Chinese science fiction is at its height these days. As Netflix prepares to stream on its platform amazingly Three body problem Making Liu Cixin a world-renowned author, two publishers these days offer a more in-depth French insight into what makes this pioneer of the genre a dream come true during his appearance in the Middle Kingdom.
Delcourt’s releases will deposit somewhere by mid-May on bookstore shelves in Quebec the first picture album of what promises to be a staple series of picture books for fans of particularly high-volume, cerebral science fiction. Liu Zixin futures contracts. roam the earth It is the first volume. It deals with a well-known short story under the title roam the earthone of the most famous Chinese science fiction authors on both sides of the Great Wall of China these days.
In the preface to this particularly powerful, well-packed 132-page photo album, Liu Cixin wrote: “I’ve always believed that science fiction is best expressed through images rather than through text, and these comics only confirm my opinion.” Cixin adds that “these are works of excellent craftsmanship; each image has an incredible charm and plunges us into the heart of wonderful representations of the future and the universe.”
Christophe Beck is a French author of romantic comedies to which we owe much the return of French-Belgian spy Bob Morin. He reconnects with Italian artist Stefano Raffaele, who illustrates this first volume in a hopefully long and lasting series. Raffaele is also one of the preeminent illustrators of the wonderful Marvel universe (moon knightAnd electraAnd hooketc.).
There is no international spy or superhero in ground wanderer, si ce n’est l’Humanité elle-même, qui, dans un étonnant sursaut de collaboration, s’entend sur l’ambitieux projet de déménager la planète entière dans l’Alpha du Centaure, galaxie- située ané 4 Sun light. the reason ? Imagine a renewal, an interstellar coordination: the Sun decided to turn into a giant supernova and would suck up its closest planets.
in four times, The roam the earth It illustrates the implications of this step for human life: the end of the Earth’s orbit, the exit from the solar system, the unequivocal doubt and popular uprising before the world government that is leading this project, and the infinite patience of terrestrial humans in their caves that must reach 2,500 years, or 100 generations, before they reach their destination.
The story is dark, cold and intellectual. The illustrations are loaded, detailed and powerful. The result is a comic strip that is read more than seen, much to the chagrin of those who prefer to let pictures do the talking. Self-portrait art likely leaves a lot of room for highly explanatory dialogues, which is essential if you want to follow the thread of the story.
It is very easy to get lost among the stars that are thousands of light years apart. If Liu Cixin is convinced that comics offer the best way to express science fiction, then let’s hope that Futures The photographer will add a bit of emotion and find a better balance between science and fiction.
Einstein’s equator
In the context of the war in Ukraine, it is more difficult than ever these days to fully comprehend the difficult geopolitical relationship between the United States, Russia and China, these “enemies” (friends-enemy) forced into the post-Cold War. Liu Chuxin, who says he has a great admiration for “the Russian people and their literature,” offers a rarely seen Western view of this trio in Einstein’s equatoris the first of two volumes published by Actes Sud in French and compiles a series of short stories written by the Chinese author in recent decades.
at Jamming the entire bandwidthIt is a small lesson in military strategy in the age of electronic communications that would have been a farcical if the reality had not been more absurd. The Russian army’s use of unencrypted radio frequencies on the Ukrainian front during the first weeks of its difficult advance westward is a misstep that demonstrates a lack of preparation for the whole affair.
Liu Chuxin based his short story on real American military evidence dating back to 1993 which should at least have served as a lesson, and at best thwarted the Russian invasion completely. Turning this news upside down, it also shows how Russia can boast of a mastery of propaganda in the age of decentralized social networks: by jamming all frequencies.
This is just one of the many pearls of Chinese wisdom found among the 17 stories featured in Einstein’s equator, which questions the existence of God in the same way that it questions the difficult relationship that binds all societies on this planet to their educational system. If that bell (school?) didn’t ring in the minds of Quebec readers…
Liu Cixin wrote: “Of all forms of artistic and literary expression, science fiction is arguably the one most likely to resonate with audiences of different countries and cultures.” The reason for this is that works of science fiction often present humanity as a single entity: the crises and challenges it depicts must be confronted collectively. »
Like Gene Roddenberry before him, Liu Cixin is a must-read by everyone. Perhaps by Liu Zixin himself. This promoter of the universality of the human condition has been criticized since the summer of 2020 for what would have been a public statement supporting the Chinese government’s detention and detention of the Muslim Uighur minority…
