¿Qué será del mundo, y de la humanidad, luego del cambio climático? ¿Cómo sería un planeta con los vestigios de civilizaciones muertas milenios antes? ¿Cómo podríamos trascender nuestra condición anclada al cuerpo? Son algunas de las preguntas a las que Ken Liu responde en estas narraciones que indagan en posibles futuros y en pasados que nos permiten reflexionar en torno a la condición humana, la bondad y nuestras responsabilidades como especie y como individuos. Algunas de las respuestas que encuentra, a las que da forma narrativa, son dolorosamente pesimistas, pero es entendible que así lo sean. Heredero de Bradbury, de Octavia Butler, de Ursula K. Leguin construye sus especulaciones sin dejar de lado la emotividad y los lazos de sus personajes, por ejemplo la importancia que adquiere en ciertas narraciones la relación intergeneracional.

I think this may be my favourite short story collection I've ever read and reminded me about my love of science fiction after going on a long fantasy binge. A good science fiction story for me should explore the questions of "What makes us human?" and "What is the human experience?" and every story in this book does just that, and does so beautifully.

I did a short one sentence review on each short story as I finished reading them but my top 5 (in order) would be:

1. Ghost Days: the opening story genuinely gripped me and brought tears to my eyes.
2. Memories of My Mother: also made me tear up.
3. The entire series with Maddie that started with The Gods Will Not Be Chained and "ended" with The Gods Did Have Not Died In Vain: when I read the first one I thought it was a great standalone and when I saw that there was more peppered in throughout the book I got so excited.
4. Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer: it was just gorgeous
5. Real Artists: genuinely very cool, kinda sinister.

HONOURABLE MENTION TO: Grey Rabbit, Crimson Mare, Coal Leopard. I needed more. This was clearly just the beginning. Give me a series. Give me that fantasy epic. I want it. I need it.

There were weaker stories but I didn't find myself disliking any of them. Definitely a book I'd recommend to all my friends but also I would not let my friends borrow from me because I don't want anything happening to my copy.

Short stories are difficult. Especially if they are standalone stories that don't take place within a world you already know. An author has to set up a scene, introduce at least one character, set up a story, progress that story and resolve it - all of that while creating some form of tension or emotional attachment - within a few dozen pages.

That is hard, and not many authors have the skill to consistently pull this off. Ken Liu has mastered this craft. His short stories have enchanted me before when I read his first collection 'The Paper Menagerie & Other Stories'.

He has a way with words that catches you in its spell very quickly. His prose is refined and efficient. Two pages in, and you will relate to this character who didn't exist in your mind two minutes before. Five pages in, and you will be immersed in this setting that only just started blooming in your mind.

Most of these stories can be categorized as scifi, some are fantasy, others somewhere in between. A handful of those are interconnected and could potentially serve as the base to a full length story, and I hope he will start writing full length science fiction novels in the future, because there are ideas and concepts in here that are just too good to be left behind.

There are some stories that I didn't enjoy as much as others. Sometimes they start out strong but then lose my interest in where the plot heads. In those, he builds a great, creative setting but them proceeds to tell a very mundane short story that wouldn't have needed said setting and this leads to me feeling disappointed.

The majority of the stories is enjoyable though, it's a fun read, often cozy and sometimes terrifying. If you haven't read any Ken Liu short stories, start with The Paper Menagerie collection, I think that one is superior to this. But then, pick up this one as well!

The Paper Menagerie included stories across a spectrum of genres and worlds. The Hidden Girl and Other Stories remains focused on the theme of digitally uploading human consciousness to a computerized afterlife. While some of the stories are great, the book suffers in comparison to _menagerie_