This is a fantastic book I was initially attracted by the cover but inside are some great stories and the notes help with understanding more while reading

Synopsis

An incredible omnibus of Chinese Science Fiction compiled and edited by self-confessed geek, translator and author of From Kuanyin to Chairman Mao, Xueting Ni.

Thirteen carefully-selected Chinese Science Fiction stories from Chinese voices both young and old have been translated into English for the first time. Sinopticon is an ambitious project, with a broad array of 20th Century and Speculative Fiction that will delight all SFF addicts.

Review

Let’s get one thing out of the way. I have never read any Chinese Science Fiction before so Sinopticon was my gateway to help rectify this. Simply put, this is a spectacular collection of short stories.

The care and attention Xueting Ni has paid to compiling this wonderful and diverse omnibus is clear throughout the book. Ni’s careful consideration is most evident in the notes explaining each story’s inclusion and her impressions on translating and editing each story for a Western audience. It is a perfect addition and feels almost as if you’re chatting away with Xueting over a coffee about the stories.

At it’s (presumably A.I.) core, Sinopticon never fails in its bid to introduce a reader like me to Science Fiction works by Chinese authors. These aren’t cookie cutter translations, each story is painstakingly recreated and intended to champion Chinese culture and literature. Footnotes throughout are handy for the times when a translation attempt wouldn’t benefit the story while giving insight into Ni’s editing process.

As for the stories themselves, there are no weak links at all. You’re going to find all the space travel, A.I.s and robots you could hope to find in a book like this. The story order is well-balanced and perfectly suited to a book binge. I won’t spoil any by reviewing each story in turn but the standouts for me were: The Great Migration, Flower of the Other Shore and Starship: Library.

The Great Migration by Ma Boyong. Inspired by the author’s journey home on a crowded bus, this bleak overpopulated picture of life for workers on Mars is sweaty, sardine-packed brilliance.

Flower of the Other Shore by A Que. A knowlingly-tropey, fourth wall-breaking zombie story. The zombie-like “Stiffs” communicate with each other through their own developed sign language, often asking each other “Have you eaten?”. Hilarious and cute.

Starship: Library by Jiang Bo. I loved the concept of a cosmic library floating through the galaxy forever.

Sinopticon reads like Black Mirror and Love, Death, and Robots squeezed together and poured onto the page. I laughed, I cried, I read and re-read, I stayed up through the early hours if it meant finishing one of the longer stories. This book is everything I love about Science Fiction. I hope there’s a copy that will be kept safe and sound in a cosmic library millions of lightyears away …

After my recent foray into short stories with Cosmogramma, I was pleased to get this collection of Chinese Science Fiction. Not just because there is a bit of an explosion post The Three Body Problem, but as the collection editor and translator Xueting Christine Ni says, Chinese science fiction comes out of a number of different traditions. Fantasy in China often comes via a Wuxia bent, heightened versions of history, and also the tone of Chinese fiction often pulling against the idea of a happy ending to a more philosophical or stoical denouement. In reading her foreword, and her biographical and editor notes after each story I recognised one of the other pleasures of short fiction from my youth – this dialogue with the editor (or in Stephen King’s case the author). Ni here manages to brief summarise sci-fi scenes as they have developed, and tried to be representative whilst casting a broad net (literally if you’ll humour the pun – she has also decided to make sure the make up of the authors are 50% female). And she has done a good job, all the stories have something about them, and if there isn’t a complete tonal unanimity, there are themes and styles which reoccur.

