Ken Liu – författare

A TIME MAGAZINE BEST FANTASY BOOK OF ALL TIME Emperor Mapidéré was the first to unite the island kingdoms of Dara under a single banner. But now the emperor is on his deathbed, his people are exhausted by his vast, conscriptive engineering projects and his counsellors conspire only for their own gain. Even the gods themselves are restless. A wily, charismatic bandit and the vengeance-sworn son of a deposed duke cross paths as they each lead their own rebellion against the emperor's brutal regime. Together, they will journey to the heart of the empire; witnessing the clash of armies, fleets of silk-draped airships, magical books and shapeshifting gods. Their unlikely friendship will drastically change the balance of power in Dara... but at what price? The Grace of Kings is the first novel by Hugo-, Nebula- and World Fantasy Award-winner Ken Liu and the first in a monumental epic fantasy series.

From the title story's fantastical inter-dimensional assassins to the steampunk dystopia of "Grey Rabbit, Crimson Mare, Coal Leopard" burrowing through the ruins of a civilisation destroyed by a plague, from Black Mirror-esque tales of blockchain cryptography ("Byzantine Empathy") and Internet trolling ("Thoughts and Prayers") to a three-story hard-SF arc about artificial intelligence and the singularity ("The Gods Will Not Be Chained", "The Gods Will Not Be Slain" and "The Gods Have Not Died In Vain"), here are 17 interlinking visions that explore what it is to be human, and what it is like to abandon or transcend that. This collection confirms Ken Liu, author of the astonishing and multi-award winning The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, as one of speculative fiction's greatest short story writers. Contents include: Ghost Days, Maxwell's Demon,The Reborn, Thoughts and Prayers, Byzantine Empathy, The Gods Will Not Be Chained, Staying Behind, Real Artists, The Gods Will Not Be Slain, Altogether Elsewhere Vast Herds of Reindeer, The Gods Have Not Died in Vain, Memories of My Mother, Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit – Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts, Grey Rabbit, Crimson Mare, Coal Leopard, A Chase Beyond the Storms (an excerpt from The Veiled Throne, Book 3 of the Dandelion Dynasty), The Hidden Girl, Seven Birthdays, The Message, Cutting.

A mind-blowing anthology of 18 stories bringing you the infinite Earths of the multiverse.Featuring Alix E. Harrow, Clive Barker, Ken Liu, Charlie Jane Anders, Annallee Newitz, Alastair Reynolds and more.Imagine infinite Earths, an endless universe containing every possible world. What if the mistakes we make be taken back? What if the war wasn't won, or that life wasn't saved, or that heart wasn't broken?Explore the infinite potential of the multiverse with the finest minds writing in science fiction today, and see what could have been...Featuring stories from:Alix E. HarrowClive BarkerAlastair ReynoldsKen LiuCharlie Jane AndersAnnalee NewitzIan McDonaldLavie TidharJeffrey ThomasChana PorterPaul Di FilippoJayaprakash SatyamurthyEugen BaconYukimi OgawaAlvaro Zinos AmaroD. R. G. SugawaraRumi Kaneko.

*2026 LOCUS FINALIST FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL**ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2025*Is all that we see or seemBut a dream within a dream?— Edgar Allan PoeAt 14, Julia Z became infamous as the "orphan hacker," a teenage prodigy who broke the law and captivated a nation. Now, years later, she’s trying to leave that life behind, hiding in the quiet suburbs of Boston. But her fragile anonymity is shattered when a desperate lawyer bursts into her life, begging for her help to find his wife—a celebrated artist who uses AI to craft shared dreams for thousands of followers and who has been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate.Against her better judgment, Julia embarks on a harrowing journey across the country, drawn ever-deeper into the shadows of the American dream. As she tracks the criminals, she confronts not only their perilous schemes but also the ghosts of her own past. Resourceful, relentless, and deeply contemptuous of authority, Julia must dig deep into her unique skillset and fractured psyche to uncover the truth — and to hold onto hope when everything around her descends into darkness.This is the first book in an electrifying new series that masterfully intertwines the urgent thriller with thought-provoking speculation on the future of art in an age dominated by artificial intelligence. Julia Z is a bold, unforgettable heroine destined to captivate readers — a literary creation as rich and compelling as the Dandelion Dynasty itself.

