On the Paper Menagerie

This is truly an immaculate collection of short stories. I’d read that anyone who likes Ted Chiang should read Ken Liu next, and I’m so glad I did. The best stories tend to be stacked toward the end, but don’t skip the earlier ones. My favorites were:

• “The Literomancer”
• “The Paper Menagerie”
• “Mono no Aware”
• “All the Flavors”
• “A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel”

There are great reflections here on identity, whether East Asian or North American, interwoven with the usual science fiction themes of ethics, technology, and social relations. I can’t wait to read his other books.