Synopsis:

Meet the alien species that put the humanity into human beings
Discover the fate of Slefonia III once warp travel became obsolete
Visit the Mind Library to commune with the dead

Kim Choyeop became an instant literary sensation in Korea with her debut short story collection. Each of these bitesize speculative masterpieces represents a journey into the unknown, guided by a writer blessed with a boundless imagination.

From alternative futures to distant alien planets, in the company of scientists, space explorers and ordinary citizens in extraordinary situations, Kim Choyeop revels in making the impossible seem not only possible but somehow inevitable.

Each story focuses on an specific issue of discrimination against women or other marginalised groups, adding a mind-bending twist to hold a mirror to modern society and its everyday iniquities.

Review:

I’ve been enjoying short story collections more and more over the last couple of years, and this newly translated collection from Kim Choyeop has joined my list of favourite ones.

This is a science fiction collection, and the stories within are all quite varied, though they carry the same tone throughout. There weren’t any stories I particularly disliked, though my two favourites were the titular, ‘If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light’, and ‘Symbiosis Theory’. 

The stories don’t relate to each other much, but they do feel like a connected narrative. They all share a central theme, which I believe is, connection. We see connections across species, across life and death, and across time. I have seen a review state that the collection asks us to consider the distances we might be unable to close with technology, and I think that is a great summary of this work, especially when considering the central theme.

Choyeop’s (translated) writing is gentle and thoughtful, encouraging you to think about your own place within humanity and to speculate on so many unknowns that we as a species are trying to understand. The book doesn’t just tell you the stories, it invites you to experience emotions and situations that are central to being human.

This is a quietly beautiful collection and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who is searching for a story that helps voice questions like ‘what does it mean to be a human?’, or ‘how does it feel to wait for someone to come back?’.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an ARC to review!