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4 episodes with dandelion dynasty
3 episodes with dandelion dynasty
3 episodes with dandelion dynasty
2 episodes with dandelion dynasty
2 episodes with dandelion dynasty
There’s something almost romantic about airships. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feels both nostalgic and futuristic. In the early 20th century, airships were on the leading edge of aviation; today, they mostly live on in the domain of steampunk art and speculative fiction. But a number of companies are betting they can bring airships out of the history books and into modern real-world applications like cargo transport and military uses. This hour, the past and future of airships, both real and imagined. GUESTS: Nick Allman: Chief operating officer of Hybrid Air Vehicles Jeanne Marie Laskas: A journalist and the author of eight books; in 2016 she published “Helium Dreams” in The New Yorker Ken Liu: A futurist and author of speculative fiction, including The Dandelion Dynasty, an epic fantasy series featuring airships The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired November 1, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's a bit surprising to hear a writer known for building worlds that incorporate deep historical research and elaborate technological details extol the virtues of play, but Ken Liu tells critic Rose Casey and host Sarah Wasserman that if “your idea of heaven doesn't include play, then I'm not sure it's a heaven people want to go to.” It turns out that Ken—acclaimed translator and author of the “silkpunk” epic fantasy series Dandelion Dynasty and the award-winning short story collection The Paper Menagerie—is deeply serious about play. Speaking about play as the key to technological progress, Ken and Rose discuss the importance of whimsy and the inextricable relationship between imagination and usefulness. For Ken, whose Dandelion Dynasty makes heroes of engineers instead of wizards or knights, precise machinery and innovative gadgets are born, like novels, of imagination. Ken himself might be best described as a meticulous, dedicated tinkerer—a writer playing with the materials and stories of the past to help us encounter new worlds in the present. So even if trying to explain his craft is “like asking fish how they swim,” Ken jumps in and discusses how he writes at such different lengths (hint: the longer the book, the more elephantine) and what he makes of different genre labels, from fantasy to historical fiction. We also learn why Ken is a fan of Brat Summer and still thinking about the Roman Empire. Mentioned in this episode: Ken Liu, Speaking Bones (2022), The Veiled Throne (2021), The Wall of Storms (2017), The Grace of Kings (2016), The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (2016) Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem (2014) Rose Casey, Jessica Wilkerson, Johanna Winant, “An Open Letter from Faculty at West Virginia University” (2023) Rose Casey, “In Defense of Higher Education” (2024) Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (1973) Homer, The Odyssey Virgil, The Aeneid John Milton, Paradise Lost A.M. Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” (1950) Brat Summer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
It's a bit surprising to hear a writer known for building worlds that incorporate deep historical research and elaborate technological details extol the virtues of play, but Ken Liu tells critic Rose Casey and host Sarah Wasserman that if “your idea of heaven doesn't include play, then I'm not sure it's a heaven people want to go to.” It turns out that Ken—acclaimed translator and author of the “silkpunk” epic fantasy series Dandelion Dynasty and the award-winning short story collection The Paper Menagerie—is deeply serious about play. Speaking about play as the key to technological progress, Ken and Rose discuss the importance of whimsy and the inextricable relationship between imagination and usefulness. For Ken, whose Dandelion Dynasty makes heroes of engineers instead of wizards or knights, precise machinery and innovative gadgets are born, like novels, of imagination. Ken himself might be best described as a meticulous, dedicated tinkerer—a writer playing with the materials and stories of the past to help us encounter new worlds in the present. So even if trying to explain his craft is “like asking fish how they swim,” Ken jumps in and discusses how he writes at such different lengths (hint: the longer the book, the more elephantine) and what he makes of different genre labels, from fantasy to historical fiction. We also learn why Ken is a fan of Brat Summer and still thinking about the Roman Empire. Mentioned in this episode: Ken Liu, Speaking Bones (2022), The Veiled Throne (2021), The Wall of Storms (2017), The Grace of Kings (2016), The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (2016) Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem (2014) Rose Casey, Jessica Wilkerson, Johanna Winant, “An Open Letter from Faculty at West Virginia University” (2023) Rose Casey, “In Defense of Higher Education” (2024) Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (1973) Homer, The Odyssey Virgil, The Aeneid John Milton, Paradise Lost A.M. Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” (1950) Brat Summer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
Join BefuddledPanda, Spooke_, Yetti, Sean, and Seth as they discuss the second half of The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu. Content Warning: Discussion of rape Music: Galactic Damages by Jingle Punks Considering supporting The Legendarium on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Discord: https://discord.gg/FNcpuuA BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/greenteampod.bsky.social Threads: https://www.threads.net/@greenteampod Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thelegendarium/
Join BefuddledPanda, Yetti, Sean, Spooke_, and Seth as they make their way through Parts 1 & 2 of The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu. Music: Galactic Damages by Jingle Punks Considering supporting The Legendarium on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Discord: https://discord.gg/FNcpuuA BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/greenteampod.bsky.social Threads: https://www.threads.net/@greenteampod Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thelegendarium/
BefuddledPanda hosts Sean (aka BlackDiamond), Spooke_, and Yettibeats to continue their discussion on The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. Music: Galactic Damages by Jingle Punks Considering supporting The Legendarium on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thelegendarium/ Discord: https://discord.gg/FNcpuuA Twitter: @GreenteamPod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@greenteamlegendarium
Rachael dives into what she spent (and made) on her Kickstarter, and then has an amazing conversation with Ken Liu on world building and the Dao De Jing! Ken Liu (http://kenliu.name) is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he wrote the Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series (starting with The Grace of Kings), as well as short story collections The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. He also penned the Star Wars novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Liu frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.Laozi's Dao De Jing: A New Interpretation for a Transformative Time - https://amzn.to/3XR8UEK
