"Hai Xuan's Strange Tales Collection" includes ten works including Hai Wei's 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novella "Time and Space Painter".
The first time I read Hai Xuan's work, I was really impressed by the author's brain, weird, bold and reasonable and appropriate, and there was a sense of unfinished meaning after reading.
Being able to connect ancient legends and future technology together seems to be inconsistent, and when I read the story, I feel very novel.
"Dragon Remains" combines the story of the legendary dragon in China and the father of the Chinese airship, which is eye-catching, fresh and exciting.
The ancient myth and legend that the dragon can swallow clouds and spit fog and soar into the sky is amazing, and it is amazing that the author can have such an imagination and integrate technology and mythology.
The study of dragon remains by the characters in the story, which is close to popular science and science fiction, will naturally arouse the reader's curiosity and inquiry.
For example, the three vesicles in the dragon's skeleton play a crucial role in the dragon's flight, and the change in the weight of the empty body is also related to this.
The story of "Time and Space Painter" is more interesting, the restorer of cultural relics in the Forbidden City found that the villain of the ancient painting could move on a thunderstorm, and later found that the villain was missing again.
Soon after, the Forbidden City often appeared in the shadow of moving, and the staff thought that it was the work of the cultural relics theft gang, so they called the police.
After Officer Zhou received the task, he decided to wait for the rabbit on a rainy night, but he didn't expect Officer Zhou to be haunted by ghosts and encounter a car accident, and it turned out that the ghost was Zhao Ximeng.
Inspired by "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", the author renamed the author Wang Ximeng to Zhao Ximeng, giving him superpowers.
Zhao Ximeng was able to move time from high-dimensional time and space, experienced the humiliation of Jingkang, and saw the destruction of the country and the family, so he painted "A Thousand Miles of Hunger" to meet the emperor, but was imprisoned by the emperor.
There are also stories such as "May Time Stay Here", "Spring Outside the Tulou", and "Blood Disaster" are very interesting, and it can be said that this is a popular science fiction novel that can be read.
Each story in the book integrates scientific and technological brain holes, historical legends, and folk anecdotes, making these stories easy to read and have a sci-fi flavor.
I have to admire how rich the author's imagination is, as well as a solid historical foundation, coupled with smooth writing, so that every story has suspense and is attractive, and it can be called the best science fiction novel.
The packaging design of this book is also very beautiful, and the transparent skull cover is very distinctive, and the partial pull page of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is opened, as if opening the prelude to the story.
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About the author: Gu Ziyu, a freelance writer, shares good books and good stories with you.