tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post2053155631354125109..comments2023-09-18T06:11:49.382-05:00Comments on No Fear of the Future: An Alternate History of Chinese Science Fiction.Jayme Lynn Blaschkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02919766841748858790noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-29820619368617253912009-01-19T08:21:00.000-06:002009-01-19T08:21:00.000-06:00Wow, parallel universe!! o.OWow, parallel universe!! o.OAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-79958996966576531262008-03-14T07:22:00.000-05:002008-03-14T07:22:00.000-05:00Shocked and awed. This is superb.Shocked and awed. This is superb.Peter Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13750072474903462692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-8278002822919243622007-06-24T08:59:00.000-05:002007-06-24T08:59:00.000-05:00"He uses his knowledge of 20th century technology ..."He uses his knowledge of 20th century technology to improve the state of the Jin Dynasty"<BR/><BR/>20th Century? Tsk, tsk.<BR/><BR/>Very good otherwise, though I don't pick all the Anglosphere references.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-33735331860398705482007-05-20T16:06:00.000-05:002007-05-20T16:06:00.000-05:00Anonymous: I got the ZQ names by running the origi...Anonymous: I got the ZQ names by running the original Anglo names through <A HREF="http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html" REL="nofollow">this site</A>. <BR/><BR/>About the hippies snark: in Zhong Guo, some developments were delayed years beyond ours, like the atomic bomb. I was thinking "hippies," which would undoubtedly be much different in Earth-Zhong Guo, would be one of them.Jess Nevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12663204658541841242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-26144915816402248932007-05-20T15:40:00.000-05:002007-05-20T15:40:00.000-05:00Wonderful.Sorry to break world for a bit, but was ...Wonderful.<BR/><BR/>Sorry to break world for a bit, but was there a particular algorithm in use for coming up with the ZQ names---I was specifically wondering if alternate readings of the characters used to render non-Chinese names were being used, or something much simpler I was too dense to notice?<BR/><BR/>Also: is there a typo in the paragraph about "Stranger in a Strange Land"? To the point, and I speak as one well aware of Heinlein's flaws, I don't think he was writing for hippies because they ("we", actually, though I'm Reform [I shower and usually amn't stoned]) didn't exist as such when the book was written (early '50's, then early '60s, a situation I think R.a.H. parodies in the novel's description of an art-work created by an artist and finished by his ghost). When the hip did adopt the book, Heinlein was most displeased (all the way to the bank).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-13415061498858354322007-05-20T08:49:00.000-05:002007-05-20T08:49:00.000-05:00There's certainly a good article to be written on ...There's certainly a good article to be written on the tradition of Albionoiserie. The John K. Lung stories are a bit rich for some tastes, but I love them. Likewise with the Hughart.Jess Nevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12663204658541841242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-78869818813635811322007-05-20T07:53:00.000-05:002007-05-20T07:53:00.000-05:00I understand why you would have left Li Kao's Brid...I understand why you would have left Li Kao's <I>Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient Albion That Never Was</I>, and the other Inspector Hughart novels, from your list. They really are fantasy novels, no matter how much I might argue that they're really counterfactuals... ;})>drjonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14351916590417179786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-27713227156847725932007-05-20T01:23:00.000-05:002007-05-20T01:23:00.000-05:00You left heilein out of a sci-fi list this is a ca...You left heilein out of a sci-fi list this is a capital offense even if it's a joke. Come on you could have made a Wan Hu joke in the Rocket ship galileo review!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-49480236326618736272007-05-18T21:43:00.000-05:002007-05-18T21:43:00.000-05:00Stu--Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I'm going...Stu--<BR/><BR/>Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. <BR/><BR/>I'm going to have to follow this up with the pulp magazines of Sitka, from Chabon's <I>Yiddish Policeman's Union</I>, aren't I? <BR/><BR/>(I already know what the cover of <I>Spicy Shiksa Stories</I> is going to look like)Jess Nevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12663204658541841242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-36935475796737398592007-05-18T18:59:00.000-05:002007-05-18T18:59:00.000-05:00The only problem is there just is not enough Jewis...The only problem is there just is not enough Jewish content here. Where are the articles on the great Yiddish pulp magazine heroes?!! Where's the big study of "Dokter Wilder, Bronzer Gibor"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-76497837855090905422007-05-18T10:36:00.000-05:002007-05-18T10:36:00.000-05:00Peggy: Thanks very much! If I'd written a fantasy ...Peggy: Thanks very much! If I'd written a fantasy version, I'd definitely have included LeGuin. (The notion of writing a response to "Europeanoiserie" is *mighty* tempting). <BR/><BR/>Brian: I -was- tempted to include his "Dangerous Visions"....