BefuddledPanda, Sean (aka BlackDiamond), and Spooke_ embark on a new journey with The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. In this episode, we chat about expectations going into the series, what silkpunk is, and chapters 1 - 11. First part of the episode is spoiler free. Music: Galactic Damages by Jingle Punks Considering supporting The Legendarium on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thelegendarium/ Discord: https://discord.gg/FNcpuuA Twitter: @GreenteamPod #silkpunk #thedandeliondynasty #kenliu #thegraceofkings #eastasianfantasy #scifi
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they delve into a mini-masterclass on Tech-Fi & Technology As Story with award-winning author Ken Liu. During the episode, Ken decodes the intricacies of technology fiction, including what tech-fi means, the uses of technology in fantasy, how technology and stories shape us and expresses our values, personifying technology, new technologies, A.I. and fear mongering, imagining positive impacts of future tech and more. NOTE: This is part two of a two-part chat with Ken. Click here to check out part one. SUPPORT THE SHOW: - Patreon (for exclusive bonus episodes, author readings, book giveaways and more) - Merch shop (for a selection of tees, tote bags, mugs, notebooks and more) - Subscribe to the FanFiAddict YouTube channel or check us out on Spotify, where this and every other episode of the show is available in full video - Rate and review SFF Addicts on your platform of choice, and share us with your friends EMAIL US WITH YOUR QUESTIONS & COMMENTS: sffaddictspod@gmail.com ABOUT OUR GUEST: Ken Liu is the award-winning, bestselling author of The Dandelion Dynasty epic fantasy quartet, along with the short story collections The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories and The Hidden Girl & Other Stories. His latest novel is Speaking Bones, the final book in The Dandelion Dynasty. Find Ken on Twitter, Amazon, Substack and his personal website. ABOUT OUR HOSTS: Adrian M. Gibson is a podcaster, writer and illustrator. His debut novel, Mushroom Blues, is releasing in spring 2024. Find Adrian on Twitter, Instagram or his personal website. M.J. Kuhn is the author of Among Thieves, her debut novel, and its sequel Thick as Thieves. Find M.J. on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or her personal website. FOLLOW SFF ADDICTS: FanFiAddict Book Blog Twitter Instagram MUSIC: Intro: "Into The Grid" by MellauSFX Outro: “Galactic Synthwave” by Divion --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sff-addicts/message
Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they chat with award-winning, bestselling author Ken Liu about his epic fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, the works of Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin, writing and persistence, how technology plays into our lives, writing short stories vs. novels, the relationship between history, modernity and language, how symbolism plays into the creative process, Frankenstein, photography and much more. NOTE: This is part one of a two-part chat with Ken. Stayed tuned next week for his mini-masterclass on Tech-Fi & Technology As Story. SUPPORT THE SHOW: - Patreon (for exclusive bonus episodes, author readings, book giveaways and more) - Merch shop (for a selection of tees, tote bags, mugs, notebooks and more) - Subscribe to the FanFiAddict YouTube channel or check us out on Spotify, where this and every other episode of the show is available in full video - Rate and review SFF Addicts on your platform of choice, and share us with your friends EMAIL US WITH YOUR QUESTIONS & COMMENTS: sffaddictspod@gmail.com ABOUT OUR GUEST: Ken Liu is the award-winning, bestselling author of The Dandelion Dynasty epic fantasy quartet, along with the short story collections The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories and The Hidden Girl & Other Stories. His latest novel is Speaking Bones, the final book in The Dandelion Dynasty. Find Ken on Twitter, Amazon, Substack and his personal website. ABOUT OUR HOSTS: Adrian M. Gibson is a podcaster, writer and illustrator. His debut novel, Mushroom Blues, is releasing in spring 2024. Find Adrian on Twitter, Instagram or his personal website. M.J. Kuhn is the author of Among Thieves, her debut novel, and its sequel Thick as Thieves. Find M.J. on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or her personal website. FOLLOW SFF ADDICTS: FanFiAddict Book Blog Twitter Instagram MUSIC: Intro: "Into The Grid" by MellauSFX Outro: “Galactic Synthwave” by Divion --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sff-addicts/message
Join myself, Taylor and Hans as we talk to author Ken Liu about his Epic Silkpunk series: The Dandelion Dynasty! We discuss events from all four books: The Grace of Kings, The Wall of Storms, The Veiled Throne, & Speaking Bones and go into full spoiler territory so please be aware before you watch the live! From large themes of governmental structures, to the micro-scale of detailed character work, Liu gives us an in-depth look at the ideas that were behind this incredible project. Watch on YouTubeFind Taylor (Maed Between the Pages)PageChewing.comPAGECHEWING: Comics & Manga PodcastFilm Chewing PodcastLinktreeJoin Riverside.fm
Taylor, Hans and I discuss all things THE GRACE OF KINGS - the first book in the Dandelion Dynasty series.Find Taylor (Maed Between the Pages)PageChewing.comPAGECHEWING: Comics & Manga PodcastFilm Chewing PodcastLinktreeJoin Riverside.fm
In this episode we have a conversation between Marie-Claire Gould and Ken Liu. Ken Liu is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he wrote the Dandelion Dynasty, a Silkpunk epic fantasy series as well as short story collections The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. He also penned the Star Wars novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker.Liu frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.Marie-Claire Gould is the host, publisher and editor of What the Force? A Star Wars Fandom Podcast. Marie-Claire loves speaking with people about what makes Star Wars and mythology real for them. In this conversation they discuss Joseph Campbell, mythology, AI and the narratives that we can create about the future of technology.To find out more about Ken Liu visit https://kenliu.name/IG @kenliu.authorTo find out more about Marie Claire Gould visit https://whattheforce.ca/about/marie-claire-gould/IG @wtforcemediaFor more information on the MythMaker Podcast Network and Joseph Campbell, visit JCF.org. To subscribe to our weekly MythBlasts go to jcf.org/subscribe The Podcast With A Thousand Faces is hosted by Tyler Lapkin and is a production of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. It is produced by Tyler Lapkin. Executive producer, John Bucher. Audio mixing and editing by Charles Mallett. All music exclusively provided by APM Music (apmmusic.com)
This month we're discussing “The Grace of Kings” by Ken Liu, the first book of the Dandelion Dynasty. PUBLISHER: Saga Press YEAR: 2015 LENGTH: 640 pages AGE: Adult GENRE: Fantasy RECOMMENDED: Highly Topic 1: Intimidation/Murder. Begins at (1:35), CW for poison, injury detail, torture, suicide, murder, animal death. Topic 2: Sexism. Begins at (18:25), CW for sexism, rape. Topic 3: Slavery. Begins at (33:22), CW for slavery, murder. Promo for Another Pass; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (42:52). Book TW for sexism, misogyny, pregnancy, excrement, blood (graphic), gore (graphic), violence (graphic), fire/fire injury, genocide, suicide, torture, self harm, child abuse (graphic), animal cruelty, cannibalism, murder, child death, death (graphic). --- If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. To make a one-time donation please support us on Ko-Fi. For fortnightly news and updates, as well as links to recent written reviews, subscribe to our newsletter. You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. Find all our links on our Carrd. Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. Members of the Certain Point of View network of podcasts.
