped bridge the gap between Chinese and Anglophone audiences. He is a man uncompromising in his views, with many a hot take to be found within these pages, but that is what makes it so interesting. It’s a fascinating insight into the mind of a modern-day great, and a wonderful way to broaden one’s mind with new perspectives.

There is some irony in this being the first 2024 release I’ve read outside of tie-in fiction, only to have it be comprised of stories from decades past. Yet while there may not technically be anything new on display here, Liu’s visions offer a glimpse not of the world as it was, but of the world as it could yet be.

Book Stats

• A Collection of Short Stories and Essays
• Published by Head of Zeus in 2024
• 203 Pages