This year, due to the cancellation of the Hugo Awards, the World Science Fiction Convention was also postponed and was not officially held until October 9th.
Zhang Zhong did get the invitation, but he ignored it. In this year's situation, there was no need for him to go to the science fiction conference.
In fact, without the Hugo Awards, the attraction of science fiction conventions would be greatly reduced. I am afraid that except for Zhang Zhong, not many people would go.
However, this year's science fiction conference still has something to do with Zhang Zhong, because Jiangyang City actually applied for the qualification to host the World Science Fiction Conference in 2023.
The venue for next year's World Science Fiction Convention has been decided, and it will be held in Wellington, New Zealand. The nearest candidate to host it is 2023.
No one expected that Jiangyang City would come forward to apply for the qualification to host the conference, because the city of Jiangyang really has no sense of existence.
Moreover, there is only one city participating in the competition this time, Chicago, but Jiangyang has no hope no matter how he looks at it.
However, considering that Zhang Zhong is in Jiangyang, and Jiangyang will soon have the world's largest science fiction theme exhibition hall, this will be very helpful for Jiangyang's bid to host a science fiction conference.
If Jiang Yang can successfully bid, China will become the second country after Neon Country to bring the World Science Fiction Convention to Asia, and the World Science Fiction Convention that year will be recorded in the World Science Fiction Handbook with Jiang Yang's name.
Jiang Yang suddenly bids to host the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention. The most depressing person should be the Chicago government, because if Jiang Yang does not bid, it is basically a certainty that the World Congress will be held in Chicago the year after next.
Now, in order to compete with their opponents, they will definitely have to spend manpower and material resources to compete.
The qualification to host the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention will be voted on at the 2022 World Science Fiction Convention, that is, next year.
During this year, anything can happen.
For Chicago, if there was only one Jiang Yang, it would certainly not be a big deal. But they knew that their opponent was not Jiang Yang, but Zhang Zhong, a man who had reached the pinnacle of the science fiction world in just two years.
Everyone knows what’s going on with this year’s Hugo Awards.
Unless some special events occur, Zhang Zhong is likely to sweep the Hugo Awards next year, which is definitely a plus point for Jiang Yang.
There is also the sci-fi themed pavilion. I don’t know the details yet, but the pavilion will be completed next year. If this pavilion becomes famous, Chicago will have a headache.
If it wasn't held in the first place, it wouldn't be held. Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, but now we meet on a narrow road. If they give up easily, then Chicago has too little cards.
Moreover, it was lost to a second- and third-tier city in an Asian country. It would be too embarrassing to tell anyone.
So Chicago may not care about the World Science Fiction Convention, but they are definitely not willing to lose to Jiang Yang.
Of course, it is impossible for Jiangyang to put all the bargaining chips for the application of Huan on Zhang Zhong. Since the decision to apply for Huan, the Jiangyang city government has also taken a series of measures.
Looking back, everyone discovered that more than half of Jiangyang’s investment promotions this year were related to science fiction themes.
As soon as the news about Shen Huan came out, domestic science fiction fans showed unprecedented attention, and their eyes were focused on Jiang Yang.
Everyone also analyzed the possibility of applying for fantasy this time, mainly comparing the advantages and disadvantages of Chicago and Jiangyang.
Chicago's advantages are obvious. Whether it is economy or culture, they are more in line with the World Science Fiction Convention. The most important thing is that they are close and have the same language.
On the contrary, Jiangyang's economic strength is not outstanding even in China, let alone the distance and language.
Jiang Yang's only advantage is that he has Zhang Zhong.
Over the years, most of the World Science Fiction Conventions have been held in North America, and only a dozen or so, about one-fifth, have been held in other regions.
So overall, no one has high hopes for Jiang Yang’s application this time.
But even so, domestic science fiction fans still expressed their support for Jiang Yang.
In fact, Affleck should be the happiest person about Jiang Yang’s application this time. Because of Jiang Yang’s application, many science fiction-related activities have been carried out locally, and the basic hardware related to science fiction has also been greatly strengthened.
And the government's support for this movie is unprecedented.
Zhang Zhong also felt that Jiang Yang was a little hasty in applying for Huan this time. It is unrealistic to sharpen his sword now and want to kill pigs next year.
He feels that if Jiang Yang can set his sights on bidding for a science fiction conference in 2025 or even 2026, he should be more confident.
However, despite thinking this way, he still supported the Jiangyang government's decision and asked Chen Qing to actively cooperate.
The biggest support Zhang Zhong can give is to produce more excellent science fiction works.
Therefore, on October 11th, 001 Literature Network released a new book news.
The new book "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" will be released in both Chinese and English versions next month.
After much deliberation, Zhang Zhong decided to keep the title.
However, he changed the protagonist and even the route of the Nautilus.
After the title of this book came out, many netizens were a little confused.
[Twenty thousand miles under the sea? As far as I know, the deepest place that humans have detected is only more than 10,000 meters. Is this book going to subvert our knowledge? 】
[From this point of view, is it a soft science fiction? 】
[You said that the deepest place that can be detected is more than 10,000 meters. What about the places that have not been detected? Maybe this book is a fantasy about places we cannot see. 】
[Friends, the radius of a starfish is only over 6,000 kilometers...]
[Maybe this book is not about starfish. What are you worrying about? You will find out when the book comes out.]
[I was reminded of Qin Zhao’s previous science fiction novel, which was also about an underwater kingdom.]
【I also remembered what you said.】
[Maybe the types are similar.]
…
In the study, Zhang Zhong looked at the submarine photo hanging in front of him.
This is a picture of a submarine experiment on the Seine River in 1800. In fact, this cannot be regarded as a submarine. It looks more like a small boat with a few sails on it. There are people operating it, using manpower to push the "submarine" underwater.
.
And this "submarine" is the Nautilus.
But in this world, it's not called the Nautilus, and it doesn't even have a name.
Zhang Zhong finally found this picture. He wanted to feel the source of inspiration for Verne's "Nautilus".
The manuscript of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" has been sent to Chen Qing, and only the Chinese version has been sent. In the next few days, he will also publish the English version.
Because of this book, he hasn't had enough sleep these days.
Fortunately, the overall structure of the story is there, and there is no need to bother searching for the scientific knowledge. Otherwise, he may not be able to write this book if he is given another two months.