My guest today is science fiction and fantasy author Ken Liu! Ken is known for his wonderful silkpunk epic fantasy series the Dandelion Dynasty and has written numerous award-winning short stories and novellas. He also speaks and consults all over the world on many different topics.Ken and I chat about his experience having a story adapted by Netflix's Love, Death, and Robots and the glut of stories available to entertain us in the modern world. We talk extensively about his work as a futurist and the problems with trying to predict pretty much anything, in particular recent advances in artificial intelligence and what that means for the creative industries. Enjoy my conversation with Ken Liu!Find Ken on his website or social media.Find Brian McClellan at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In episode 61 of The Gradient Podcast, Daniel Bashir speaks to Ken Liu.Ken is an author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he is the author of silkpunk epic fantasy series Dandelion Dynasty and short story collections The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. Prior to writing full-time, Ken worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant.Have suggestions for future podcast guests (or other feedback)? Let us know here!Subscribe to The Gradient Podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts | RSSFollow The Gradient on TwitterOutline:* (00:00) Intro* (02:00) How Ken Liu became Ken Liu: A Saga* (03:10) Time in the tech industry, interest in symbolic machines* (04:40) Determining what stories to write, (07:00) art as failed communication* (07:55) Law as creating abstract machines, importance of successful communication, stories in law* (13:45) Misconceptions about science fiction* (18:30) How we've been misinformed about literature and stories in school, stories as expressing multivalent truths, Dickens on narration (29:00)* (31:20) Stories as imposing structure on the world* (35:25) Silkpunk as aesthetic and writing approach* (39:30) If modernity is a translated experience, what is it translated from? Alternative sources for the American pageant* (47:30) The value of silkpunk for technologists and building the future* (52:40) The engineer as poet* (59:00) Technology language as constructing societies, what it is to be a technologist* (1:04:00) The technology of language* (1:06:10) The Google Wordcraft Workshop and co-writing with LaMDA* (1:14:10) Possibilities and limitations of LMs in creative writing* (1:18:45) Ken's short fiction* (1:19:30) Short fiction as a medium* (1:24:45) “The Perfect Match” (from The Paper Menagerie and other stories)* (1:34:00) Possibilities for better recommender systems* (1:39:35) “Real Artists” (from The Hidden Girl and other stories)* (1:47:00) The scaling hypothesis and creativity* (1:50:25) “The Gods have not died in vain” & Moore's Proof epigraph (The Hidden Girl)* (1:53:10) More of The Singularity Trilogy (The Hidden Girl)* (1:58:00) The role of science fiction today and how technologists should engage with stories* (2:01:53) OutroLinks:* Ken's homepage* The Dandelion Dynasty Series: Speaking Bones is out in paperback* Books/Stories/Projects Mentioned* “Evaluative Soliloquies” in Google Wordcraft* The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories* The Hidden Girl and Other Stories Get full access to The Gradient at thegradientpub.substack.com/subscribe
Every week, we will be highlighting a panel from TBRCon2023, looking back on the amazing variety of panels that we had the honor of hosting. This week, join moderator/booktuber Bookborn and authors Ken Liu, Ryan Cahill, R.R. Virdi, L.L. MacRae and Justin T. Call for a TBRCon2023 author panel on "What Is Modern Epic Fantasy, Anyway?". SUPPORT THE SHOW: - Patreon (for exclusive bonus episodes, author readings, book giveaways and more) - Merch shop (for a selection of tees, tote bags, mugs, notebooks and more) - Subscribe to the FanFiAddict YouTube channel, where this and every other episode of the show is available in full video - Rate and review SFF Addicts on your platform of choice, and share us with your friends EMAIL US WITH YOUR QUESTIONS & COMMENTS: sffaddictspod@gmail.com ABOUT THE PANELISTS: Bookborn is the creator of the Bookborn YouTube channel. Find Bookborn on Instagram and YouTube. Ken Liu is the award-winning author of the epic fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and more. Find Ken on Twitter, Amazon and his personal website. Ryan Cahill is the author of the epic fantasy series The Bound and the Broken series, including Of Blood and Fire, Of Darkness and Light, Of War and Ruin, The Fall and The Exile. Find Ryan on Twitter, Amazon and his personal website. R.R. Virdi is the author of The First Binding, The Grave Report series and more. Find Ronnie on Twitter, Amazon and his personal website. L.L. MacRae is the author of The Iron Crown, Moroda and more. Find Lauren on Twitter, Amazon and her personal website. Justin T. Call is the author of Master of Sorrows and Master Artificer, Books 1 and 2 of The Silent Gods tetralogy. Find Justin on Twitter, Amazon and his personal website. FOLLOW SFF ADDICTS: FanFiAddict Book Blog Twitter Instagram MUSIC: Intro: "Into The Grid" by MellauSFX Outro: “Galactic Synthwave” by Divion --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sff-addicts/message
Welcome to another LEGENDARY episode! Our Legendaries are special guests that are an expert within their area of storytelling. Ken Liu is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the NEBULA, HUGO, and WORLD FANTASY awards, he wrote the DANDELION DYNASTY, a silkpunk epic fantasy series (starting with The GRACE OF KINGS), as well as short story collections THE PAPER MENAGERIE AND OTHER STORIES and THE HIDDEN GIRL AND OTHER STORIES. He also penned the STAR WARS novel, THE LEGENDS OF LUKE SKYWALKER. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Liu frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, cryptocurrency, history of technology, bookmaking, narrative futures, and the mathematics of origami. **SPEAKING BONES, the final book in Ken's DANDELION DYNASTY series, is now available in paperback wherever books are sold.** In this episode you'll hear: Ken discuss his worldbuilding process, including pseudo-essays to self, personal wikis, and layering post-drafting His theory on science fiction and fantasy Storytelling as a form of technology A comparison of AI to wizardry, with the caveat that all things should be ethical The joy of possibility and Courtney's acknowledgement of the fear of the unknown Ghabiba's staid advice: curiosity over fear Our understanding of reality through story "Good stories are more important than good institutions" The Book of Witches The promised pistachio coffee cake recipe You can find us on our website and Instagram at @storybeastpodcast. For more storytelling content to your inbox, subscribe here. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks! Special thanks to Deore for our musical number. You can find her on Instagram or more of her creative work on Spotify. As ever, thank you dear listeners. Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast. Be brave, stay beastly. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/storybeastpodcast/message
Ken Liu joins us to discuss the first two books of the Dandelion Dynasty, The Grace of Kings and The Wall of Storms. Watch on YouTubeKen Liu@Maed Between the Pages @Jolien Reads @Hans-Library-Corner To join our group read, visit our forumsConnect with me:Steve Talks Books YouTube ChannelVeroEvent CalendarDiscussion ForumTwitterPodcastMy Mountain Biking Channel
Ken Liu is a multiple Hugo Award-winning American author of science fiction and fantasy. His epic fantasy series, “The Dandelion Dynasty,” is the first work in the “silkpunk” genre, which he created. AMC's "Pantheon" was created around the Singularity-based stories in “The Hidden Girl,” a collection of short stories by Ken. His story, “The Paper Menagerie,” is the first piece of fiction to win three literary genre awards: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Award. Published finalist in 2003 with the story “Gossamer.” That was the year we had the event in Beverly Hills, and Chick Corea performed, plus three grandmasters of science fiction: Robert Silverberg, Fred Pohl, Hal Clement He also consults and speaks publicly on various subjects such as cryptocurrency, futurism, implications of new technologies (5G, GPT-3, nanomaterials, etc.), science fiction, virtual reality, and sustainable storytelling.
