The Wandering Earth

Regency Wharf, Worcester and Birmingham Canal

Chinese science fiction hey!, now there’s a thing. What have canal boats in Brum got to do with Chinese science fiction I don’t hear you ask, let me tell you. Nothing … probably. I expect you’re not surprised. I just wanted to put the picture up there because I like it. We went on a canal boat trip recently and i think that was a first for all of us.

Anyway, Chinese science fiction, specifically the Netflix film The Wandering Earth. Spoilers coming up so either go and watch it or don’t. So, they move the Earth and set fire to Jupiter. I enjoyed it and have nothing more to add. Other than, by coincidence (sort of) I’m currently reading an anthology of Chinese science fiction shorts stories — Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation — by Ken Liu that features a great introduction.

Oh yes, one more thing, Ken Liu Liu Cixin wrote the original story that the Netflix Film was based on, which I didn’t know until now, and now it all makes sense (kind of).

[Correction (3 Nov 2019): Deep apologies, I wrongly credited Ken Liu as the original author, it was of course Liu Cixin]