Conservation of Shadows
by Yoon Ha Lee
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"In this debut collection of short fiction from one of science fiction and fantasy's most notable new writers, Yoon Ha Lee often integrates tropes of science fiction with elements of myth to create tales that are both wonderfully fresh and deeply ancient. No matter what the theme, her wide variety of stories are strikingly original and always indelible"--P. [4] of cover.Tags
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I don't really read science fiction, at least the space battle type. I find war stories painful (tho sometimes worth it) and I'm terrible at strategy, probably because it never holds my interest. Keeping that in mind, this seemed an odd choice for me to read (although the opening line and the concept of tactical linguistics would easily explain the attraction). But it's maybe more meaningful when I say I am madly in love with this book. The ideas are varied and captivating, the story-telling is arrow-sharp, and there's something both entirely novel and entirely familiar in the voice. Familiar isn't the right word. There are just moments of something. Recognition. What I find amazing is that each story has its own context, and show more world-building is so intrinsic and complete that it feels effortless. In a short story. In each short story. And the strength comes from everything that is left unsaid, that engages the reader's mind. I don't even know how to articulate how amazing that is.
I've just read it on loan and I'm going out to buy my own copy. show less
I've just read it on loan and I'm going out to buy my own copy. show less
Yoon Ha Lee is rapidly becoming one of my favorite new talents. This short-story collection contains 16 of his favorite works, covering the usual themes: weapons and war criminals, betrayals and apocalypses, symbols and shadows, a high-tension mixture of math, calligraphy, and Eastern mysticism.
If you like what Lee is about, you probably like a whole lot. It feels a lot like H.P. Lovecraft meets Alistair Reynolds, but Lee is by far a better writer than the two of them. If you don't like it, you'll probably find the stories bleak and abstract. And we're all free have different opinions, but if you can't enjoy a story about a gun that erases the target's ancestors from history, leaving the shooter in an alternate universe, than I don't show more even know what. show less
If you like what Lee is about, you probably like a whole lot. It feels a lot like H.P. Lovecraft meets Alistair Reynolds, but Lee is by far a better writer than the two of them. If you don't like it, you'll probably find the stories bleak and abstract. And we're all free have different opinions, but if you can't enjoy a story about a gun that erases the target's ancestors from history, leaving the shooter in an alternate universe, than I don't show more even know what. show less
...As usual, I've had a lot of trouble writing this review. It took me well over a week, where I usually do a draft in one day and clean it up the second. Short story collections are a pain to review but Conservation of Shadows was even more difficult than usual. Lee writes very complex stories. He packs a lot into a few pages and often steps outside the western cultural framework. He makes me work pretty hard and I'm sure I missed quite a bit. In fact, without the story notes I might very well have been lost completely.
I'm somewhat frustrated by my own inability to properly express why I enjoyed this collection so much. I guess it is a combination of things. I liked Lee's prose a lot for instance. I'm not one for audio books but from show more reading these stories I get the impression that it would sound beautiful if narrated skilfully. Then there are the themes Lee addresses that, despite the nagging feeling that I'm missing some of the context, still strike a chord with me. I guess you are just going to have to take my word for it, if you enjoy reading short fiction, Lee is an author you'll not want to miss.
Full Random Comments review. show less
I'm somewhat frustrated by my own inability to properly express why I enjoyed this collection so much. I guess it is a combination of things. I liked Lee's prose a lot for instance. I'm not one for audio books but from show more reading these stories I get the impression that it would sound beautiful if narrated skilfully. Then there are the themes Lee addresses that, despite the nagging feeling that I'm missing some of the context, still strike a chord with me. I guess you are just going to have to take my word for it, if you enjoy reading short fiction, Lee is an author you'll not want to miss.
Full Random Comments review. show less
When checking out the works of an authors unknown to you, it's usually best, or, at least, safer, to go for a stand-alone novel or a collection of short-stories. In this case, I went for 'Conservation of Shadows', a book that was (is?) hard to get on European soil. Luckily, an American supplier of the Belgian bookshop Sterling Books (Brussels) had a copy in stock.
This first short-story collection contains sixteen of Lee's stories. While the majority was published previously in magazines like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, F&SF, Tor.com, ... Mrs Lee also added one especially for this bundle: 'Iseul's Lexicon', not published before.
