INTRODUCTION: Eight Light Minutes(8LM) Culture of Chengdu has given permission for File 770 to reprint the series of interviews with Chinese science fiction writers which they have been running this week on Facebook. The second in the series is a question and answer session with Han Song, whose short story “Answerless Journey” is a 2024 Hugo Award finalist.

SUPPORTING CHINESE WRITERS SERIES: 2024 HUGO AWARD NOMINATION INTERVIEW WITH HAN SONG

Translated by Xueting C Ni.

Han Song 韩松, born in Chongqing, is a renowned science fiction writer, deputy chair of the Science Fiction Literature Committee (China Writer’s Association). Key works include “Tombs of the Universe”, 2066 Red Star Over America, Red Ocean, Railway Trilogy, Hospital Trilogy, The Solo Singer, and The Rebirth Bricks. Winner of the Chinese Galaxy Awards, Chinese Nebula Awards, World Sinophone Science Fiction Art Awards, and is considered one of Chinese science fiction’s “Four Heavenly Kings”. His works have been translated into English, Japanese, French, German, and Italian, among other languages. “Answerless Journey” has been shortlisted for 2024 Best Short Story Hugo Awards.

Q1. Hello Mr Han, first of all, congratulations on the nomination of your work “Answerless Journey” for this year’s Best Short Story Hugo Award! A lot of sci-fi fans, especially the early adopters of the genre in the country have been endlessly excited by this nomination. We’d like to take this opportunity to discuss Answerless Journey with you, and your writing experiences, about which we know readers have all been hoping to know more. Do you have anything to say directly to the fans and readers who have supported you, regarding this nomination?

Han Song: For the considerable achievements made by science fiction, we should thank the support of readers and sci-fi fans. I would also like to thank Science Fiction World who published this work, and Yao Haijun, who selected it for publication in an overseas anthology. Aside from this, I urge everyone to pay more attention to domestic science fiction, for example, the excellent works that have come to light via the Chinese Nebula, Galaxy, and Lenghu Awards.

Q2. “Answerless Journey” might not be familiar to younger, or overseas readers, could you talk a little about the creative processes behind this work? For example, I remember it has an alternate title, “The Third Party”, right?

Han Song: It tells the story of a spaceship, on which a single passenger wakes to find they’ve lost their memory. Feeling that there should be fellow travelers, they search the ship for them. This short story was first published in Science Fiction World in 1994 and won the Nebula. “The Third Party” could refer to the third passenger on the ship, or something else. Why did I write it? Probably because at the time, I was interested in space science fiction. “Tombs of the Universe” was also about the same subject. I no longer remember the specific opportunities that arose to write those pieces.

Q3. A lot of people may find that premise familiar from sci-fi films like Pandorum or Passengers, but because of the variety of paths creativity can take, these themes could be taken in widely differing directions. How did you construct the ending of “Answerless Journey”?

Han Song: As the title suggests, the ending of this story does not provide an answer, “the third party” remains an unknown. Perhaps the universe itself is a place that does not offer answers, this was probably how I thought about it at the time.

Q4. Compared to your famous short story “Tombs of the Universe”, “Answerless Journey” focuses on the universe as a still unknown entity, progressing towards the development of specific lifeforms, what was your thinking behind this?

Han Song: Because life and the wisdom it contains is the most incredible product of the universe, it has manifold meanings. It’s undeniably magnificent, and yet utterly absurd. It’s one of a kind. I have always found it strange why the universe must contain life? What’s wrong with not having any life?

Q5. Does “Answerless Journey” have any special significance for you as an individual? How does it relate to your later works, such as the sense of bewilderment towards the outside world in 2066: Red Star Over America, and the terror of confined spaces in The Railway Trilogy?

Han Song: I prefer this short story. Regarding my later works, they are also permeated with this kind of fear, absurdity, and emptiness. Of course, there’s also a strange kind of sacredness to it. The kind felt by the god that gave life to humanity when witnessing their survival in absurdity. This is how they relate to each other.