Ken Liu is a multiple Hugo Award-winning American author of science fiction and fantasy. His epic fantasy series, “The Dandelion Dynasty,” is the first work in the “silkpunk” genre, which he created. AMC's "Pantheon" was created around the Singularity-based stories in “The Hidden Girl,” a collection of short stories by Ken. His story, “The Paper Menagerie,” is the first piece of fiction to win three literary genre awards: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Award. Published finalist in 2003 with the story “Gossamer.” That was the year we had the event in Beverly Hills, and Chick Corea performed, plus three grandmasters of science fiction: Robert Silverberg, Fred Pohl, Hal Clement He also consults and speaks publicly on various subjects such as cryptocurrency, futurism, implications of new technologies (5G, GPT-3, nanomaterials, etc.), science fiction, virtual reality, and sustainable storytelling.
Ken Liu is a multiple Hugo Award-winning American author of science fiction and fantasy. His epic fantasy series, “The Dandelion Dynasty,” is the first work in the “silkpunk” genre, which he created. AMC's "Pantheon" was created around the Singularity-based stories in “The Hidden Girl,” a collection of short stories by Ken. His story, “The Paper Menagerie,” is the first piece of fiction to win three literary genre awards: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Award. Published finalist in 2003 with the story “Gossamer.” That was the year we had the event in Beverly Hills, and Chick Corea performed, plus three grandmasters of science fiction: Robert Silverberg, Fred Pohl, Hal Clement He also consults and speaks publicly on various subjects such as cryptocurrency, futurism, implications of new technologies (5G, GPT-3, nanomaterials, etc.), science fiction, virtual reality, and sustainable storytelling.
On this episode we talked with Ken Liu about the Dandelion Dynasty, science, social media, identity, modernism, linguistics, Ken's first job and much more! Watch on YouTube Find Ken: Taylor (Maed Between the Pages)Join our group read Connect with me:Steve Talks Books YouTube ChannelVeroEvent CalendarDiscussion ForumTwitterPodcastMy Mountain Biking Channel
The winner of major genre awards including the Nebula, the Hugo, and the World Fantasy Award, Ken Liu is an author and futurist whose fictions both interrogate the social consequences of new technologies, and investigate the value of concepts we do not typically think of as technology but ought to, including law, language, and even storytelling itself. In this episode of the podcast he outlines his vision for speculative fiction's purpose and value, and previews the ideas in the Dandelion Dynasty, a fantasy series investigating the foundational myths of nationhood through a science fictional extrapolation of the engineering and social structures of East Asian antiquity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
There’s something almost romantic about airships. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feels both nostalgic and futuristic. In the early 20th century, airships were on the leading edge of aviation; today, they mostly live on in the domain of steampunk art and speculative fiction. But a number of companies are betting they can bring airships out of the history books and into modern real-world applications like cargo transport and military uses. This hour, the past and future of airships, both real and imagined. GUESTS: Nick Allman: Chief operating officer of Hybrid Air Vehicles Jeanne Marie Laskas: A journalist and the author of eight books; in 2016 she published “Helium Dreams” in The New Yorker Ken Liu: A futurist and author of speculative fiction, including The Dandelion Dynasty, an epic fantasy series featuring airships The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired November 1, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Thank you so much to Kyle for commissioning this episode!I'm finally starting the third book in the Dandelion Dynasty series, and it becomes very clear that I'm going to need to refresh my memory by revisiting the previous book so that I don't get too lost! We jump back in time and meet a new character from the Lyucu people, and we get to see what it was like for her to experience colonization by Dara people. Thanks for listening, and I will see you soon with a new episode!
