Chinese bestseller wins top sci-fi award
Print Edition
Chinese sci-fi bestseller “The Three-Body Problem,” the first part of a trilogy, has won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Author Liu Cixin is the first Asian writer to win a Hugo Award, prizes given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements in the previous year.
The plot concerns an invasion of Earth by the alien “Trisolarans” and the response of Earth’s governments and scientists.
An English translation by Ken Liu was published in November last year and a movie version has completed filming and will hit cinema screens next year.
Liu said he was “very happy” about the accolade but “will treat the award with a humble attitude and won’t get overwhelmed.”
He said his award would boost the export of Chinese science fiction to the United States and help Americans better understand Chinese sci-fi.
However, he added: “Science fiction writing across the world is on a decline ... which I assume is because technology is losing its mystery, while mystery is an important backbone of sci-fi composition.”
Yan Feng, a professor at Fudan University, said: “Science fiction is born and raised in the West, but has also found fertile land in the Orient.”
Yao Haijun, chief editor of Science Fiction World, China’s most popular sci-fi magazine, said the award “marks a historic breakthrough for China’s sci-fi.”
Yao expected an “equal exchange” between Chinese and English sci-fi to change the largely one-way traffic of English works into China.
“Moreover, even though Liu created this miraculous work several years ago, we had little confidence back then. This prize will help us reevaluate our sci-fi,” he told reporters.
Wu Yan, a professor at Beijing Normal University, said: “It will call more public attention to Chinese sci-fi writers and their works ... and greatly boost China’s sci-fi industry.”
“The Dark Forest,” the second part of the saga, became available in the US earlier this month, and an English translation of the final one, “Death’s End,” is expected to hit shelves next year.
The trilogy has sold over a million copies in China.
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