Death and immortality, be that actual or memorialised, pop up here a number of times, as does the longevity of projects and worlds. One of the longest (and oldest from 1991) pieces here Tombs Of The Universe by Han Song which directly talks about how humans will be remembered, or not remembered as part of space colonisation – being about basically a cosmic undertaker. Bao Shu’s The Absolution Experiment is a pithier, nastier take on the idea of immortality and revenge (it’s a classic twist in the tale narrative). There are also classic sci-fi takes on real phenomena – The Great Migration talks about workers on Mars desperate to get back to Earth in a direct parallel to the internal migration for New Year that takes place annually. And oddly the fate and history of communal buildings of learning, Museums, Galleries, and Libraries turn up a lot. Perhaps what is also interesting, looking at it as a modern sci-fi collection, is what doesn’t turn up. There are not that many relationship stories in here – and what there is tends towards the doomed (discovering a wrongful imprisonment of a lover after forty years, a star-crossed relationship ending after a month). But unlike a Western collection right now, there isn’t anything vaguely queer here, and extrapolations about the pioneering spirit of the individual are also broadly lacking.

That’s not to say it’s a dour collection, there is a lot of humour here, and Ni does her best to subtly fold it into her translation (in the big zombie adventure in the middle I do wonder if the character really keeps referring to Brad Pitt or a Chinese analog). She does her best to explain puns or names which might have double meanings, but as a reader in translation you have to accept some of these might pass you by. What doesn’t slip by is the broad quality – she had a lot to pick between – and yet a cohesiveness too. There are few duds here, and in a collection of thirteen you can always move on – but this was a very enjoyable and interesting collection, a proper celebration, and I hope more short and long form follows.

"Don't remember. It doesn't matter who we were. We're all just walking corpses. For us, memory is just another kind of virus, one even more deadly and that would torment us more than the Hunger. Forgetting who we are is a defence mechanism for Stiffs. Don't resist this defence: don't remember".

Sinopticon has taught me that I don't hate science fiction writing, I just hate poorly written sci-fi books. This anthology of translated short stories delivered the most wonderful, spine-tingling experience featuring topics including AI, space travel, time travel and zombie apocalypses. Anything you could have hoped for and then some, complete with Chinese language and culture insights.

Just like any short story anthology, the collection fell short for a handful of tales for issues such as too much 'male gaze', however, the translators notes at the end of each novel identified the weaknesses openly and explained why in spite of these, the story was chosen. Understanding the process and recognising the strengths regardless, helped me to think outside of my own rating box.

There were two stories that really hit me. "Flowers of the Other Shore" is the first story I've ever read from the infected individuals point of view and it left me on the edge of my seat, filled with great philosophy and a refreshing change of pace. Additionally, the unexpected plot twist in "The Tide of Moon City" simultaneously made my stomach drop and gave me goosebumps. To have such strong emotions, from a short story no less, is the sign of a well written, well translated story,

Xueting has curated an incredible collection to either allow readers to segue into sci-fi, or continue their love of sci-fi tales. Marvellous.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Energy Wars

[Blurb goes here]

This was, all an all, a great anthology. While not all of the stories where to my liking, I enjoyed most of them, which in my experience is something all too rare when it comes to a compilation of short stories. This is a book worth reading.

Thank you for the free copy!

The Collection Overall:
Xueting Christine Ni has organized an absolutely beautiful collection of Chinese Sci-Fi. It's a rare thing to like most of the short stories in a collection, much less to rate nearly every story five stars. The stories are the absolute cream of the crop and beautifully ordered (with footnotes for context) to allow the best understanding and experience of them. With little bit of everything, Sinopticon delivers the perfect sampler.

The stories have an excellent range, floating between character-in-a-ship-in-space, to zombie stories, romance, robots and AI, war stories, and more. The authors, similarly, show an equally impressive range. The author could not have better accomplished the goals outlined in her introduction—it's truly a masterpiece. I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to read it.

The Last Save
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story was an absolutely wonderful piece of almost gamified sci-fi life. I loved every bit of this story and its crotchety, stubborn protagonist. The ending was truly simple and beautiful.

Tombs of the Universe
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A thoughtful, philosophic piece, Tombs provides an eerie existential dread and loneliness to space travel. It's genuinely rare to find a short story so pessimistic, it was a very interesting (if somewhat depressing) read.