*2026 LOCUS FINALIST FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL**ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2025*Is all that we see or seemBut a dream within a dream?— Edgar Allan PoeAt 14, Julia Z became infamous as the "orphan hacker," a teenage prodigy who broke the law and captivated a nation. Now, years later, she’s trying to leave that life behind, hiding in the quiet suburbs of Boston. But her fragile anonymity is shattered when a desperate lawyer bursts into her life, begging for her help to find his wife—a celebrated artist who uses AI to craft shared dreams for thousands of followers and who has been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate.Against her better judgment, Julia embarks on a harrowing journey across the country, drawn ever-deeper into the shadows of the American dream. As she tracks the criminals, she confronts not only their perilous schemes but also the ghosts of her own past. Resourceful, relentless, and deeply contemptuous of authority, Julia must dig deep into her unique skillset and fractured psyche to uncover the truth — and to hold onto hope when everything around her descends into darkness.This is the first book in an electrifying new series that masterfully intertwines the urgent thriller with thought-provoking speculation on the future of art in an age dominated by artificial intelligence. Julia Z is a bold, unforgettable heroine destined to captivate readers — a literary creation as rich and compelling as the Dandelion Dynasty itself.

*2026 LOCUS FINALIST FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL**ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2025*Is all that we see or seemBut a dream within a dream?— Edgar Allan PoeAt 14, Julia Z became infamous as the "orphan hacker," a teenage prodigy who broke the law and captivated a nation. Now, years later, she’s trying to leave that life behind, hiding in the quiet suburbs of Boston. But her fragile anonymity is shattered when a desperate lawyer bursts into her life, begging for her help to find his wife—a celebrated artist who uses AI to craft shared dreams for thousands of followers and who has been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate.Against her better judgment, Julia embarks on a harrowing journey across the country, drawn ever-deeper into the shadows of the American dream. As she tracks the criminals, she confronts not only their perilous schemes but also the ghosts of her own past. Resourceful, relentless, and deeply contemptuous of authority, Julia must dig deep into her unique skillset and fractured psyche to uncover the truth — and to hold onto hope when everything around her descends into darkness.This is the first book in an electrifying new series that masterfully intertwines the urgent thriller with thought-provoking speculation on the future of art in an age dominated by artificial intelligence. Julia Z is a bold, unforgettable heroine destined to captivate readers — a literary creation as rich and compelling as the Dandelion Dynasty itself.

Laozi’s Dao De Jing was written around 400 BC by a compassionate soul in a world torn by hatred and ambition, dominated by those that yearned for apocalyptic confrontations and prized ideology over experience. By speaking out against the cleverness of elites and the arrogance of the learned, Laozi upheld the wisdom of the concrete, the humble, the quotidian, the everyday individual dismissed by the great powers of the world. Earthy, playful, and defiant, Laozi’s words gave solace to souls back then, and offer comfort today. Now, this beautifully designed new edition serves as both an accessible new translation of an ancient Chinese classic and a fascinating account of renowned novelist Ken Liu’s transformative experience while wrestling with the classic text.Throughout this translation, Liu takes us through his own struggles to capture the meaning in Laozi’s text in a series of thoughtful and provocative interstitial entries. Unlike traditional notes that purport to be objective, these entries are explicitly personal and unapologetically subjective. Gradually, as Liu learns that true wisdom cannot be pinned down in words, the notes grow sparser until they fade away entirely. His journey suggests the only way out of struggle is to engage with texts that have survived the millennia, wrestling with ideas that gesture at something eternal, in hopes that we might eventually reach that moment of transcendent joy.Liu’s translation, by eschewing cleverness, paradoxically reveals the slipperiness of Laozi’s original. The Dao De Jing has been translated countless times and will be translated countless times in the future. In that constant change and flow, we finally find our home in Dao, the eternal principle that allows us, finite beings in time and space, to reckon and reconcile with the infinite.

