On January 20th, Pei Yuan got up early. Although the exam week was over and he had no classes, he still set a very early alarm clock for himself and prepared to go to the library to read.
However, as soon as he finished washing, he received a special attention reminder, and the official WeChat account of 001 Chinese website published an update.
On the 24th of next month, which is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Zhong’s new book "Cat City" will be released simultaneously around the world.
Pei Yuan was not surprised by Zhang Zhong's issue of new books, because Zhang Zhong had already mentioned this before when he invigilated the exam.
When the matter of proctoring exams became a hot topic on the Internet, news about the new book also spread online.
When Pei Yuan saw the title "Cat City", he immediately thought of "Chun Yufen's Adventures".
Just like the Houyhnhnm Kingdom in "The Adventures of Chun Yufen", is there also a country dominated by cat people in "Cat City"?
From this point of view, the new book is a fantasy novel?
But looking further down the news from the official account of 001 Chinese website, this novel is not a fantasy novel, but a science fiction novel, because it is clearly marked with a science fiction label.
When he saw the word science fiction, Pei Yuan raised his eyebrows. It had to be said that there were too few science fiction novels written by Zhang Zhong this year. Among them was "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
In fact, speaking of it now, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was last year's work. In other words, last year, Zhang Zhong only published one science fiction novel.
This has never happened since Zhang Zhong started writing science fiction novels. At his peak, Zhang Zhong could write seven or eight science fiction novels a year, and they were all medium-length novels.
Although the science fiction world project that Zhang Zhong revealed before is very exciting, after all, the science fiction world is just a combination of existing works. If it takes five to ten years to achieve the effect, there is basically no way for people to deeply experience this new world.
system.
After all, I have to publish a few science fiction novels. This year I also published several mystery novels.
Otherwise, when it comes to the next Nebula Award or Hugo Award, you will only be able to win one award at most. Wouldn’t this mean that you have no cards at all?
Speaking of the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award, the judges of these two awards are much more relaxed this time, or in other words, they have become more and more relaxed since last year.
Why?
Because there are fewer and fewer science fiction works by Zhang Zhong.
In this way, they don't have to worry about award quotas.
Aren’t you Zhang Zhong awesome? Everyone likes the books you write, so it seems unjustifiable that I don’t give you an award.
It doesn’t matter, I’ll give it to you, I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you as many prizes as you write.
What, you only wrote one science fiction novel last year?
Then I have no choice but to give you a prize.
I originally wanted to give you a few more awards, but it's a pity.
This is the current mentality of the jury.
And the competition for this Hugo Award and Nebula Award will definitely be stronger than the previous ones.
Although the science fiction market has been getting bigger and bigger in recent years, and there are more and more excellent science fiction works, Zhang Zhong has basically won the big prizes, and other writers can't win the prizes.
This year is different. Zhang Zhong won the best novel for one book at most, and the number of awards left suddenly increased.
It is conceivable that after the awards are handed out, the Hugo Award and Nebula Award judges will definitely make waves...
Allowing more people to win awards, rather than having one person win the award alone, is what all awards hope for.
…
As soon as the title of the book "Cat City" and its subject matter came out, it triggered intense discussions this winter.
[Zhang Zhong writes about Science Fiction Day again, and he never forgets to tell Naiweng during family celebrations. Grandpa, your favorite science fiction writer has written a science fiction novel again.]
【Is this true? Is it really science fiction? 】
[Is there anyone who knows Chinese characters who can help me read how to pronounce the word science fiction?]
[Here, can’t you release it more than a month in advance? In this case, there will be two books for this year’s Nebula Award and Hugo Award.]
[Yes, this release time is too embarrassing. If it had been earlier, it would have been next year.]
[It doesn’t matter, isn’t the Hugo Award selection scope limited to the previous two years? 】
[The key is that basically all the works in the previous two years have been shortlisted.]
[Nonsense, isn’t Lord of the Flies not a finalist? 】
[Lord of the Flies, you really read it as a science fiction novel.]
[Can’t Lord of the Flies be a science fiction novel?]
[Of course, maybe this time Cat City will be just like Lord of the Flies, and that’s what Zhang Da’s style is now.]
[Actually, I quite like novels like Lord of the Flies. Regardless of whether it is a science fiction novel or not, it is really enjoyable. Although I have read it seven or eight times, I will still take it out and read it if I have nothing to do. 】
[This is true. Although serious novels are not as interesting as popular novels at first, they are indeed enjoyable to read. I like "The Three-Body Problem" very much, but I have only read "The Three-Body Problem" five times, and "Alive" I
But I have read it more than a dozen times, and no matter how many times I read it, I still feel uncomfortable every time I read it again.】
[The comment above, I have read "Alive" more than ten times. The book I have read most often is also Zhang Da's book, which is "The Ordinance", and I have read it more than ten times. But "The Ordinance" is short, sometimes
I can read it if I take some time during my lunch break.】
[I have watched "Border Town" seven or eight times, but it is relatively short after all. As mentioned above, I can finish it by taking some time during my lunch break. 】
[The lunch break upstairs is so long. It would take at least one or two hours for me to watch "Border Town" once. You don't even eat lunch.]
[I work in a local newspaper, so I may have more free time...]
[If "Cat City" is still the same science fiction novel as Lord of the Flies, wouldn't this book not be eligible for the Hugo Award next year? 】
【Yes, that's probably the case.】
[We can start a petition to ask the jury to consider this book.]
[I asked you, are you thinking too much? The book hasn’t even been published yet, so you’re characterizing it?]
[Yeah, if you ask me, maybe this book is specifically about biotechnology. Because of genetic technology, a group of cats mutated and gained intelligence. However, these cats did not want to be studied by humans, so they gathered in the wilderness to form a cat city.
Survive.]
[The idea upstairs is okay, but I guess the book will definitely not be written like this. If I say it, it is not necessarily biotechnology, it may also be a kind of robot cat. For example, there is a city where people like to raise cats, but in the future
Cats are extinct, so a robot cat was created to imitate humans.】
[When will the two people upstairs publish their book? I’ll buy one.]