To Hold Up the Sky

After reading the 3 Body Problem trilogy, I became a real fan of Ci Xin Liu, seeking out any of his other works. To Hold Up the Sky did not disappoint. I got the Kindle version as well as the Audible version so I can listen while driving. I'm several hours into the book and it has just revealed all kinds of treasures and surprises, has made me laugh and made me cry (both from grief and great happiness), has taught me many things and enabled me to see better through other viewpoints and dimensions. I am so glad I purchased this book.

I read this collection of 11 stories straight through over the course of about a week. Found myself drawn back to the book whenever I had the spare time for it...a good sign. For the most part, these stories are more "fantasy" in nature than mainstream science fiction (though these two descriptors obviously overlap considerably).I have a habit when reading collections of short stories. If the book is a "keeper," as this one is, after I read a story I put a small mark in the table of contents next to individual titles that particularly resonate with me. That way, if I pick up the book 5 or 10 years from now, I can easily identify and re-read my favorite stories. Collections that appeal to me might have 50% or 60% of the individual titles marked for eventual re-reading. In this case, only 4 of 11 titles (36%) were marked. Of the remaining 7 stories, I had a difficult time getting through 2 of them, and felt the remaining 5 were somewhat entertaining and thought provoking.So, my conclusion (and purely my personal opinion): a mixed bag. Some truly excellent tales. His writing style is distinctive. So, if you enjoyed his trilogy, you'll likely appreciate at least some of these short tales.

The first story alone is worth the buy. A story of a schoolteacher in an impoverished region of China that gives his life - literally - to teach very poor kids. For 3/4 of the story, one thinks the story is sweet and gentle, but because of what he teaches the children with his dying breath, Earth is saved from alien invasion. The rest of the stories so far are great - don't look for space opera - but meaning infused with sci-fi

If you’re in the mood for a hard sci-fi short story collection, To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu (translated by Joel Martinsen, Adam Lanphier, John Chu, and Carmen Yiling Yan) certainly delivers. Liu’s writing style often makes these stories feel very present-day even when they’re obviously not, and his prose is beautiful. Many of these stories read like fables reminding us not to underestimate humanity, showing us the larger-scale impact of seemingly small gestures and our (compared to the universe) fleeting lives.“The Time Migration” reminded me of all the philosophical stuff I love about Star Trek: The Next Generation, Doctor Who, and The Little Prince, but 10x more in depth. “Ode to Joy” is where sci-fi meets music in the most imaginative way, and “Sea of Dreams” was thought-provoking cli-fi. Liu incorporates physics, astronomy, geometry, the environment, the arts—basically any discipline we humans have explored—into some impressively creative stories.But there were three stories, unfortunately also the longest in the collection, that I really, really slogged through, all translated by the same person. I was so bored I had to fight the urge to DNF, and to be honest it speaks a lot for the other stories that I didn’t. So overall, this collection was kind of frustrating for me. Is it just the nature of short story collections, that there will always be a few you don’t like? Is it due to there being eleven stories with four different translators, instead of just one, maybe two? Is it just that sci-fi can cover such a huge breadth of topics, and this collection shows off Cixin Liu’s versatility in that regard, that I was bound to come across subjects I simply don’t like reading? I’m not sure.Regardless, the eight stories in To Hold Up the Sky that I did enjoy were completely and utterly dazzling. They blew me away, and convinced me to pick up a copy of Liu’s The Three-Body Problem soon, which has been on my to-read list for a while. I would say, if you are a fan of hard sci-fi, go ahead and give this collection a try.

This is a master of writing.He reminds me of why I started reading sci fi 50 years ago.I can hardly wait for more from this incredibly talented individual.

Mr. Cixin has become one of my favorite writers.He crafts interesting, intelligent stories that make you think about what could be, while also making you look at what is.The stories range from engrossing, to entertaining, which is why I give this book a 4 star rating.

Right away, the first story is impossibly epic and inspiring for its size. You might even say the writer composed this story onto the two-dimensional surface of a proton, then folded it back down into the form of a short story for carbon based lifeforms to read.Don’t skip the prologue.

This collection of short stories introduces the reader to the sci-fi of modern physics, right up to computers built on string theory. It may be the best way to explore the universe of Cixin Liu. It accurately reflects the long-range questions that humanity must keep asking, with delightfully optimistic investigations of several quandaries. There is also a wonderful story about classical Chinese poetry that honors the complexity of human culture.Cixin Liu explains that science fiction is a relatively new genre for Chinese fiction. I can't imagine a better start!

O estilo de Cixin Liu traz de volta textos de ficção científica às vezes chamados de "hard". Alia um certo rigor científico com grandes doses de imaginação, abordando temas grandiosos sem cair na simples fantasia. Os contos desta coletânea, até por serem apenas contos, não apresentam enredos tão complexos quanto da obra que o tornou famoso, O Problema dos Três Corpos. Contudo, eles são também surpreendentes e instigantes. Há uma certo tema comum entre alguns, como se o autor estivesse fazendo experiências com a ideia básica. O resultado final, porém, é muito bom, trazendo um sabor de mistura dos grandes autores da Era de Ouro do gênero.

It was a good book. I am planning to give it to public library.

Don't start a story is you haven't the time to finish it. These stories will make you late for meetings and over sleep next day. A real box set antidote. The stories start from a real world perspective and weave in the fantastical in subtle and imaginative ways.This one going top of my best book read of the year list and I real a lot of books.

DisappointingMuch less interesting than his trilogy.

As magnificent as ever, some of the stories are truly outstanding and mindbending. Since these are older stories written by the author, you can trace the arc of thought over time. The anthology as a whole has the feeling of a mixed bag, some stories are good, some are marvelous. Still worth the read.