By King Ban Hui 龔萬輝 When you first read this novel, forget for a moment that Chiew Ruoh Tau is a poet.  Chiew Ruoh Tau writing science fiction might surprise you—but perhaps it shouldn’t. He once entered the Ni Kuang Science Fiction Award and even won. (This isn’t a spoiler; it’s in his bio.) In…

“I’m helping you,” said the officer, “and your comrades.” His hairline receding, brows thin, and eyes sharply defined by black and white, the man wore smart glasses, giving the impression of a stern schoolmaster. This was the so-called “good cop.” After enduring a round of scolding from the “bad cop,” Wang Nian silently mulled over…

In the witness stand, Professor Chen snapped his fingers, and a three-dimensional projection of a city appeared in the courtroom’s center, floating like a ghost town. Tiny drones buzzed like gnats, cars crawled like ants, and people drifted like specks of dust. Strangely, the skyscrapers, bundled like clusters of chopsticks, all emitted vibrant fireworks from…

Beyond the planetary exosphere, weapon pods hover in formation, awaiting orders. From my vantage point, they resemble somber, rectangular coffins. Yet to those on the planet below, if they were to look up, they’d see an array of strange constellations carving the sky with ruthless precision. In a carefully calculated moment, the propulsion systems of…