The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Ken Liu
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Ken Liu
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The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

Author: Ken Liu

Narrator: Ramón de Ocampo, Cindy Kay, Michael Kramer, Emily Woo Zeller, Nancy Wu

Unabridged: 14 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/25/2020


Synopsis

Includes stories featured in Pantheon—now an animated series on AMC+

“I know this is going to sound hyperbolic, but when I’m reading Ken Liu’s stories, I feel like I’m reading a once-in-a-generation talent. I’m in awe.” —Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author

“Captivating.” —BuzzFeed
“Extraordinary.” —The Washington Post
“Brilliant.” —The Chicago Tribune

With the release of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, Ken Liu’s short fiction has resonated with a generation of readers.

From stories about time-traveling assassins, to Black Mirror-esque tales of cryptocurrency and internet trolling, to heartbreaking narratives of parent-child relationships, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories is a far-reaching work that explores topical themes from the present and a visionary look at humanity’s future.

This collection includes a selection of Liu’s speculative fiction stories over the past five years—seventeen of his best—plus a new novelette. In addition, it also features an excerpt from The Veiled Throne, the third book in Liu’s epic fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty.

Stories 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

About Ken Liu

Ken Liu is an award-winning American author of speculative fiction. His collection, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. Liu’s other works include The Grace of KingsThe Wall of StormsThe Veiled Throne, a second collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, and the forthcoming Julia Z series. He has been involved in multiple media adaptations of his work, including the short story “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in Netflix’s animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, adapted from an interconnected series of short stories. “The Hidden Girl,” “The Message,” and “The Oracle” have also been optioned for development. Liu previously worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on topics including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, the history of technology, and the value of storytelling. Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Petrik

ARC provided by the publisher—Saga Press—in exchange for an honest review. 3.5/5 stars Ken Liu is incredibly good at writing short stories. I’ve been waiting for The Dandelion Dynasty to be completed for years now so I can binge read the epic fantasy series. During my waiting time, I have read The Pape......more

Quite a lot of heavily conflicted characters. Culture - do you love your own or do you readily embrace the strange one? Be it Ancient China or a mesh of space genetics... This actually could be on par with Bradbury if only the weaker essays were taken out: the politics-based one, the VR one, the algo......more

Goodreads review by Bradley

Ken Liu is becoming one of my favorite short story writers. It's one thing to drop names like Harlan Ellison or Ted Chiang, but it's another thing to see such stories rise up out of so many other writers and still stick with you after years. I guess I've been blessed to read a number of these stories......more

Goodreads review by Michael

There are about a dozen new stories here in Ken Liu's second collection. I felt that it was less interesting than his extraordinary The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, but still good reading. Many of the stories are set in a dystopia called "the Singularity" where, like in a few episodes of Black......more


Quotes

"Five narrators perform 20 stories by author Ken Liu, both individually and as ensemble presenters. While no single narrative thread binds the stories together, themes on the question of identity are common. Standouts among the stories include the three 'Gods' pieces ('The Gods Will Not Be Chained,' 'The Gods Will Not Be Slain,' and 'The Gods Will Not Have Died in Vain'), all performed by Emily Woo Zeller; 'Thoughts and Prayers,' performed by the entire cast; and 'Maxwell's Demon,' performed by Cindy Kay. Regardless of whether the narrators are performing individually or with others, they excel at realizing the intricate stories and complex characters Liu has created, and at injecting humanity and compassion into disparate and even alien cultures."