In this episode, we discuss algorithms with Science fiction authors Ken Liu and Qiufan(Stan) Chen. Ken is the author of epic fantasy series Dandelion Dynasty. He has won the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award as well as top genre awards in Japan, Spain, and France among other countries. Qiufan is a well known Chinese science fiction writer, the author of Waste Tide, which was translated to English by Ken Liu, and his latest work AI 2041 is co-authored with AI expert Kai-fu Lee. Lets hear from Ken and Stan on how they see the relationship between reality and Science Fiction, as well as their views on the advancements of algorithms and technology in general in today's world. Sections in this Episode: 1:00 - The relationship of technology in reality and Science Fiction 3:40 - The positive impact of algorithms 6:26 - Are algorithms a concern for us? 11:48 - Algorithms and human biases 18:36 - The human storytelling behind Technology 24:25 - Solutions to address current concerns on algorithms 27:52 - Ken and Qiufan's new projects and recommendations Ken's The Hidden Girl and Other Stories is set be adapted into an animated series named Pantheon Ken recommends Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller Qiufan recommends Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence by James Lovelock If you would like to repost this episode or partner with AntKast, please reach us through: zhumei.wzm@antgroup.com
Today on The Soul of Life I speak with Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie, a short story that is the first work of fiction to sweep the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy awards. Ken is the author of an epic fantasy series called The Dandelion Dynasty, in which the heroes are engineers, not wizards. Some of Ken's stories have been adapted for animation or film, and AMC is making a TV show based on his stories in The Hidden Girl. Liu is trained as an attorney and worked as a software engineer. His work translating many Chinese sci-fi authors into English has helped many of these authors become huge successes in the U.S., most notably Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem, which Netflix just announced it acquired with several other books for what is rumored to be close to $1B. Ken says his fiction often projects East Asian history and culture onto the backdrop of the modern American Empire and says our traditional association with Roman History in the U.S. is an artificial rigidity he hopes to bend. "We just have a refusal to accept that the story of America includes Asian voices," says Liu. Finally, Ken speaks about one of my favorite subjects—how our mind and our sense of Self or Soul—is actually a continuous construction process. I ask Ken to do a little experiment with me and reflect on his own mind's construction process listening to me read back to him some of his own writing. Check out my Mini-Course for couples: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHjcz6Ly2y9gr2mtMHIxu-fXXl8rE_PYJ Learn more about my 7-week, live, online basic mindfulness and IFS course for couples: https://souloflifeshow.com/mindful-marriage Join my Facebook Group called "Bring Love Alive:" https://www.facebook.com/groups/601405257684922 My Book, Love Under Repair: How to Save Your Marriage and Survive Couples Therapy https://amzn.to/2X3kPBL My Counseling Practice: https://keithmillercounseling.com Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoulOfLifeShow or Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoulofLifeShow Want to book Keith as a guest on your podcast? Contact him at keith@souloflifeshow.com.
There's something almost romantic about airships--from zeppelins to dirigibles to little Goodyear Blimps. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feels both nostalgic and futuristic. In the early 20th century, airships were on the leading edge of aviation; today, they mostly live on in the domain of steampunk art and speculative fiction.But a number of companies are betting they can bring airships out of the history books and into modern real-world applications like cargo transport and military uses. This hour, we talk with speculative fiction author Ken Liu, as well as a journalist and the leader of a modern hybrid airship company about airships, real and imagined. GUESTS: Ken Liu - Speculative fiction author and futurist, the author of the Dandelion Dynasty, an epic fantasy featuring airships Jeanne Marie Laskas - Journalist; she wrote a piece for The New Yorker in 2016 on modern airships Nick Allman - Chief Operating Officer of Hybrid Air Vehicles Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
An immigrant mother tries to bond with her American-born son by creating a magical paper menagerie. This story appears in Ken Liu's collection THE PAPER MENAGERIE AND OTHER STORIES, available now from Saga Press. Ken Liu's forthcoming novel, THE VEILED THRONE, is the third installment of THE DANDELION DYNASTY and will be available November 2nd from Saga Press. Content advisory: Hospitals, death of a parent See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
“Ken Liu là tác giả viết truyện giả tưởng người Mỹ. Anh từng đoạt giải Nebula, Hugo và World Fantasy, cũng như các giải thưởng danh giá nhất cho thể loại khoa học viễn tưởng ở Nhật Bản, Tây Ban Nha, Pháp và nhiều nước khác. Tiểu thuyết đầu tay của Liu, The Grace of Kings (2015), tập đầu tiên trong bộ ba sử thi kỳ ảo The Dandelion Dynasty, nơi kỹ sư được coi là phù thủy, đã mở đầu cho tiểu loại “silkpunk” trong khoa học viễn tưởng Mỹ. Tập truyện ngắn đầu tay của anh, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (2016), đã được xuất bản trong hơn chục thứ tiếng, trong đó truyện ngắn đầu tập đã cùng một lúc đoạt giải Nebula, Hugo lẫn World Fantasy. Tiếp đó là tập The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. Anh cũng viết cuốn The Legends of Luke Skywalker trong thế giới Star Wars.” - Zzz Review. Được sự cho phép của Zzz Review, Trạm Radio sẽ đọc một truyện ngắn của tác giả Ken Liu. #TrạmRadio #RadioVănHọc #KenLiu ________ Để cam kết với bạn nghe đài dự án Trạm Radio sẽ chạy đường dài, chúng tôi cần sự ủng hộ của quý bạn để duy trì những dịch vụ phải trả phí. Mọi tấm lòng đều vô cùng trân quý đối với ban biên tập, và tạo động lực cho chúng tôi tiếp tục sản xuất và trau chuốt nội dung hấp dẫn hơn nữa. Mọi đóng góp cho Trạm Radio xin gửi về: Nguyen Ha Trang STK 19034705725015 Ngân hàng Techcombank. Chi nhánh Hà Nội.
What better way to end 2020 than with a power fantasy of kingdoms, betrayal, and...war? Yeah, we know it's not usually our thing, but let's give it a shot! This week, your favorite Sour Patch kids will be discussing Part 1 (up to Chapter 27) of Ako's pick, "The Grace of Kings" by Ken Liu, the first of the Dandelion Dynasty trilogy! In the episode, we talk about rotational models of leadership, Mata Zyndu's desperate need to calm tf down, the criminally overlooked and brilliant, Jia and so MUCH MORE! Icebreaker Question: 3:42 - 16:36 Plot Summary: 16:56 - 54:43 Discussion: 54:54 - 1:22:38 Wanna keep afloat with all our latest episodes? Join the book club and see a list of the books we're reading next by following us on Twitter @TheColoredPages, emailing us at thesecoloredpages@gmail.com, checking out our website at thesecoloredpages.com, AND checking out our Instagram @TheseColoredPages!
Ken Liu is the author of the Dandelion Dynasty series and winner of the Hugo, Nebula and World Science Fiction awards. We talk about the book publishing business, how content for niche markets has expanded and online and offline communities. Ken also tells us about how stories are a way humans are programmed.