The table of contents looks like this: (linked books are just the first links that popped up show more through the 'Insert book/author' functionality)
00) Introduction by [a:Aliette de Bodard|2918731|Aliette de Bodard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261567215p2/2918731.jpg]
01) Ghostweight (2011)
02) The Shadow Postulates (2007) (based on Fermat's Last Theorem, Euclid's fifth postulate)
03) The Bones of Giants (2009) (influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion)
04) Between Two Dragons (2010) (based on the Imjin War, and the Korean War)
05) Swanwatch (2009)
06) Effigy Nights (2013)
07) Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain (2010) (partly influenced by [b:Freedom Evolves|2071|Freedom Evolves|Daniel C. Dennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312345547l/2071._SY75_.jpg|2767774] by [a:Daniel C. Dennett|6952980|Daniel C. Dennett|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1447369488p2/6952980.jpg])
08) Iseul's Lexicon (2013, exclusive)
09) Counting the Shapes (2001) (influenced by [b:Blue Moon Rising|810881|Blue Moon Rising (Forest Kingdom, #1)|Simon R. Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438318554l/810881._SY75_.jpg|1350551] by [a:Simon R. Green|41942|Simon R. Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1224555729p2/41942.jpg])
10) Blue Ink (2008)
11) The Battle of Candle Arc (2012) (based on Admiral Yi and the Battle of Myeongnyang)
12) [b:A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel|12229927|A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel|Yoon Ha Lee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315806892l/12229927._SX50_.jpg|17203579] (2011) (see my review here) (based on [b:Invisible Cities|9809|Invisible Cities|Italo Calvino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468623303l/9809._SY75_.jpg|68476] by [a:Italo Calvino|155517|Italo Calvino|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1501975461p2/155517.jpg])
13) The Unstrung Zither (2009) (partly influenced by [b:A Song for One or Two: Music and the Concept of Art in Early China|2628397|A Song for One or Two Music and the Concept of Art in Early China|Kenneth J. Dewoskin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1363585469l/2628397._SX50_.jpg|2653098] by [a:Kenneth J. Dewoskin|5636441|Kenneth J. Dewoskin|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png])
14) The Black Abacus (2002)
15) The Book of Locked Doors (2012)
16) Conservation of Shadows (2011) (partly influenced by The Descent of Inanna and the video game Portal)
** Story Notes **
Mrs Lee has a wide range of imagination. The stories vary in length and take place in very diverse contexts (language, music, physics, philosophy, war, freedom, religion, ...), be they fantasy- or science-fiction-oriented and sometimes hard SF at that.
The story notes are a crucial part of this book, as in them Mrs Lee explains in very honest wording how each story came to be and which influences played a role.
The prose is quite simply amazing and a lust for the eye and mind, even if some themes (mathematics and physics, for example) can be a bit of hurdle, depending on your interests and knowledge.
As Tim Hicks wrote in his review: "If I have a complaint with this collection, it's that it makes me feel less smart than when I started. Lee has a very wide thinking range indeed."
After [a:Ken Liu|2917920|Ken Liu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400610835p2/2917920.jpg]'s [b:The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories|32295221|The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories|Ken Liu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475009089l/32295221._SY75_.jpg|44534169], and [a:Ted Chiang|130698|Ted Chiang|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399023404p2/130698.jpg]'s [b:Stories of Your Life and Others|25670162|Stories of Your Life and Others|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1506951237l/25670162._SY75_.jpg|216334] and [b:Exhalation|44908536|Exhalation|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554775892l/44908536._SY75_.jpg|64336454], I can heavily recommend 'Conservation of Shadows'... also by an Asian author. An original, mind-bending collection. show less
This first short-story collection contains sixteen of Lee's stories. While the majority was published previously in magazines like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, F&SF, Tor.com, ... Mrs Lee also added one especially for this bundle: 'Iseul's Lexicon', not published before.
