The Wandering Earth (and other stories): How many worlds can you think of?

 

  This blog post will be about a book that is quite different from the others which I have read and praised in this past year. Instead of being one large well-connected story around a central theme, The Wandering Earth is merely a collection of short stories each around 50 pages or so long. The stories aren't that detailed, but I nevertheless found the book's worldbuilding and ideas intriguing and enjoyable to read about. 

    Several stories within this volume depict human encounters with civilizations completely foreign to our own civilization. For example, in one of the stories, humanity encounters a highly advanced species which seeded life on Earth and helped humanity grow into a strong civilization,  and the story is based on that civilization trying to integrate with Earth due to the breakdown of their technology. In another one, two civilizations are present, with one aggressive civilization set to enslave other species and methodically extract their resources, and with another civilization falling victim to that force, using its last moments to warn humanity of their imminent war. Yet another story introduces us to a civilization a few inches across, made up of jolly humans shrunk to microscopic sizes. 

    I also loved how many of the stories came with an inspiring theme, or presented an interesting idea to think about. The topics covered are diverse, but the most recurring themes are related to human nature and the future of humanity. For instance, two back-to-back stories feature an individual striving to accomplish something in their lives, to improve their lives, or simply to tackle a challenge for the sake of it. In Mountain, a mountain climber, when faced with an alien mothership raising the sea to the upper atmosphere, chooses to defy all logic and swim towards the mothership. There, he learns of that alien civilization's struggle to learn about the universe around it and explore beyond the bounds of the civilization's cradle, in a story within a story. The story then goes on to compare these challenges, saying that they are all like the mountains the main character climbs, and states that if there is a challenge, there will always be someone to face it. The next story, Sun of China chronicles the adventure of a poor peasant, advancing through society to become a famous astronaut working on an orbital megaproject. Both stories, at its core, are about showing off the ambition of humanity through the lens of individuals, and I find both to be wonderful examples of writing which you can read quickly and in one sitting. 

    The Wandering Earth has ten stories in total, each presenting intriguing and thoughtful ideas like the ones I mentioned. Although I probably won't be able to cover the themes of all the stories (and I'd also rather not spoil too many stories), I recommend that you check this book out, and immerse yourself and the numerous universes that The Wandering Earth opens up for you. 

by Maxwell He