Invisible Planets: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese SF in Translation

by Ken Liu

No single factor means anything. Everything has to be contextualized. There are too many hidden relationships, too many disguised opportunities for profit, too many competing concerns. This is the most complicated chess game in the world, the Great Game. But all I can see is my broken heart.

A man is such a strange animal: fear and desire are expressed by the same organ. For the former, he loses control of the organ and it lets out urine; for the latter, he loses control of the organ and it fills with blood.

Sin is like wine. The more it is hidden from sunlight, the more it ferments, growing more potent.

Demons, ghosts, all kinds of spirits come out of their ruined houses, out of cracks in walls, rotting closets, dry wells. Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, they parade up and down Ghost Street until the narrow street is filled.

When you sing, the world will listen; when you are quiet, you’ll hear the song of all creation.”

But they remain opaque to each other, unaware that when it comes to time, everyone is only measuring the universe using the ruler of their own lifespan.