If you go over here to Tor.com, you can see the cover for my new collection, slated to come out on February 25, 2020. Find out more about it here on my site.
Tag Archives: scifi
The Redemption of Time
My translation of The Redemption of Time, Baoshu’s paraquel of the Three-Body series by Liu Cixin, is out from Tor Books in the US and Head of Zeus in the UK. If you are a hardcore fan of the original series, this fanfic will be a lot of fun.
Waste Tide
My friend Chen Qiufan’s debut novel, Waste Tide, is finally out in English. I did the translation, and Tor Books in the US and Head of Zeus in the UK are the publishers.
The novel has been getting excellent reviews everywhere. You can see a sample of the reviews and find out more about the book here.
Stan (that’s his English name) and I attended a book launch for him at the Museum of Chinese in America in NYC on Tuesday, organized by Professor Jing Tsu of Yale. Very grateful to the staff of MOCA, Professor Tsu, Lindsey Hall (Stan’s editor at Tor), Desirae Friesen (Stan’s publicist), Eddie Schneider and Gray Tan (Stan’s agents), Russel Galen (my agent), Neil Clarke, Regina Kanyu Wang, Emily Jin, and others who made the English edition possible and the night so memorable.
Big congrats to Stan! (And buy the book!)
“Good Hunting” and Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots
“Good Hunting,” which may be found in The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, is now part of Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots.
The series, executive produced by David Fincher, Joshua Donen, Jennifer Miller, and Tim Miller, consists of 18 awesome animated shorts centered around the titular themes. Other authors whose work was adapted include John Scalzi, Claudine Griggs, Marko Kloos, and many others.
The “Good Hunting” adaptation, one of the longest in the series, was directed by Oliver Thomas. The adapted script was by Philip Gelatt. It was animated by Reddog Culture House. Voice actors include Elaine Tan, Matt Yang King, Gwendeline Yeo, Maddox Henry, Sumalee Montano, and JB Blanc.
I think the adaptation looks fantastic. All the episodes in the series are relatively short so you can binge them all in probably one viewing. (Note that this is a series aimed at adults so it is not appropriate for children and likely NSFW.) Enjoy!
Broken Stars
The second anthology of translated contemporary Chinese SF, Broken Stars, is out from Tor Books (US) and Head of Zeus (UK).
I hope you enjoy the work of these amazing authors and translators.
Star Wars: Legends of Luke Skywalker
Today is release day for The Legends of Luke Skywalker, a set of tall tales about the Jedi Knight that have been passing from cantina to freighter and from mouth to audio receptor ever since a certain farm boy left Tatooine for the wider galaxy far, far away…
I’ve been waiting forever to share this book with my fellow Star Wars fans.
If you want to learn a little more about the book, here are a few links to interviews and reviews.
Devan Coggan interviews me for Entertainment Weekly: “Ken Liu Tells Star Wars Tall Tales in The Legends of Luke Skywalker”:
Legends follows a number of young deckhands working aboard a ship bound for Canto Bight (a casino world featured in the upcoming The Last Jedi). Together, they swap six different stories about Luke, each passed down from a different storyteller. One comes from a droid who claims to have witnessed Luke singlehandedly lead a droid rebellion, while another comes from a tiny, flea-like creature who claims to have had a pivotal role in Luke’s escape from Jabba’s palace. One of the particular highlights is the tale told by a former Imperial engineer, who says that Luke Skywalker was nothing but a piece of propaganda made up by the Rebellion. The real Luke is a con artist named Luke Clodplodder, who orchestrated a massive scam with his friends aboard a ship called the Century Turkey.
SWNN (Kyle Larson)’s review “Luke Is Looking for the Force in Ken Liu’s The Legends of Luke Skywalker”:
Ken Liu has crafted a collection of stories that weave through the complicated life of Luke Skywalker in the fashion of great mythology and fairy tales. If you have an appreciation for bed time stories or great tales around a campfire, you won’t at all be disappointed in this book.
Starwars.com (James Floyd) interviews me in ”Ken Liu on Exploring the ‘Perfect Mythic Figure’ In The Legends of Luke SkywalkerM”:
In our world, as the deeds of famous men and women are distorted, simplified, and exaggerated into bare, impressionistic outlines, we fill them in with vivid colors according to our own understanding of the human condition and our own needs for the right story. The same person may be seen as hero or villain, as martyr or hypocrite, depending on who is doing the seeing and what colors are in their Crayola box.
As it is in our universe, so it is in the galaxy far, far away.
Beautiful Dreamer
David Gaddie’s short film “Beautiful Dreamer”, based on my short story, “Memories of My Mother,” is now available for viewing online.
Beautiful Dreamer is a sci-fi, time travel tale set in a striking near future world of drones, robots, holograms and transport pods. But it’s also a personal story. A mother, facing a terminal disease, leaves her baby daughter and travels into space at near-light speed. Using relativity, she is able to stretch her final two years over her daughter’s entire lifetime but is only able to visit her daughter for one night every seven years.
From a Certain Point of View is a NYTimes Bestseller
Just heard the great news from my editor, Elizabeth Schaefer. From a Certain Point of View is a New York Times bestseller, debuting on the list at #12.
Really pleased to be part of this project, and glad to hear that some readers enjoyed my contribution, “The Sith of Datawork.”
Capclave 2017
I just had the most amazing weekend at Capclave with fellow GOH Neil Clarke: caught up with old friends (one I haven’t seen in person in 20 years) and made new ones; talked about books and writing and worldbuilding with brilliant fellow panelists and fans; read my Star Wars story from A Certain Point of View (“The Sith of Datawork”); cheered on winners and finalists at the WSFA Small Press Award ceremony; even ran off to enjoy the legendary Peruvian restaurant La Canela (twice! thanks to Lawrence Schoen and Alex Shvartsman).
And look at what they did with the program book. How cool is that???
Many thanks to Steve Stiles for this amazing image, Alex Shvartsman for a super kind appreciation write-up, Cathy Green and the whole con committee for putting on such a great show, Kathi Overton for saving me from technology, and to Bill Lawhorn and Sarah Mitchell for taking care of me all weekend.
The Washington Science Fiction Association did an amazing job at putting on a con that felt at once inclusive, comprehensive, and intimate. If you haven’t been to Capclave, I highly highly recommend it.
The Wall of Storms Available as a Trade Paperback
The second Dandelion Dynasty book is now available as a trade paperback. For North American readers, more info at the Simon & Schuster site. For readers in the UK and elsewhere, see Head of Zeus’s site.