Qiankun and Alex
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story is so simple, short, and sweet. Even in its brevity, it is charming. There's so much optimism and praise for the human spirit contained in a few short interactions. I also love collecting wonderful AIs, and Qiankun is certainly at the top.

Cats Chance in Hell
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
In a world of Murderbot meets Soma, Nian Yu delivers an absolutely haunting story of a soldier caught in war. Deeply dark and depressing, this story delves into the heart of a beloved sci-fi debate.

The Return of Adam
⭐⭐⭐
The notes of this story mention the author is frequently passed over for translation, and I think a good portion of that is how closely this is tied to Chinese Culture and history. Despite lengthy footnotes, I simply didn't have enough context to get past the chauvinism.

Rendezvous 1937
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I've never read a short fiction with more contextual notes than content… but the author's struggle with the story actually added quite a bit to the experience of reading. This is a very special piece.

The Heart of the Museum
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was an odd story, technically very good, but not my favorite concept. Though I was engaged and enjoyed it, I didn't really feel particularly impacted by any of it. There was just not much there for me, personally.

The Great Migration
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story was, in my opinion, purposefully long and arduous to read. Though it's not pleasant, it's certainly effective at portraying long, cramped travel. It's an interesting world—one I hope doesn't come true.

Meisje Met De Parel
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is such a wonderful YA sci-fi—hopeful, imaginative, and not at all watered down like some genre YA. The combination of food, art, science, and mystery makes for a read that engages all of the senses.

Flower of the Other Shore
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love an interesting zombie story, and this is a *very* good zombie story. Referential, playful, lyrical, and unexpectedly poignant. What a phenomenal work and an excellent addition to the subgenre.

The Absolution Experiment
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Oh, what a surprise. Such a very short but fascinating story. There's not much to be said without spoiling anything, but I adore the way this story plants a simple seed that spawns into horror.

The Tide of Moon City
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tide of Moon City is a gorgeous and heartbreaking story. I love when sci-fi departs from the hard sciences (though there is plenty of science) to deliver a truly moving story about people. This one does it so well.

Starship: Library
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What a beautiful ending to a wonderful collection. Starship: Library is a very quiet, introspective, and witty read, with a glowing recommendation of the importance of libraries. Very much in the spirit of some of my favorite sci-fi traveling-the-galaxy tales.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be cross posted to Amazon upon publication.

During my time progressing through the stories, the ideas discussed in the introduction permeated my mind. Was Chinese science fiction common knowledge? My first introduction to such a genre, as a second generation Chinese myself, was the concept of this very novel, just months back. I asked many of my friends and family - many of them avid readers - but not one of them knew or even believed such a thing existed.

I felt no disconnect due to the translation done. In fact, throughout the stories, Xueting Christine Ni's choice to keep many of the Chinese words in pinyin helped preserve the original cultural flavour. Each short story was immersive and their ideas refreshingly original. Reading through, the stories made me wish to read on and on, further from this book to explore the revealed world of Chinese fiction.

Xueting has introduced an impressively succinct collection of Chinese fiction that have each earned their place in this novel. Each story is a demonstration of intrinsic Chinese culture that discuss events, identity and customs.

These stories are varied but vastly entertaining. There are humorous space adventures and comedic apocalyptic tales. We go through cosmic exploration of the dead to time travelling choices. There are so many great authors here to devour and learn from. This is a stunning collection that has a story for every reader. This is a great introduction to a different perspective.

A rarely done anthology! The stories were intriguing, all of them had a wonderful atmosphere; some may be more emotional and hard-hitting than others but they were still good plot-wise. My favorite was Rendezvous: 1937, that dash of historical fiction really got to me. For some stories, the dialogue felt quite stiff, although I think that is a problem that comes with translated works.

