- Overview
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The four-time consecutive top award winner at the Sci-fi Awards, the pride of Korean science fiction, and the forefront of Korean science fiction! From the author’s first debut, Byeolsang, to the 2017 winner, All Amusement Parks of the Universe, these special stories are about the future of humanity beyond singularity and artificial intelligence!
- Book Intro
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1. All Amusement Parks of the Universe
2. Samsara
3. Byeolsang
4. Anatomical Angel
5. The Brain
6. Wraith War
7. YoullB
8. Closing of Cafe Yuga (or Yuga Age)"I graduated with a major in electronic engineering, but I never worked as a professional developer or an engineer except for the two years I spent as a programmer.
I often say the word "science," but I am not a scientist. However, science and technology are always around me, circling in an orbit very close to me. If I imagine my view of the outside world is like a telescope, then my telescope's name would be science. Technology does not need a metaphor for people to understand now that it is now a big part of our lives. Needless to say, it will probably play a bigger role in the ages to come.
But will our progression into the future, based on technology, be smooth and problem-free? Many are concerned about conflicts and confrontations along the way and are afraid that the gaps that are created as a result will not narrow forever. Perhaps the search for something to blame will lead to science and technology - the idea that man is innocent, that conflict arose from dissecting the world with science and placing technology above all else.
So who is to blame for the evasion and rejection that take place in ignorance?
The winners of the annual Korean Scientific Literature Competition are given an opportunity to visit the Naro Space Center. I was fortunate to visit the Space Center the year I was a judge for the competition, and I visited Sorok Island on my way back. The initial idea for Samsara came to me as I walked along the shores of Sorok Island, which has been used as a walking path for travelers a long time, and looked at the pictures, exhibits and real buildings that told me about the sufferings of Hansen’s patients. That is why "Juma disease" in the book has the same symptoms as Hansen’s disease.
I had an idea for writing, but I remember that it didn’t make me very happy.
We often ignore those who are in pain because it is easy. What awaits us is oblivion. But does the pain and despair of those who suffer ever disappear? We cannot leave them to suffer. Even though it may not be achieved in this generation, we should still seek help from new knowledge and we should relight and establish what can be built. Enlightenment does not come from nowhere. As with life, if you are an intelligent body that can be grouped into the category of humanity, your best lessons will come from trial and error after many years.
Some may say that stupidity will follow us forever because of our natural limitations.
Those who set limits so easily say they’ve discovered the principles of the world and used them as tools of excuse and discrimination. Yet we’ve also inherited reason. Instead of ignoring things, we can empathize with positivity. The fact that we must choose this is a realization we have to come to with reason.
Even if it's only possible in the next generation of humanity, even if the next generation is completely different in body and spirit than its ancestors.
- About the Author
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Kim Changgyu
Kim Changgyu (M) is an sci-fi writer and translator. He graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering at Dongguk University and debuted in 2005 as the winner of the mid-length novel category at the 2nd Science and Technology Creative Writing Awards for his work Byeolsang. He has continued to release high-quality, short- to mid-length novels and has grown to become a representative author of Korean science fiction. In 2016, he published a collection of award-winning short stories, The World We Were Deported From, and a novel, The Legend.
Books translated by Kim include The Dual City, Glass Prison, The End of Eternity, and New Romancer. In 2014, he won the best novel prize at the 1st Sci-fi Awards in short- to mod- length novel category; in 2015, the dinstinction award at the 2 nd Sci-fi Awards in the same category; and in 2016 and 2917 he won the best novel prize at the same Awards for the same category again - achieving an unprecedented record of winning top prizes in four consecutive years.