character driven story full of detailed world building
Vagabonds is one of those books I've been excited for since I first heard about it. Translated fiction is something I so rarely read and translated science fiction? I've been following the translated works of Ken Liu for a while now and when I saw Vagabonds I knew I had to check it out! Vagabonds is written by the first ever Chinese woman to win a Hugo Award! As a Chinese American, I was thrilled to see Jingfang's win and knew I wanted to support this book with my whole heart. I am so happy to see the diversity within the SF field gaining more and more attention.
Vagabonds is an epic book both in scale and writing. I immediately fell in love with the way it's written from the beginning. With translated work, there's a balance between the writing and the translation and Liu and Jingfang nail it! There's fantastic writing from the prologue and as soon as you keep reading, a fabulously detailed SF world emerges. You might think that Vagabonds is going to be all SF space action from the beginning. Instead Vagabonds is a thoughtful and complex character driven story about home. As we begin leaving home, growing up in other countries, and return home, how do we think about home? What does home come to mean for us? The world building in Vagabonds is incredibly detailed whether it be the planet or the spaceships. For those who appreciate a good detailed world, they should definitely pick up Vagabonds!
I have so much respect for this book and the translation. It's definitely a slower paced read, and I wouldn't take this to the beach (if you could even fit it in your bag), but it's a book you want to savor and sink into. There's political tension and a quest for independence and order amongst the stars.
Vagabonds is an epic book both in scale and writing. I immediately fell in love with the way it's written from the beginning. With translated work, there's a balance between the writing and the translation and Liu and Jingfang nail it! There's fantastic writing from the prologue and as soon as you keep reading, a fabulously detailed SF world emerges. You might think that Vagabonds is going to be all SF space action from the beginning. Instead Vagabonds is a thoughtful and complex character driven story about home. As we begin leaving home, growing up in other countries, and return home, how do we think about home? What does home come to mean for us? The world building in Vagabonds is incredibly detailed whether it be the planet or the spaceships. For those who appreciate a good detailed world, they should definitely pick up Vagabonds!
I have so much respect for this book and the translation. It's definitely a slower paced read, and I wouldn't take this to the beach (if you could even fit it in your bag), but it's a book you want to savor and sink into. There's political tension and a quest for independence and order amongst the stars.