Ken Liu's Blog, page 9
October 20, 2015
The Right to Move
Nicholas Schmidle writing for The New Yorker: Once his wife arrived, they would have children and he would raise them as Swedes. He didn’t care if his kids spoke Arabic. He added, in broken English, “I worship Sweden.” … ‘In Syria, there’s a hundred-per-cent chance that you’re going to die. If the chance of making …
Steve Jobs, the Movie
From The Hollywood Reporter: “Since the very beginning, Laurene Jobs has been trying to kill this movie, OK?” (Laurene’s character does not figure in the film, while Jobs’ daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, from another relationship, plays a prominent part.) “Laurene Jobs called Leo DiCaprio and said, ‘Don’t do it.’ Laurene Jobs called Christian Bale and said, …
October 10, 2015
Fan Art
Two cool pieces of fan art to share with you. First, Victoria Ying, an amazing artist who has worked on Tangled, Wreck It Ralph, and Big Hero 6, among other films, produced this fantastic scene in the courtship of Kuni and Jia. And fans of The Three-Body Problem will probably enjoy this fan video inspired …
Who Should Take Credit for The Martian?
Lisa and I got to see The Martian last week, and I did enjoy it (as have 93% of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes), though not as much as I had hoped. Among many other problems, the most egregious issues with the adaptation are these: Almost every single interesting episode in the book has been …
August 31, 2015
Award Slates
I’m going to keep this simple and short. My position on slates is perfectly captured by Elizabeth Bear and Aliette de Bodard in their respective blog posts. TL;DR: First of all, I’m going to state up front that I will never willingly participate in a slate. If I learn that I have been included on …
August 25, 2015
Sasquan and Hugos
I had an amazing time at Sasquan. I got to catch up with old friends — some of them had come all the way from China; others I had only known online. I got to make new friends — and match faces to names I had long admired. I got to do all this under …
June 29, 2015
The Sequel
For the last month or so, I’ve been doing nothing except working on the sequel to The Grace of Kings. (No title to announce yet, because I want to get publisher sign-off first.) And in the early hours of last Monday morning, I wrote THE END. I have a first draft. Some random thoughts: I …
My Readercon Schedule
I’ll be at Readercon in Burlington, MA, this July. My schedule is below: 7/11/2015, 9:00 AM “Betrayal With Integrity: Conformance and Estrangement in Translating Chinese SF” – solo talk 7/11/2015, 1:00 PM Autograph session with Michael J. Daley 7/11/2015, 3:00 PM Kaffeeklatsch with Ellen Datlow 7/12/2015, 9:00 AM “How I Wrote The Grace of Kings” …
May 11, 2015
One Month
It’s been a month since the release of The Grace of Kings. This is, without a doubt, the most widely read thing I’ve ever written, and I’m beyond pleased that many readers seem to be enjoying the world of Dara and the adventures of its inhabitants. Thank you; thank you so much. If you’ve read …
April 7, 2015
Release Day: The Grace of Kings
Today is the big day. The Grace of Kings is officially out from Saga Press! You can get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other fine bookstores. If you’re interested in reviews, I have a round up on the blog. And you can also peruse essays, interviews, and podcasts. Almost five years after I …