<BR/><BR/>Chris: Thanks! (I read your mention of the third book being "Three Unbroken" too late to change it here). <BR/><BR/>Dave: Ah, okay--thanks for the correction. Glad you liked the piece--and thanks for the offer! (And, of course, for praising it over on your blog. I was hugely flattered that you mentioned me among the 5 Blogs That Make You Think). <BR/><BR/>Stu: "Wheels of If" just didn't occur to me, for some reason, but in retrospect I should have included it. If you're going to write alt-history, at some point you pretty much have to refer to our history as a counterfactual--I think it's required in the union rules--and that would ahve been perfect for it. <BR/><BR/>Open Trials: I always think of "Sheng: or The Modern Shang Bo" as a Taoist alchemy story with heavy elements of the White Peril. [Hmm. Chinese version of the Gothic. Wuxia, maybe?]<BR/><BR/>Wren: I was limited with the versions I could find online. I wish I could have found a larger Chinese version of Dune, or better quality Chinese versions of Lovecraft, Clarke, and the others, but in this case by Google-fu just wasn't up to it. <BR/><BR/>Brian Boyko: *slaps forehead* "Apprehension and Disgust"...I wish I'd thought of that. I'd have used it, definitely. <BR/><BR/>Bill: I've noticed that you do very little reading. You need to broaden your horizons, definitely.Jess Nevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12663204658541841242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-22552479679997622602007-05-18T09:41:00.000-05:002007-05-18T09:41:00.000-05:00Wow, I have a lot of books to add to my reading l...Wow, I have a lot of books to add to my reading list!mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-18254319771324230062007-05-18T09:35:00.000-05:002007-05-18T09:35:00.000-05:00I would have to say that you're missing out on so ...I would have to say that you're missing out on so many other great works, though I understand you only have one choice for each decade. <BR/><BR/>Keep in mind, that it is not only science fiction novels that have inspired science fiction. I would have to put Wen Su To's "Apprehension and Disgust at the City of Nanking" for inspiring works in Lee Wang's "Across Multiple Gothams," a post-cyberpunk dystopia where a slightly mad public servant takes on not one but two corrupt emperors. <BR/><BR/>I'd also want to put I. Von's "The Account of Myself, the Automaton," and "The Caves of Iron and Jade" up for consideration.Brian Boykohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911849652267603935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-3863914880999770792007-05-18T03:15:00.000-05:002007-05-18T03:15:00.000-05:00Excellent history, but why did you use the Japanes...Excellent history, but why did you use the Japanese cover of <I>A Princess of Mars</I> when the original is so much better known?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05766067924472271354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-65689184632377938022007-05-17T21:25:00.000-05:002007-05-17T21:25:00.000-05:00What about Li Po's Wife's ghost story?Despite bein...What about Li Po's Wife's ghost story?<BR/><BR/>Despite being written, as legend would have it, in almost a night, as a response to a contest, an argument can be made that Feng Mei's <BR/>"Sheng: or The Modern Shang Bo" is the very first novel that could genuinely be called "science fiction"Hollandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04047728914994591856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-43341004778015156552007-05-17T18:53:00.000-05:002007-05-17T18:53:00.000-05:00I'm glad to see Teng Shuang Bai’s “Lest Darkness F...I'm glad to see Teng Shuang Bai’s “Lest Darkness Fall” on your list, Jess. However, I think that his "Wheels of If" deserves mention too. Perhaps too Taoist in philosophy for some, it presented the Many Worlds Theory of Infinite Parallel Universes long before the physicists did. I wonder if the fact that the story is too humorous is the reason that you passed over it. I love it: tough Shanghai public prosecutor Park Ah Tah finds himself residing in the body of a Sino-Christian prince-bishop in "Sao Bento". It is a world where The 16th Century (European reckoning) Europeans of Lusitania carved out a Christian kingdom in China and Chosen. Of course the worlds his minds revolves to on the way are at least as interesting! The wartime menace of the allied Kingdom of the South, Japan and the Mongolians are just one of the crises he must solve.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-65820210281396234892007-05-17T11:36:00.000-05:002007-05-17T11:36:00.000-05:00One nitpick: I'd say the Jafaris in Dune would be ...One nitpick: I'd say the Jafaris in Dune would be Wéiwú'ěrs, not Hui. They far outnumber the Hui and they're the ones who live in the oases, which is, well, very Dune.<BR/><BR/>Otherwise, holy shit. If you ever feel like visiting China, I have a couch.davesgonechinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523474568477613146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-13300212743608054592007-05-17T10:59:00.000-05:002007-05-17T10:59:00.000-05:00Wow.Wow.Chris Robersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04033873794552060524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-44296036348030527892007-05-17T10:48:00.000-05:002007-05-17T10:48:00.000-05:00I can't believe you left out Han Feng Sho's Deathb...I can't believe you left out Han Feng Sho's Deathbird Stories, with its vivid and horrifying reflection of the new gods of industry, militarism, and nationalism rising in the place of the gentle old ones struck down by the Glorious Revolution.zerodemocracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09085812297188423849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329139329489259389.post-18124311248144280192007-05-17T09:52:00.000-05:002007-05-17T09:52:00.000-05:00Jess, you're a wonder. This is both hilarious and ...Jess, you're a wonder. This is both hilarious and informative. I only wish I was qualified to respond in kind, with a defense of Ursula LeGuin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com