Individual Story Ratings:
The Wandering Earth -- 4.5/5
Mountain -- 5/5
Sun of China -- 4.5/5
For the Benefit of Mankind -- 3.5/5
Curse 5.0 -- 3/5
The Micro-Era -- 4/5
Devourer -- 4/5
Taking Care of God --- 4/5
With Her Eyes -- 5/5
Cannonball -- 4.5/5 ( )

With a few exceptions, Cixin Liu’s science fiction is pessimistic. When the Earth encounters aliens, we don’t form the United Federation of Planets – they eat us. Or worse. And – possibly in response to censorship in the PRC – there’s a tendency toward authoritarian governments, staffed by selfless and faceless bureaucrats. Still, the stories in this collection are all interesting and worth reading. ( )

3 body problem's ancestor ( )

The Wandering Earth 3 stars
"You are walking across a plane when you suddenly encounter a wall. The wall is infinitely tall and extends infinitely deep underground. It stretches infinitely to the left and infinitely to the right. What is it? Death."

Mountain 3 stars
A race originating in the core of a planet visits the Earth.

Sun of China 3 stars
Story of the journey of a boy from a small village in Northwestern China, who leaves because his parents don't have enough money for him to stay. He goes to the province's capital and becomes a shoepolish boy, then to Beijing where he becomes a skyscraper window cleaner. Next, he's sent to orbital space to clean the "China Sun," a second sun that will help to cure the problems of climate change. Finally, he will become a crew member of an interplanetary mission.
Nostalgia for a good future, that will never come about.

For the benefit of mankind, 4 stars
it's the story of the capitalism of our world, how it could end: One person owning 99% of the wealth and the rest of the population owning only 1%. You do not own the air you breathe, and you do not own the water you need to exist.
Here's a part that I hated:
".. the junkmen experienced the luxury of the nearby City by sifting through its trash. Mingled in the rotten food, it was often possible to make out a roast suckling pig with only the legs eaten away, a barely touched grouper, whole chickens.. recently, it had become common to find whole Silkie hens, owing to the popularity of a new dish called White Jade chicken. The dish was prepared by slitting open the stomach of the chicken, filling it with tofu, and letting it simmer. The slices of tofu were the real delicacy; the chicken, while delicious, was merely casing. Like the reed leaves around rice dumplings, any diner foolish enough to eat the chicken itself would become the laughingstock of more discerning epicureans..."

Curse 5.0, 2 stars
"17 years had passed since the birth of the Curse, and a new era had arrived -- the entire world was caught in the web. Once, only computers had been connected to the internet, but the internet of the present was like a spectacular Christmas tree, festooned and blinking with almost every object on earth. In the home, for example, every electric appliance was connected to and controlled by the web. Even nail clippers and bottle openers were no exception. The former could detect calcium deficiencies in nail trimmings and send an alert via text or email. The latter could determine whether the alcohol about to be consumed was legally produced or send notifications to sweepstakes winners. The bottle openers could also prevent users from drinking to excess by refusing to open a bottle until enough time had passed since opening the previous one. Under these circumstances, it became possible for the Curse to directly manipulate hardware."
They lost me, when they started talking about the wildcards in the parameters, but I can grasp a moral from the story calling you don't need to buy the latest iphone, the latest model of car, because everything is connected to the internet and more and more expensive, and more and more complex. Moreover, it's created to fail, so that you will have to buy the next model: planned obsolescence.

The Micro Era, 4 stars
What's the solution to no resources on earth? Shrink humans 9 magnitudes.
"If only a tenth of the planet's ecosphere could be restored to what it had been in the macro-era, the micro-era would become a heaven on earth. In fact, much more could probably be restored. The Forerunner indulged in the warm Bliss of imagination: he could picture the microhumans' wild Joy when they would first see a colossal green blade of grass rising to the heavens. And what about a small meadow? What would a meadow mean to micro-humanity?
An entire grassland! What would a grassland mean? A green Cosmos for micro-humanity! And a small brook in the grassland? What a majestic wonder the sight of the Brook's clear waters snaking through the grassland would be in the eyes of micro-humans. Earth's leaders had said there could be rain soon. If rain fell, there could be a grassland and that Brook could spring to life! Then there could certainly be trees! My god, trees!"

Devourer, 5 stars
This is the most awesome story! When I was reading it, I would picture fangs looking like godzilla.
"Fangs shook his massive head, interrupting before they could speak further. 'It is a very simple matter: I must merely have a taste... '
And with that, his giant claw reached into the gathered crowd and snatched up a European head of state. He gracefully tossed the man, a throw of 20-odds feet, straight into his mouth. Then he carefully began to chew. From the first crunch to the last, his victim remained completely mute; it was impossible to tell whether it was dignity or terror that stayed his screams."
Fang's race is going to use the Earth, devouring it to increase the resources on their massive spaceship. They are going to allow some humans to live, taking them to their interplanetary ship, letting them live till the age of 60, then devouring them. Humanity is sad and bewildered, and asks Fangs' race to give them the technology they will need to escape their planet. However, he refuses:
" 'don't assume that you can build a planetary engine just because you understand nuclear fusion. It's a long way from a firecracker to a rocket. Truth be told, there is no reason at all for you to work so hard at it. In the Milky Way, it is perfectly commonplace for a weaker civilization to become the livestock of a stronger civilization. You will discover that being raised for food is a splendid life indeed. You will have no wants and will live happily to the end. Some civilizations have sought to become livestock, only to be turned down. That you should feel uncomfortable with the idea is entirely the fault of a most banal anthropocentrism.' "
( )

While Liu's grand hit, the Remembrance of Earth's Past, is on my wish-list, I've been reluctant to read it, as it appears to be heavy on the hard science. So, I went for this collection of short-stories, which is always an easier way to get to know an author's work. What also helped, was the fact that the Waterstones shop was selling it at half-price.

And one must not have read the aforementioned trilogy to enjoy or understand the stories in 'The Wandering Earth', which is of course good news. All of the stories are quite accessible, although I don't know if that's because of Liu's writing-style or the translators' way of working.

These ten stories were translated by various translators, not just the famous [a:Ken Liu|2917920|Ken Liu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400610835p2/2917920.jpg]. This too, aside from the themes (trans-humanism, religion, sociology, politics, re-inventing life on Earth, influence/impact of technology on daily life, ...), gives this collection a varied offering.

While there were really no bad stories, not all could convince me. However, the majority certainly was fine and more than fine, much recommended, even.

Even if you are reluctant to read Liu's novels, you can't go wrong with a short-story collection like this one here, which shows why Liu has won the China Galaxy Science Fiction Award so many times. Now that's I've read these stories, my interest in the aforementioned trilogy has increased. However, my TBR-pile is still huge enough, choices have to be made continuously.

Contents:
* The Wandering Earth
* Mountain
* Sun of China
* For the Benefit of Mankind
* Curse 5.0
* The Micro-Era
* Devourer
* Taking Care of God
* With Her Eyes
* Cannonball ( )