Invisible Planets: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese SF in Translation

by Ken Liu

Science fiction is the literature of dreams, and texts concerning dreams always say something about the dreamer, the dream interpreter, and the audience.

If he didn’t keep for himself bits of remote, hopeless hope, Arvardan thought he would go mad sooner or later.

Do you understand? When I am done telling you these stories, when you’re done listening to these stories, I am no longer I, and you are no longer you. In this afternoon we briefly merged into one. After this, you will always carry a bit of me, and I will always carry a bit of you, even if we both forget this conversation.