I didn't expect this book to be heavy on myths, superstition, and philosophical themes (not only sci0fi); it was something I appreciated. A lot of these writers were also new to me and I am now very interested in their other works. This anthology truly explores how creative the human mind can be.

Full review to be posted on Goodreads and my blog closer to pub date.

Thank you to Rebellion/Solaris and NetGalley for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Actual rating 3.5⭐️.

I’m not very familiar with Chinese science fiction so this was a great starting place for me. It was very interesting to read fresh new takes on familiar concepts like time travel and technologically-enhanced humans, among many others, and in my opinion it proves that there are always new ways to interpret even the most supposedly ‘overdone’ concepts. I also enjoyed that this collection included stories from a wide range of time, rather than just the most recent ones.

There were two things that detracted from my enjoyment of these stories. Firstly, some of the writing was a bit clunky at times. Not having read these stories in the original language of course means that I am unsure if this was how they were originally written or if it was an issue with translation, but this sometimes made it difficult to stay engaged in the stories.

Secondly, and this was the main one for me, almost every single story had either strong or subtle elements of misogyny. It would NOT be accurate or fair, and would actually be pretty racist, to put this down to a cultural difference, because I have read many recently published books by Western authors that contained the same or even greater levels of misogyny. I expect this when I’m going into stories written a few decades ago, but it was disappointing to read it in the more recent stories too.

Overall though I found this to be an interesting collection of stories that raised a lot of intriguing thoughts and possibilities. I am especially glad to see more non-Western SFF being translated into English, and I very much hope that this continues!

Sinopticon 2021 is a collection of 13 Chinese science fiction stories, exploring some of the most familiar and interesting aspects of the genre. Zombies, space travel, AI, and the traveller out of time are just a few of the topics covered in this collection.

As with any collection of short stories from different authors, some I hated, some I loved. I disliked the strong emphasis on the importance of sex in 'The Return of Adam', and found 'Rendezvous: 1931' quite confusing. 'Cat’s Chance in Hell', however, was a wonderful, action-packed exploration of a soldier’s desperation to get home, and 'Flowers of the Other Side' was a beautiful and emotional interpretation of that old favourite, the zombie with a heart. I loved the introspection it offered and the duality it explored of compulsion and hope. That one will stay with me, in the best way, for some time.

Most of what I disliked about this collection, actually, were some of the more stereotypical depictions of women: the nagging wife, the buxom sure-thing. But the more creative exploratory aspects of some of these stories balanced this out. Overall, I enjoyed it, and would definitely seek out other stories by some of these authors, and other books edited by Xueting C. Ni.

Rating: ★★★★ ✰
Genre: Science Fiction
Would I recommend this? Yes
Would I read a sequel? Yes

"Sinopticon 2021" is subtitled "A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction" - and what a celebration it is! This a collection of 13 incredible stories that have been translated into English for the first time - and what a treat they are! Brilliant writing, great characters, fantastic plots - and imaginations to spark your own. Give us more Chinese sci-fi, please...

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

3.5 stars

Sinopticon 2021 is a collection of short Chinese sci-fi stories. I was immediately intrigued with the premise, as I rarely get to read Chinese sci-fi (outside of the Three Body Problem trilogy), let alone shorter pieces. The stories take concepts of time (and perception of time), space travel, and AI and add a unique twist to them. As with all collections of short stories, there will be hits and misses, but in general, I enjoyed the ride.

That said, it is difficult to rate an anthology, because not all stories will hit you the same way.

I will say, however, that one thing that didn't work for me was the lack of character variation: the protagonists are mostly male, and women are often portrayed as either two-dimensional or oddly absent. There were some stories I didn't finish for these reasons, but as this is a collection of short stories, I could just skip to the next.

