Vagabonds - BookWyrm

No cover — Ken Liu, Hao Jingfang: Vagabonds (2021, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers)

608 pages

English language

Published May 26, 2021 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers.

ISBN:: 978-1-5344-2209-4

View on OpenLibrary

(2 reviews)

6 editions

Sally Strange reviewed Vagabonds by Ken Liu

odd, dreamlike, beautiful, political

4 stars

It's a slow-moving story with a focus that shifts between characters without warning, but it paints a beautiful picture of a possible life on Mars. It is clearly an exploration of Chinese tensions between their self-perception and how they are viewed in the eyes of the world. Mars is a prosperous and egalitarian but rigid society. Earth is a dynamic but sometimes cruel society. The Vagabonds of the title are the very few who travel between these worlds and seek to reconcile them. The lack of narrative momentum is what took away a star for me, but it's definitely worth reading, especially if you're looking for something reflective.

Rev. Dr. Sir Wayne Murillo III reviewed Vagabonds by Ken Liu

Review of 'Vagabonds' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

I have read many of the sprawling, science fiction, space operas that include Mars as a setting. I am often thrilled by the hardscrabble life and pragmatic philosophy that must be practiced on the red planet. However, for me, Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang sort of fell apart for me. I listened to the English translation from Chinese and perhaps objected to the lessons implied by the plot.

After a civil war between Mars and Earth, the two powers are attempting to find peace. Mars sends a group of students including Luoying, a dancer, to Earth to build relations between the planets.

Jingfang seems to wax poetic about the youth of Earth who seem to be trust-fund gig-workers that work to fund a lifestyle against the Martians who join a working group and help to build a community.

Jingfang's glorification of capitalism against a communist, semi-authoritarian, syndicalism just left this anarchistic, …

I have read many of the sprawling, science fiction, space operas that include Mars as a setting. I am often thrilled by the hardscrabble life and pragmatic philosophy that must be practiced on the red planet. However, for me, Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang sort of fell apart for me. I listened to the English translation from Chinese and perhaps objected to the lessons implied by the plot.

After a civil war between Mars and Earth, the two powers are attempting to find peace. Mars sends a group of students including Luoying, a dancer, to Earth to build relations between the planets.

Jingfang seems to wax poetic about the youth of Earth who seem to be trust-fund gig-workers that work to fund a lifestyle against the Martians who join a working group and help to build a community.

Jingfang's glorification of capitalism against a communist, semi-authoritarian, syndicalism just left this anarchistic, white, male, American cold. However, if I'm honest, I feel that I missed an important cultural context that would have helped me to enjoy the book more.