Ken Liu, Writer

Author of The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie

Ken

The New Kindle

by

I don’t have much to say about the Amazon announcements today. I think Amazon has done an amazing job and offered a compelling device with a good media-delivery infrastructure. But other people have made that observation much more eloquently.

I just want to remind myself that when I was a kid, if I had been shown something like the Kindle or the iPad, I would have thought it something from fifty to a hundred years in the future, not just thirty.

We live in wondrous times. Let’s try not to forget how lucky we are.

Writing With a Toddler

by

Now that Esther is running around, babbling up a storm, and refusing to sleep until midnight — she takes after me and my mother, both night owls — writing time is very difficult to find. (She is really a great deal of fun, if also a great deal of work.) Add to that the fact that I just started a very demanding new job, I haven’t really written anything in a long while.

You can’t call yourself a writer unless you write, you know?

So what should I do? The general advice I’m getting is to get up early and get some writing done before the day job starts. Easier said than done. Remember that part about me being a night owl? Well, that means I have a really hard time getting up early.

But something has to be done. I’m really struggling with this.

(Sorry, this isn’t a post with any “wisdom” or solutions, just me trying to work the problem out — thinking by writing.)

“Real Artists” in TRSF

by

I can finally announce my good news. My story, “Real Artists,” is part of TRSF, a special publication of MIT’s Technology Review.

TRSF cover

Other authors in the collection include: Elizabeth Bear, Ma Boyong, Tobias Buckell, Pat Cadigan, Paul Di Filippo, Cory Doctorow, Joe Haldeman, Gwyneth Jones, Geoffrey Landis, and Vandana Singh! (Oh, and I translated the Ma Boyong story too.)

You can order a copy here.

Panverse Three Launch — “The Man Who Ended History”

by

Panverse Three, an anthology of science fiction and fantasy novellas edited by Dario Cirello, is now available for purchase. (Scroll to the end of this post for links.)

panverse 3

The works featured are:

  • “Orion Rising” by Jason Stoddard
  • “Junction 5” by Gavin Salisbury
  • “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” by Ken Liu
  • “Martyrs” by Don D’Ammassa
  • “Dust to Dust” Tochi Onyebuchi

“The Man Who Ended History” is my longest published work so far and the one of which I’m the proudest. It is dedicated to the memory of the victims of Unit 731 and Iris Chang.

The other day, I found the following quote from Stanley Kubrick that seems to capture exactly why I wrote the story:

The most terrifying fact of the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment.

However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.

Hat tip: Daring Fireball.

Steven Silver, writing for Tangent, writes:

“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” by Ken Liu takes its format from Ted Chiang’s “Liking What You See: A Documentary.” … Eric Wei and Akemi Kirino develop a process that allows people to view historical events, although each event can only be viewed once. … As disturbing as it is, “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” is one of the strongest stories so far this year and should see its way onto various awards ballots.

For SFWA members, there is a thread within the Nebula Awards recommendation forum for this story.

You can purchase the anthology from the following sources:

  • Panverse Publications: paperback (includes a special limited-time publisher’s discount).
  • Amazon: paperback.
  • B&N: paperback.
  • Electronic editions will be forthcoming.

Thank you for reading.