Here's a quick summary of the stories I finished:

"The Last Save" (最终档案): takes place in a world in which people can hit "save" on their lives and correct mistakes by simply deleting their files and continuing from the last save point. People who do this simply disappear from this existence. It throws into question the meaning of choices, consequences, and most of all, accountability. (5 stars)

"Tombs of the Universe" (宇宙墓碑): space travel is commonplace, and in a world where people no longer speak of the past, the main character is fascinated with graveyards—an outdated, ancient tradition. The writing was a bit too academic/philosophical for me, especially for a short story that does not have much room for blocks of info, but it may appeal to other readers for that reason. (3.5 stars)

"Qiankun and Alex" (乾坤和亚力): Qiankun is the global AI, and Alex is the child who grows up with it. In essence, they learn from each other. It was a bit sad, a bit sweet, and in my opinion, too short. (5 stars)

"Cat's Chance in Hell" (九死一生): Joe is tasked with retrieving bright, blue liquid fuel from a military base, knowing full well his chances of surviving the mission are slim. The ideas were interesting—especially the role of humans in future armed combat—but some of the writing/translations were a bit confusing. Still pretty enjoyable, though. (4 stars)

"The Return of Adam" (亚当回归): a space shuttle returns after 202 years, and only one (brain) has survived. It started off strong, suffered a bit with info overload, but ultimately presented a "caveman-in-modern-times" scenario. I didn't quite connect to all of the story, but I liked the Chinese references. I'm glad there were footnotes at the end, lol (3.5 stars)

"Rendezvous 1937" (相聚在一九三七): an author writes a cat-and-mouse story involving time travel, where one character travels back to the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, and the other—disgusted by the implications of this type of touristic time travel—goes back to stop her. Through these fictional characters, the story sheds light on the horrors of the massacre and its ripples throughout time. (4.5 stars)

"The Heart of the Museum" (博物馆之心): this story is told from an alien POV who has come to Earth, passes off as human, and is tasked with taking care of a child. The alien experiences time differently—instead of sequential, past, present, and future happen all at once (think "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang). There's a delightful sense of disconnect as the alien watches the child play but sees the future he will create. (4 stars)

"Flower of the Other Shore" (彼岸花): I wasn't expecting a zombie apocalypse story in this collection, but this is about a "Stiff" who slowly regains memories of his past life. The main character tries to hold on to his humanity while his brain continues to rot. I do like how despite heavy themes, the zombies still had a sense of humor. Old Jim, bless his soul. (5 stars)

"The Absolution Experiment" (特赦实验): a deal is offered to a convict with a life sentence—an experiment with a 30% death rate. I won't lie, for one of the shorter stories in the collection, this one made me think for a while. (5 stars)

"The Tide of Moon City" (月见潮): correspondence between two students on different planets orbiting each other, one from Bizhe, the other from He'lin. It's leans a bit heavy on the "not like other girls" trope, which in my opinion was not handled well (for more details, check out my Goodreads review). The story outside of that was interesting, but I couldn't really connect to the characters. (2 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Check out my Insta @k.e.rosero for more book spotlights and reviews!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Rebellion for an advanced copy of this new science fiction anthology.

Science fiction as a genre is always looking at things in a new way. Steampunk, Hard Science, Space Opera, First Contact, Dystopian, everything can be changed, made new, made different or better, or ruined. Some stories are hopeful, some are doubtful, some are just straight reportage. However even dealing with the future or the different, a writer tends to call on their own background, education, culture, even race that defines to them what the future might or should be. That's why this collection Sinopticon edited and translated by Xueting Christine Ni is so well speculative and excellent. These stories, written by Chinese authors, offer ways of looking at the future with a new mindset and cultural understanding.

The stories would have been lost to western readers which would be a shame as many are very good. The stories range in styles and ways they are presented, offering a broad selection of story types, classic sci-fi, to modern day kind of stories. Each story is followed by a essay detailing various explanations on translation and social nuances, and other things that might be lost on readers unfamiliar with China.

The stories range from ok to brilliant. Tombs of the Universe and Flower of the Other Shore are both standouts, at least to me. I've been reading science fiction for quite a long time, and almost every anthology including the "Best Ofs" always have stories I would just pass over in a few pages of looking. In this collection if did not skip any. A truly excellent collection of stories.