Reading Ken’s Liu bio, you might think he’s a replicant from the future who never sleeps. He’s worked as a programmer for Microsoft, practices law with a degree from Harvard and has won just about every major sci-fi and fantasy writing award getting around including The Hugo, The Locus, The Nebula and more. On top of that, he’s translated critically acclaimed works from Chinese into English, including one of my favourite sci-fi books The Three Body Problem. His latest series The Dandelion Dynasty also cements Ken as the undisputed godfather of Silkpunk. In episode 5 of the Genre Wars Book Podcast, we talked about how genre is useful, how it’s not, what kinds of stories Ken is drawn to, and that time he wrote for a little series called Star Wars… For full show notes, including Ken's current sci-fi book recommendations, head here.
We talk with Ken Liu about his prolific career as a sci-fi and fantasy writer, his take on futurism, and how to (hopefully) avoid the pitfalls of technology. Ken is seriously a genius and we can't wait for you to hear this episode! Ken Liu (kenliu.name) is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he wrote The Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series (starting with The Grace of Kings), as well as The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. He also authored the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Liu frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, cryptocurrency, history of technology, bookmaking, the mathematics of origami, and other subjects of his expertise. Find Ken online: KenLiu.name Read Ken's latest short-story collection, The Hidden Girl, which Patrick HIGHLY recommends: The Hidden Girl Deyus Life is a show about interesting people and interesting conversations. Have a question or want to be featured on the show? Email deyuspod@gmail.com or visit deyuslifepod.com. We read and respond to EVERY email - including yours.
The hat-trick winner of sci-fi awards– the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards–Ken Liu (刘宇昆) is the author of The Paper Menagerie and short stories including "Mono no aware" and "Memories of My Mothers." His pioneering work in the genre of silkpunk, The Dandelion Dynasty series, incorporates past East Asian culture and technology into the realm of science fiction and fantasy. We talk about the relationship between writers and authors, why footnotes are important in translated works, Ken's upcoming novels, and how Ken became involved with Lucasfilm and wrote The Legends of Luke Skywalker.Quotes"When you tell a story, it’s a collaborative effort, the story only becomes real when the reader takes the word you put down on a page and fills it and brings the characters to life and endows the actions of the characters with meaning… Readers do that not in a vacuum, they do it based on their experiences, their own expectations, their own understandings of human nature, their own cultural and social privileged statuses [1:42 - 3:35]"[Silk punk] is a blend of fantasy and science fiction in which the science fictional elements are almost derived from an East Asian engineering tradition from antiquity. I often speak of technology as a language, so the particular language of technology used in these books uses a vocabulary based on materials that are of importance historically to East Asia–bamboos, silk, animal sinew." [8:33 - 9:22]Follow Ken Liu Twitter: @kyliu99Instagram: kyliu99Facebook: authorkenliu Website: https://kenliu.name/
The hat-trick winner of sci-fi awards– the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards–Ken Liu (刘宇昆) is the author of The Paper Menagerie and short stories including "Mono no aware" and "Memories of My Mothers." His pioneering work in the genre of silkpunk, The Dandelion Dynasty series, incorporates past East Asian culture and technology into the realm of science fiction and fantasy. We talk about the relationship between writers and authors, why footnotes are important in translated works, Ken's upcoming novels, and how Ken became involved with Lucasfilm and wrote The Legends of Luke Skywalker.Quotes"When you tell a story, it’s a collaborative effort, the story only becomes real when the reader takes the word you put down on a page and fills it and brings the characters to life and endows the actions of the characters with meaning… Readers do that not in a vacuum, they do it based on their experiences, their own expectations, their own understandings of human nature, their own cultural and social privileged statuses [1:42 - 3:35]"[Silk punk] is a blend of fantasy and science fiction in which the science fictional elements are almost derived from an East Asian engineering tradition from antiquity. I often speak of technology as a language, so the particular language of technology used in these books uses a vocabulary based on materials that are of importance historically to East Asia–bamboos, silk, animal sinew." [8:33 - 9:22]Follow Ken Liu Twitter: @kyliu99Instagram: kyliu99Facebook: authorkenliu Website: https://kenliu.name/
Amanda and Jenn discuss poetry, East Asian fiction and fantasy, books in translation, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked. This episode is sponsored by the Book Marks Journal, Tailored Book Recommendations, and Book Riot Insiders. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. Feedback Two Old Women by Velma Wallis (rec'd by Terry) The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace (rec'd by Terry) Questions 1. I have recently been fascinated by both historical fiction and fantasy novels inspired by various East Asian cultures. I have always loved these genres, but growing up my reading centered around more European inspired fantasy and usually regency or WWII historical fiction reads, all from very Western perspectives. I read Memoirs of a Geisha in high school and loved it, but my fifteen year old self did not realize how problematic it was! In the fantasy genre, I've picked up a few more books recently, but I would love to find more, even if they are backlist. I would also love to be able to support #ownvoices authors, as I know there has been harassment particularly in the US towards some members of these communities. Some historical fiction I've recently read or picked up already: Pachinko (LOVED), The Library of Legends (TBR), The Night Tiger (wanted to love, but incest vibes are a hard ICK factor for me that I can't get past), The Lotus Palace (TBR) Fantasy I've read or already picked up: The Poppy War (love), Girls of Paper and Fire (love), Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (love), Flame In the Mist (love), Spin the Dawn (TBR) -Hillary 2. Looking for a good, funny, relaxing book that is 400+ pages and will give me wanderlust! -Abby 3. Hi! I'm always trying to read more books in translation because I love learning about new cultures. I also started tracking the country of origin of my reads lately and didn't feel great about the fact that about 80% of the books I read come from either the US or Canada (I'm Canadian). So I've been making more of an effort, but I find most books in translation are super literary and dense, and that's not always what I'm looking for. I'm hoping for books in translation that are a bit easier to read. I'm not picky about country of origin, and my favourite genres are fantasy and