The table of contents looks like this: (linked books are just the first links that popped up show more through the 'Insert book/author' functionality)
00) Introduction by [a:Aliette de Bodard|2918731|Aliette de Bodard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261567215p2/2918731.jpg]
01) Ghostweight (2011)
02) The Shadow Postulates (2007) (based on Fermat's Last Theorem, Euclid's fifth postulate)
03) The Bones of Giants (2009) (influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion)
04) Between Two Dragons (2010) (based on the Imjin War, and the Korean War)
05) Swanwatch (2009)
06) Effigy Nights (2013)
07) Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain (2010) (partly influenced by [b:Freedom Evolves|2071|Freedom Evolves|Daniel C. Dennett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312345547l/2071._SY75_.jpg|2767774] by [a:Daniel C. Dennett|6952980|Daniel C. Dennett|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1447369488p2/6952980.jpg])
08) Iseul's Lexicon (2013, exclusive)
09) Counting the Shapes (2001) (influenced by [b:Blue Moon Rising|810881|Blue Moon Rising (Forest Kingdom, #1)|Simon R. Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438318554l/810881._SY75_.jpg|1350551] by [a:Simon R. Green|41942|Simon R. Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1224555729p2/41942.jpg])
10) Blue Ink (2008)
11) The Battle of Candle Arc (2012) (based on Admiral Yi and the Battle of Myeongnyang)
12) [b:A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel|12229927|A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel|Yoon Ha Lee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315806892l/12229927._SX50_.jpg|17203579] (2011) (see my review here) (based on [b:Invisible Cities|9809|Invisible Cities|Italo Calvino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468623303l/9809._SY75_.jpg|68476] by [a:Italo Calvino|155517|Italo Calvino|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1501975461p2/155517.jpg])
13) The Unstrung Zither (2009) (partly influenced by [b:A Song for One or Two: Music and the Concept of Art in Early China|2628397|A Song for One or Two Music and the Concept of Art in Early China|Kenneth J. Dewoskin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1363585469l/2628397._SX50_.jpg|2653098] by [a:Kenneth J. Dewoskin|5636441|Kenneth J. Dewoskin|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png])
14) The Black Abacus (2002)
15) The Book of Locked Doors (2012)
16) Conservation of Shadows (2011) (partly influenced by The Descent of Inanna and the video game Portal)
** Story Notes **
Mrs Lee has a wide range of imagination. The stories vary in length and take place in very diverse contexts (language, music, physics, philosophy, war, freedom, religion, ...), be they fantasy- or science-fiction-oriented and sometimes hard SF at that.
The story notes are a crucial part of this book, as in them Mrs Lee explains in very honest wording how each story came to be and which influences played a role.
The prose is quite simply amazing and a lust for the eye and mind, even if some themes (mathematics and physics, for example) can be a bit of hurdle, depending on your interests and knowledge.
As Tim Hicks wrote in his review: "If I have a complaint with this collection, it's that it makes me feel less smart than when I started. Lee has a very wide thinking range indeed."
After [a:Ken Liu|2917920|Ken Liu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400610835p2/2917920.jpg]'s [b:The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories|32295221|The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories|Ken Liu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475009089l/32295221._SY75_.jpg|44534169], and [a:Ted Chiang|130698|Ted Chiang|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399023404p2/130698.jpg]'s [b:Stories of Your Life and Others|25670162|Stories of Your Life and Others|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1506951237l/25670162._SY75_.jpg|216334] and [b:Exhalation|44908536|Exhalation|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554775892l/44908536._SY75_.jpg|64336454], I can heavily recommend 'Conservation of Shadows'... also by an Asian author. An original, mind-bending collection. show less
Fantasy/sf stories in which spaceships are origami monsters, linguistics is a combat discipline, and books can be drained of their words in order to create monsters to fight invaders. Reminded me of Kelly Link, except more influenced by Korean culture/traditional stories than Link—it’s really more the dream logic that links them.
Yoon Ha Lee is a Korean-American writer of sf who wrote the trilogy called Machineries of Empire that begins with Nine-Fox Gambit. these are earlier short stories (only one of them set in that empire) that echo his fascinating interweaving of math, magic, and military might in Asian-accented worlds, and they are just as interesting. the intro is by Aliette de Bodard. note to self: the last story is a version of Inanna's journey to the underworld.
The usual mixed bag of stories.
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- Original title
- Conservation of shadows
- Original publication date
- 2013-04-07
- First words
- In my other, life I am a computer engineer; and I do a lot of mathematics. (Introduction)
It is not true that the dead cannot be folded. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In the end you give up your heart after all, but I am the one who loses everything, in a springtime effusion of light.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)There is always the danger of overwhelming the material with tinsel and I am already prone to that fault, but it's worth doing once in a while. (Story Notes) - Blurbers
- Dozois, Gardner; de Bodard, Aliette; Liu, Ken; Tidhar, Lavie
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- This entry covers the 2013 anthology of Yoon Ha Lee's short fiction; it contains (but should not be confused with) her short story "Conservation of Shadows."
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