I havent read much sci fi from Chinese authors and so I was really excited to read this collection and i really enjoyed it. The stories were gripping, engaging and different from other sci fi that I have read. A great collection

A good collection if you enjoy hard sci-fi with a classic vibe. While this wasn’t an enjoyable read for me personally, I fully recognize the literary and cultural value of a collection like this, and I would still recommend this unique anthology to avid sci-fi enthusiasts. The editor’s notes at the end of each story were a nice addition and often added valuable context to each story.

Sinopticon is a collection of short science fiction stories written by Chinese writers. I honestly found them to be average and not extremely interesting. I would call myself a sci-fi fan and perhaps it is due to my lack of knowledge of Chinese history that the stories didn’t resonate with me.

I am going to try to give then another chance at a later time.

Wow, I really really liked the short stories I was not able to finish my free digital download of this book, not because of the stories but just timing issue. From the beautiful cover to the 1st 3 stories I read I knew this was a physical book I would be reading. 5 start on the stories I did read. Loved getting to read sci-fiction from a different lense. Can't wait to read the rest of the stories.
Thank you once again Netgalley for another fantastic book I might not have had a chance to read. If you enjoy speculative fiction grab a copy.

Wow, what a great sci-fi collection! I have read very little Chinese Sci-fi, but I thoroughly enjoyed every story. There were a lot of classic sci-fi themes, AI, zombies, memory wipes, zombies and time travel - but the Chinese flavour meant that what are often played out tropes all had something fresh and intriguing about them. I also liked the translator's notes and the footnotes explaining cultural idioms that might not be understood or translate well. Having read a lot of classic American and British sci-fi, it was really interesting to see the slightly different take on what are well-worn themes. I will be re-reading.

An intriguing collection of 13 short stories which showcase modern Chinese science fiction. I liked how the chosen stories had retained elements of Chinese culture and how the editor used footnotes to explain terms which don't have direct English equivalents. The introduction and the notes for each piece were interesting and enthusiastic. I liked most of the stories and thought them well worth reading. One story, the final piece in the collection, really stood out for me and I'll always remember it.

'The Last Save' by Gu Shi is an ultimately uplifting story about dealing with consequences instead of obsessively reliving the same events.

'Tombs of the Universe' by Han Song is a mysterious story which engages with rites and traditions but was a little too academic for me at times.

'Qiankun and Alex' by Hao Jingfang is an optimistic exploration of how super-intelligent AI can improve by learning from children.

'Cat's Chance in Hell' in Nian Yu is an action-packed yet emotional thriller engaging with the ethics of clones used for military purposes.

'The Return of Adam' by Wang Jinkang is a hard SF story with ethics, evolution and romance.

'Rendezvous: 1937' by Zhao Haihong is an important and brutal time-travel story of the Nanjing Massacre.

'The Heart of the Museum' by Tang Fei is a philosophical story with an elegiac tone in the tradition of classic SF.

'The Great Migration' by Ma Boyong is set on Mars, a weary tale of bureaucracy and trying to beat the system.

'Meisje met de Parel' by Anna Wu is a beautifully-written unpredictable piece about art and AI.

'Flowers of the Other Shore' by A Que is a zombie pandemic story, not my kind of read so I had to skip.

'The Absolution Experiment' by Bao Shu is a short absurd piece about exploitation and criminal justice.

'The Tide of Moon City' by Regina Kanyu Wang is an emotional story of healing friendships but I wasn't keen on the academic theme.

'Starship: Library' by Jiang Bo is a fantastic epic journey of a fleet of library starships, which affirms the power of knowledge and demonstrates that we'll always need libraries.

Thank you to the publisher Rebellion for the advance copy via NetGalley.

[Note: This review will be on my blog, 3rd November 2021]