contemporary fiction. I'm looking for something more Fredrik Bachman or Cornelia Funke, and less Haruki Murakami. -Magdalene 4. My 16 year old son is looking for books where magic exists in the everyday world and everyone knows about it. So you might find a herbs and amulets shop next to a shoe shop, and the library openly has a magic books section. He would prefer little or no overt sex or romance as he is aro/ace and finds both uncomfortable. Thank you. -Kerry 5. In the last couple of years I've stumbled on a peculiar plot setup in tv and movies that I really enjoy and would love to explore in book form. It's the "kids face strife as children and escape, then grow up and reunite to destroy it once and for all." I'm thinking of tv shows like The Haunting of Hill House, movies like It, and books like Meddling Kids. I really enjoyed all of these, especially Hill House since it really explored the characters and their relationships. I read Hill House and enjoyed it but it wasn't anything like the show, and It gave me horrible nightmares and I couldn't finish (though no other Stephen King books have). I'm hoping you'll know of more books that might scratch this particular itch. I'm open to books with a similar set-up outside the horror genre, it's really more the reuniting friends/siblings and facing trauma together that is the big draw for me. Thanks, y'all! -Eileen 6. I was recently diagnosed with cancer and had to have surgery to remove the tumors. I would love some recommendations on characters dealing with the diagnosis of cancer? It can be fiction or nonfiction. Thanks -Brittney 7. Hi! I am a big fiction reader, but I have been wanting to get into poetry recently. I will read basically anything, and lately I have been reading romance, fantasy and memoirs. I am a Hispanic 19-year old female, if that helps. I would love something a bit modern, contemporary and non-traditional. A book of poems would be ideal. Thanks! -Maria Books Discussed How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee (tw rape) Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu (Grace of Kings #1) Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (rec'd by Tika) The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (Cinder #1) Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, transl by Ginny Tapley Takemori A Hero Born by Jin Yong (Louis Cha), translated by Anna Holmwood Recommended with Sherry Thomas Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor Jade City by Fonda Lee (tw: discussion of child abuse and child pornography) The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth (tw: self harm, fatal overdose, torture, gore) The Bus on Thursday by Shirley Barrett All the Wild Hungers by Karen Babine Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón
This week Gary and Jonathan are joined by a long time friend of the podcast, Ken Liu, to discuss his new short story collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, approaching the end of his epic silkpunk fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, and how having good stories is more important to a society than having good institutions. Along the way, we talk about history, life, evolving art, and much, more more. The Hidden Girl and Other Stories is out now and The Veiled Throne is out early next year. As always, we'd like to thank Ken for making time to join us and hope that you all enjoy the episode. See you in two weeks with more!
Huge thanks to Kyle for keeping me going on this Dandelion Dynasty series! I'm really into this whole idea of life just going on even after the supposedly happy ending. I mean, I'm not into it at all because I'm a big fan of closure and tying up loose ends and feeling like there's a semblance of order to the universe. But I see the beauty and sadness in it all the same. We start out this book with a time jump, in a bar with Kuni's children as they listen to a story about Mata's epic fight with that one dude that lasted like four days. A guy comes in trying to pretend he's an official and extort money, and when he's shown to be a fraud, he flees. The gods decide to intervene here, and give this ugly, low man a partner to make trouble with. Thank you all so much for listening, and I will see you soon (hopefully!) with a new episode!
On this episode, we discuss our Books and Boba February 2019 book club pick, The Grace of Kings, by Ken Liu, an epic tale of rebellion and heroes set in an Asian inspired "silkpunk" world. We chat about the sweeping story, the detailed world building, the many many characters, the actual historical events the story is based on. For additional thoughts and discussion on the monthly pick, visit the Books & Boba Goodreads forums. This Month's Book Club Panelists: Reera Yoo (@reeraboo) Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh) Follow us: Facebook Twitter Goodreads Group The Books & Boba March 2019 pick is Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram This podcast is part of Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective
Patreon support now standing at 404 – last week 406. Help us get to 500 Patreon Supporters. Bitcoin address: 1FcqW3GEWFX9tuoyFrn1ySKoeybyc3J4W9Ethereum address: 0xacC43A99b1eDe0e4a04B43A7A7fa3aA476B87EAA Main Fiction: "Gossamer" by Ken LiuOriginally published in Writers of the FutureKen Liu is an author of speculative fiction, as well as a translator, lawyer, and programmer. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he is the author of The Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series The Grace of Kings The Wall of Storms, and a forthcoming third volume) and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, a collection. He also wrote the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker (2017). In addition to his original fiction, Ken also translated numerous works from Chinese to English, including The Three-Body Problem (2014), by Liu Cixin, and “Folding Beijing,” by Hao Jingfang, both Hugo winners.Narrated by: Deanna SanchezDeanna Sanchez is a voiceover talent and actress who has performed professionally for 14 years. She has voiced various commercials, industrials, and characters, and specializes in the “sexy voice” of powerful female roles. Deanna also consults in Geographical Information Systems and develops custom mapping applications for real estate and other industries. Three-dimensional visualization of spatial data is a favorite pastime, and she has spent many hours translating real-Earth elevation data into unique 3D worlds. Deanna’s voice over demo can be heard at the Lambert Studios website, an outstanding full service recording studio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In The Force Awakens, Rey says she thought Luke Skywalker was a myth. Separated by only a few decades, the hero of the Rebellion and torchbearer of the Jedi Order has become less a rarified celebrity and more of a Paul Bunyan-esque tall tale character. Author Ken Liu, whose recent Dandelion Dynasty has made huge waves in Sci-Fi literature, expands on this motif with five stories told by weary travelers on their way to Canto Bight, the Las Vegas/Monte Carlo-type city teased in recent promotional material and trailers for The Last Jedi. We review Liu's book as well as discussing recent TV spots for TLJ and reveals in Forces of Destiny with huge implications.