Laozi’s Dao De Jing was written around 400 BC by a compassionate soul in a world torn by hatred and ambition, dominated by those that yearned for apocalyptic confrontations and prized ideology over experience. By speaking out against the cleverness of elites and the arrogance of the learned, Laozi upheld the wisdom of the concrete, the humble, the quotidian, the everyday individual dismissed by the great powers of the world. Earthy, playful, and defiant, Laozi’s words gave solace to souls back then, and offer comfort today. Now, this beautifully designed new edition serves as both an accessible new translation of an ancient Chinese classic and a fascinating account of renowned novelist Ken Liu’s transformative experience while wrestling with the classic text.Throughout this translation, Liu takes us through his own struggles to capture the meaning in Laozi’s text in a series of thoughtful and provocative interstitial entries. Unlike traditional notes that purport to be objective, these entries are explicitly personal and unapologetically subjective. Gradually, as Liu learns that true wisdom cannot be pinned down in words, the notes grow sparser until they fade away entirely. His journey suggests the only way out of struggle is to engage with texts that have survived the millennia, wrestling with ideas that gesture at something eternal, in hopes that we might eventually reach that moment of transcendent joy.Liu’s translation, by eschewing cleverness, paradoxically reveals the slipperiness of Laozi’s original. The Dao De Jing has been translated countless times and will be translated countless times in the future. In that constant change and flow, we finally find our home in Dao, the eternal principle that allows us, finite beings in time and space, to reckon and reconcile with the infinite.

Features over thirty stories .

In celebration of Rosarium's fifth anniversary, publisher Bill Campbell has compiled a two-volume collection of 100 science fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories from around the world. Like space and the future, Sunspot Jungle has no boundaries and celebrates the wide varieties and possibilities this genre represents, with some of the most notable names in the field. Featuring the works of: Nick Harkaway, Ken Liu, Nalo Hopkinson, Tananarive Due, Max Gladstone, Nisi Shawl, Nick Mamatas, Carmen Maria Machado, Tobias S. Buckell, Karen Lord, and more!

100 years after Karel Capek coined the word, “robots” are an everyday idea, and the inspiration for countless stories in books, film, TV and games.They are often among the least privileged, most unfairly used of us, and the more robots are like humans, the more interesting they become. This collection of stories is where robots stand in for us, where both we and they are disadvantaged, and where hope and optimism shines through.Including stories by: Brooke Bolander · John Chu · Daryl Gregory · Peter F. Hamilton · Saad Z. Hossain · Rich Larson · Ken Liu · Ian R. Macleod · Annalee Newitz · Tochi Onyebuchi · Suzanne Palmer · Sarah Pinsker · Vina Jie-Min Prasad · Alastair Reynolds · Sofia Samatar · Peter Watts

From the winner of the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, the epic third volume of the Dandelion Dynasties series, named by Time as one of the Greatest Fantasy books of All Time, continues.Princess Théra, once known as Empress Üna of Dara, yielded the throne to her younger brother in order to journey to Ukyu-Gondé to war with the Lyucu, and has crossed the impenetrable Wall of Storms with a fleet of ships and ten thousand people. Now she faces new challenges.In Dara, the Lyucu leadership bristles with rivalries, as power and perspectives change between the remains of the Dandelion courts. Here, mothers and daughters, Empress and Pékyu alike, nurture the seeds of plans that will take years to bloom. As the conquerors and the conquered jockey for position in these new regimes, tradition gives way to new justifications for power.Ken Liu returns to the series that has helped bridge the great epics of our history into a series that is unsurpassed in its depth of scope and adventure.Praise for The Grace of Kings: 'Beyond ambitious in scope... This book will leave a lasting impression on the genre' SFX

Ken Liu is one of the most original, thought-provoking and award-winning short-story writers of his generation. This is the first collection of his work – sixteen stories that invoke the magical within the mundane, by turns profound, beguiling and heartbreaking. Included here are: The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary (Finalist for Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon Awards), Mono No Aware (Hugo Award winner), The Waves (Nebula Award finalist), The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species (Nebula and Sturgeon award finalists), All the Flavors (Nebula Award finalist), The Litigation Master and the Monkey King (Nebula Award finalist) ,and the most awarded story in the genre's history, The Paper Menagerie (the only story ever to win the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards).

Here are thirteen short stories from the new frontiers of Chinese science fiction, selected and translated by Hugo, Nebula, Locus and World Fantasy Award-winner Ken Liu. Hao Jingfang's Hugo Award-winning 'Folding Beijing' takes place in a near-future dystopia where the title city's buildings fold into and out of the earth, allowing three different strata of society to spend part of the day above ground. Xia Jia's 'Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse' describes a post-apocalyptic world where machines have outlived the humans who engineered them. In 'Taking Care of God' by Liu Cixin – author of The Three-Body Problem, the first translated novel to win the Hugo Award – a race of white-haired, white-robed beings arrive on Earth, claiming they are God, creators of everything who now want to spend their retirement years with us... Including an introduction by Ken Liu and three essays exploring Chinese science fiction, this is a phenomenal collection of strange worlds, hypnotic landscapes and unbridled imagination.