The Lost Xuyan Bride

The Universe of Xuya

by Aliette de Bodard

First appeared in Interzone, issue 213

"They say you are the one to see if I want to track down a missing person," the woman said, pulling to her the only chair in my office. She wore silk, embroidered with a qi'lin unicorn–a rank reserved to the highest businessmen of Fenliu

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Mystery, Alternate History, Fiction, Adult, Crime

ebook

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Aliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris. She has won three Nebula Awards, an Ignyte Award, a Locus Award, a British Fantasy Award and four British Science Fiction Association Awards, and was a double Hugo finalist for 2019 (Best Series and Best Novella).

Her most recent book is Fireheart Tiger (Tor.com), a sapphic romantic fantasy inspired by pre colonial Vietnam, where a diplomat princess must decide the fate of her country, and her own. She also wrote Seven of Infinities (Subterranean Press), a space opera where a sentient spaceship and an upright scholar join forces to investigate a murder, and find themselves falling for each other. Other books include Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders and its standalone sequel Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances, (JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.), fantasy books of manners and murders set in an alternate 19th Century Vietnamese court. She lives in Paris.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent detective short story but I was hoping for more in terms of characters and maybe even a little bit of world building.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm finally going to read through all of the author's Xuya stories that I can get ahold of in the chronological order that she lists on her website. I'd already read this one once, and it was interesting how much I enjoyed it even the second time through. It helps to have a bad memory, but it also helps that there were a lot of nuances in the cultures and details in the story to pick up on that were even more apparent the second time. It was very rich, slightly noir and very enjoyable.

[Mina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly interested apart from the underlying world-building concept.

The characters are vague and apathetic. The references to a 'past event that defined the character are cartoonish'.

[Nicholas Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, short read in Aliette de Bodard's Xuya universe. World building was amazing for such a short story and I love the detective aspect of it. While I liked the characters, I feel as if they weren't fully developed with the time we were given with them. Would love to see these characters again or another installment in this era of the Xuya universe. Maybe a novella or novel that fleshes things out a bit more.

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another novella that continues on from the previous two in building "The Universe of Xuya".

You can read this at Aliette's website.

This time we are taken into the heart of Xuya, and Xuyan society, where a young women has disappeared and her wealthy mother -- who doesn't want to get the Xuyan authorities involved -- employs an American detective to find her.

So what we end up with is a rather good detective story that also gives the reader their first glimpse into the heart of Xuya and the cultural tensions between Xuya, America, Greater Mexica and their peoples.

I'm really enjoying Aliette's style in how she is slowly building this alternative history of the world.   Not the usual, tedious, info dumps of some sci-fi writers, but each a delightful short story/novella each giving us a view of this history from a totally different perspective.

Once again, great writing, interesting characters, good pacing.   I'm also liking that this is not a series that you can just buy all the parts easily from Amazon, i'm very much liking that they're scattered all around the internet and have to be found one at a time, it's like a big puzzle.

I'll be back with more Xuya reviews soon.

[chvang · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's pretty good; I liked it. I recommend it.

A detective yarn set in a North America where the Chinese discovered the Americas before the Europeans, and settled it. As a result, the Aztecs were able to fend off the Spaniards with Chinese gunpowder. The Chinese, or Xuya, are the economic powerhouse in North America. The Aztecs, or Mexica, are a technological powerhouse, known for their computers. The United States still exists, but as a rump of its OTL self.

The story starts in the Xuya city of Fenliu (San Franciso?). An American ex-pat PI is hired by a businesswoman to find her missing daughter. The trail leads to the heart of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and involves the Xuya underworld. A bit linear and straightforward, but it has some unique and intriguing world-building.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a heartfelt detective story, filled with lush cultural references and world-building, and poignant ruminations on family and survival. I really wish all these Xuya stories were collected together in one book; it is fun tracking them down in their scattered locations, but hard to keep the cohesion of the universe between these random readings.

You can find this one on Aliette de Bodard's website, here: http://aliettedebodard.com/short-stor...

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detective noir story set in an alternate timeline in which the Aztec and Chinese cultures dominate the West Coast and the Anglos are very much the sneered upon minority. It sets up the very beginning of her Xuya Universe series, showing just how long consequences can last.

In that setting, there is a private detective, just trying to make rent, hired to find a missing damsel in distress. And, like all detective stories, it’s all a downward spiral from there…

[Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent noir short story - a mystery - set within de Bodard’s alternative universe, and using the disappearance of a young woman in the month before her scheduled marriage as a way to explore cultural connections and differences between the United States, Xuya, and Mexica. It reads like a Ross Macdonald Lew Archer story - focused on the details of the relationships between the suspects - translated to a fascinatingly strange world.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was quite a different story for this world. The main character was white and a man! It was a fairly good introduction to the setting as he was having to explain all the cultural references being an outsider. It was a nice little noir and quite bladerunner. Though I missed the women and the ships.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one gave a bit more of a wide view on the different world we're seeing here. I really enjoyed that. It was a bleak story but there was a note of perseverance through the whole thing that I really liked. Still enjoying this universe a lot.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this. But it was a very different take on the Xuyu empire, like still on earth and before space travel is common place, different. Kinda draws on some of Bodard's other series which I have yet to read so I won't comment much on that. Enjoyable but short. Sometimes I wish she would expand on these stories so much more.

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not remotely my favorite of the Xuya-verse but nothing objectionable; an interesting angle of the worldbuilding I haven't run into in most of my other reads here, just not characters that interested me at all.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As another reviewer here said, the worldbuilding was the interesting part, not the story itself. Still a good quick read though.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Daniy ♠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first entry into the mexican part of this universe. It was good, weird? But good.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating short mystery set on Earth with the competing cultures of Xuya, Greater Mexica and a smaller United States.

[Fabri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story has a strong underlying theme of belonging, family and the limited possibilities of shaping one’s destiny. The world building is magnificent and is a perfect entry to the Xuya universe.

[MollyK]

https://www.aliettedebodard.com/short...

[Danielle Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another entry in the Xuya universe. I didn't love this - I think the author chose an American protagonist to better showcase the cultural differences and the alienation an American would feel in this timeline, but the main character himself is very dull and it's hard to care about his tragic past and dead girlfriend when there are so many other cool things going on that we could be learning about instead. He kind of just gets in the way. Love the world-building so far though!

[Erin (PT) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very different than the other Xuyan story that I read, and yet just as entrancing. I feel like this is more the alternate history I wanted from the novel Vermillion by Molly Tanzer; one that feels very rooted in reality and very complete of itself. This one is a rather noirish mystery set within the borders of Xuya, the independent Chinese kingdom which takes up (as far as I can tell) all the land west of the Rockies. Our American protagonist is hired by a well-born and well-heeled Chinese woman to find her missing daughter. It's very visual; I could easily see it as a movie or miniseries and, as mentioned, the word-building is intoxicating. It seems like it may be a bit of a treasure hunt to track down all the scattered Xuyan stories...but it also seems as if it will be well worth it.