A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, Ken Liu is the author of The Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, a collection of short stories. He's currently working on a Star Wars novel, which will become cannon. He joins us on the show this week to discuss all of this and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Short story writing, novel writing, and translating require a variety of skills and strengths that are hardly ever found in a single person. Ken Liu is one of those rare individuals who has them all. He is perhaps best known for short stories like The Paper Menagerie, which (according to his Wikipedia entry) was the first work of fiction to earn Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. But this year he’s making waves with two longer projects, which are the focus of his New Books interview: his translation of Cixin Liu‘s The Three-Body Problem and his debut novel The Grace of Kings. The Three-Body Problem has been a break-out success in China for Cixin Liu, who has won China’s Galaxy Award for science fiction nine times. The Three-Body Problem is also the first hard science-fiction novel by an author from the People’s Republic of China to be translated into English. Ken Liu (who is not related to Cixin Liu) says sales numbers for science fiction in China would be the envy of American publishers, but Chinese publishers have traditionally considered it a niche market. That is, until The Three-Body Problem and its two sequels came along. Officially, Chinese readers have bought about 400,000 copies of the three-volume series but Liu says the actual number of readers is far larger as books get passed among friends and family. Liu anticipated it would be difficult to translate the language of science, but the cultural references proved more challenging. Ultimately, he decided to add concise footnotes to fill in some gaps without overwhelming readers with too much information. The success of his translation is reflected in the The Three-Body Problem‘s Nebula and Hugo nominations for best novel. The Grace of Kings, the first book in Liu’s projected Dandelion Dynasty, is a very different project–an epic fantasy/science-fiction mashup that Liu calls “silkpunk.” Liu grew up in a Chinese speaking household. “Every culture has its own set of foundational narratives that are echoed and dialogued with and re-imagined over and over again… They’re stories about how a people embody their own values and see themselves as having meaning in the universe.” In the case of The Grace of Kings, Liu drew from an ancient historical struggle known as the Chu-Han Contention but reimagines it in a secondary world, using both classic Western and Chinese storytelling techniques. “The result is this melding of everything into this fantastical universe that I call silkpunk,” Liu says. “So there are battle kites and mechanical contraptions of various sorts, underwater boats and airships that propel themselves with giant feathered oars that represent the kinds of things you see in Chinese block prints and historical romances [but] sort of blown up and extended into a new technology vocabulary that I had a lot fun playing with.” Rob Wolf is the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. He worked for many years as a journalist, writing on a wide range of topics from science to justice reform, and now serves as director of communications for a think tank in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Short story writing, novel writing, and translating require a variety of skills and strengths that are hardly ever found in a single person. Ken Liu is one of those rare individuals who has them all. He is perhaps best known for short stories like The Paper Menagerie, which (according to his Wikipedia entry) was the first work of fiction to earn Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. But this year he’s making waves with two longer projects, which are the focus of his New Books interview: his translation of Cixin Liu‘s The Three-Body Problem and his debut novel The Grace of Kings. The Three-Body Problem has been a break-out success in China for Cixin Liu, who has won China’s Galaxy Award for science fiction nine times. The Three-Body Problem is also the first hard science-fiction novel by an author from the People’s Republic of China to be translated into English. Ken Liu (who is not related to Cixin Liu) says sales numbers for science fiction in China would be the envy of American publishers, but Chinese publishers have traditionally considered it a niche market. That is, until The Three-Body Problem and its two sequels came along. Officially, Chinese readers have bought about 400,000 copies of the three-volume series but Liu says the actual number of readers is far larger as books get passed among friends and family. Liu anticipated it would be difficult to translate the language of science, but the cultural references proved more challenging. Ultimately, he decided to add concise footnotes to fill in some gaps without overwhelming readers with too much information. The success of his translation is reflected in the The Three-Body Problem‘s Nebula and Hugo nominations for best novel. The Grace of Kings, the first book in Liu’s projected Dandelion Dynasty, is a very different project–an epic fantasy/science-fiction mashup that Liu calls “silkpunk.” Liu grew up in a Chinese speaking household. “Every culture has its own set of foundational narratives that are echoed and dialogued with and re-imagined over and over again… They’re stories about how a people embody their own values and see themselves as having meaning in the universe.” In the case of The Grace of Kings, Liu drew from an ancient historical struggle known as the Chu-Han Contention but reimagines it in a secondary world, using both classic Western and Chinese storytelling techniques. “The result is this melding of everything into this fantastical universe that I call silkpunk,” Liu says. “So there are battle kites and mechanical contraptions of various sorts, underwater boats and airships that propel themselves with giant feathered oars that represent the kinds of things you see in Chinese block prints and historical romances [but] sort of blown up and extended into a new technology vocabulary that I had a lot fun playing with.” Rob Wolf is the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. He worked for many years as a journalist, writing on a wide range of topics from science to justice reform, and now serves as director of communications for a think tank in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Short story writing, novel writing, and translating require a variety of skills and strengths that are hardly ever found in a single person. Ken Liu is one of those rare individuals who has them all. He is perhaps best known for short stories like The Paper Menagerie, which (according to his Wikipedia entry) was the first work of fiction to earn Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. But this year he’s making waves with two longer projects, which are the focus of his New Books interview: his translation of Cixin Liu‘s The Three-Body Problem and his debut novel The Grace of Kings. The Three-Body Problem has been a break-out success in China for Cixin Liu, who has won China’s Galaxy Award for science fiction nine times. The Three-Body Problem is also the first hard science-fiction novel by an author from the People’s Republic of China to be translated into English. Ken Liu (who is not related to Cixin Liu) says sales numbers for science fiction in China would be the envy of American publishers, but Chinese publishers have traditionally considered it a niche market. That is, until The Three-Body Problem and its two sequels came along. Officially, Chinese readers have bought about 400,000 copies of the three-volume series but Liu says the actual number of readers is far larger as books get passed among friends and family. Liu anticipated it would be difficult to translate the language of science, but the cultural references proved more challenging. Ultimately, he decided to add concise footnotes to fill in some gaps without overwhelming readers with too much information. The success of his translation is reflected in the The Three-Body Problem‘s Nebula and Hugo nominations for best novel. The Grace of Kings, the first book in Liu’s projected Dandelion Dynasty, is a very different project–an epic fantasy/science-fiction mashup that Liu calls “silkpunk.” Liu grew up in a Chinese speaking household. “Every culture has its own set of foundational narratives that are echoed and dialogued with and re-imagined over and over again… They’re stories about how a people embody their own values and see themselves as having meaning in the universe.” In the case of The Grace of Kings, Liu drew from an ancient historical struggle known as the Chu-Han Contention but reimagines it in a secondary world, using both classic Western and Chinese storytelling techniques. “The result is this melding of everything into this fantastical universe that I call silkpunk,” Liu says. “So there are battle kites and mechanical contraptions of various sorts, underwater boats and airships that propel themselves with giant feathered oars that represent the kinds of things you see in Chinese block prints and historical romances [but] sort of blown up and extended into a new technology vocabulary that I had a lot fun playing with.” Rob Wolf is the author of The Alternate Universe and The Escape. He worked for many years as a journalist, writing on a wide range of topics from science to justice reform, and now serves as director of communications for a think tank in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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