Q6. Absurdity, irrationality, and speculation on the nature of existence, have always been distinguishing elements that set your work apart from a lot of traditional science fiction. Could you share your views on this kind of sci-fi?

Han Song: It’s a process by which a strange world that obeys certain rules of Physics (and isn’t entirely spiritual) is created through thought or imagination, as a means to express humanity’s feelings, ideals and circumstances as an art form.

Q7. How did you decide to pursue the writing of science fiction in the first place? Were you influenced by other famous writers? What do you think of the relationship between literary and genre fiction?

Han Song: During the late 1970s, early ‘80s, I read a lot of foreign, as well as domestic sci-fi, and became interested in writing it because of this. I didn’t feel there was any difference between literary and science fiction. Death Ray on Coral Island was one of the first works I came across, published in People’s Literature. I still remember seeing it in the Contents page, and it captivated me straight away, so I flicked through to it and read it, I didn’t feel it was different from any other contemporary literary work.

Q8. When you’re creating science fiction, what kind of mindset would you find yourself in? For instance, would you be more concerned about the rigor of the scientific theory, or the world outside of what can be defined by science, searching for some kind of poetics arising out of eastern cultures, or that which is probable?

Han Song: both aspects should be considered, even if you don’t write the entirety of a certain scientific concept into a work, you should understand it, in order for the work to possess a kind of underlying science fiction feel, and not feel like fantasy. But in the end, at least for me, what I seek is beyond science, or what science is unable to cover.

Q9. You once said that writing science fiction is similar to news reporting. How do you perceive sci-fi and the modernisation of humanity, especially with regards the relationship between specific social occurrences and individual experiences?

Han Song: What science fiction describes can feel very real; therefore, it shares commonalities with reportage. Sci-fi itself is a product of industrial modernisation, the product of 19th century Britain, the home of the Science Revolution. We should say that specific social events will always be reflected in the individual’s experiences. Especially in science fiction, which more directly depicts social progress than other types of literature, as well as the evolution of humanity as a whole. It is on this level that social occurrences can intersect with individuals.

Q10. You share a lot of insights from your work and daily life on Weibo, we all love reading your posts. Compared to traditional media, what do you think is the role and significance of social media?

Han Song: Compared to traditional media, the internet, and social media are a lot more convenient, and can also be more directly outward facing, it’s where feedback can be gained. But really, I only use it out of habit.

Q11. Looking back at your depiction of virtual reality in The Anonymous Link over two decades ago, compared to today’s landscape of metaverse and AI Large Language Models, how do you feel about it?

Han Song: The artificial intelligence I imagined at the time was an all-knowing, all-capable entity, approaching a “god”. Today’s LLMs sometimes give me the kind of “god-like”, or “demi-god” feeling from science fiction.

Q12. What kind of recent subjects would move you to writing new works? Do you have any new writing plans that can be exclusively shared with us?

Han Song: At the moment, I’m not writing anything new, just tidying up some unpublished ones, for example, pieces about Tibet, and the moon. As for whether they’ll ever be published, it’s very hard to say, but that is a secondary concern for me.

Q13. What do you think of the fact that more and more Chinese sci-fi works are reaching the world stage? Today, there’s high global interest in Chinese science fiction. How will this affect future writers?

Han Song: Science fiction was an imported genre, but it has taken root in China, and become part of how the Chinese understand the universe. Now it has returned to the world, astonishing foreigner readers: “oh, this is how they see it.” Chinese sci-fi itself has been a product of high levels of openness and exchange, so it’s only by integrating themselves further into the world, that today’s authors can create works that belong to them as an individual, as well as to humanity.

Q14. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed, Mr Han, amidst your very busy schedule. We wish you good health and look forward to hearing the news from the Hugo Awards. As a final question, let’s play a little game: could you give us three words that correspond to “memory”, “journey” and “answer”?

Han Song: “Loss”, “terminal”, “unresolvable”. Thank you.