The Wandering Earth

Liu CixinYangtze River Literature and Art Publishing House2008

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Chapters
4
Series
Liu Cixin Science Fiction Series
ISBN
9787535438379

Tags

Featured Fiction Science Fiction DisasterHard Sci-FiAstronomersApocalyptic CrisisNovellasFirst PersonContemporary Chinese LiteratureChinese Sci-FiGalaxy Award

Summary

The Wandering Earth is a science fiction novella by Liu Cixin, first published in the July 2000 issue of Science Fiction World and winner of the Chinese Science Fiction Galaxy Award. Told in the first person, it begins when astronomers discover that hydrogen fusion into helium in the Sun's core has accelerated abnormally: within a few centuries the Sun will undergo a helium flash, swell into a red giant, and engulf the Earth. The world's united government resolves to carry out the Wandering Earth Project—building tens of thousands of massive Earth engines on the surface to push the entire planet out of the solar system toward Proxima Centauri, 4.3 light-years away, a journey of some 2,400 years. To that end humanity must first stop the Earth's rotation, then gradually alter its orbit and accelerate away from the Sun's gravity. The book is divided into four chapters—"The Braking Era," "The Escape Era," "Rebellion," and "The Wandering Era." In the Braking Era the Earth stops turning, one half in perpetual day and the other in perpetual night. In the Escape Era people move into underground cities and disasters strike repeatedly; the narrator loses first his mother, then his father, and marries amid the hardship. In "Rebellion," as the Sun remains "unchanged" for years, more and more people come to suspect the helium flash is a hoax and that the united government is using the lie to seize power; they rise up at last and drag the remaining five thousand or so Earth faction members onto the ice field to freeze to death—just as the solar helium flash erupts. In the Wandering Era the Earth leaves the solar system and continues its long, lonely voyage through the cold, silent universe. Through its extreme premise the novella interrogates reason and ignorance, survival and its cost, and stands as one of Liu Cixin's most representative works of shorter fiction.

Editor's review

很多人是从电影认识《流浪地球》的，但原著提供的是另一种震撼。电影拍的是木星引力危机，而原著真正的危机来自人类自身：当苦难漫长到超出忍耐，怀疑便压倒理性，拯救者被自己保护的人推上刑场——而太阳的氦闪恰在最后一刻到来。刘慈欣用两万余字写完了两千四百年的迁徙，把宏大到近乎冷酷的宇宙尺度，压进一个普通人从童年到暮年的记忆里；“啊，地球，我的流浪地球啊”这句遗言，让硬核设定有了滚烫的情感。本书为长江文艺出版社“刘慈欣科幻系列”版本，除《流浪地球》外通常还收录作者其他银河奖获奖中短篇，一册即可体会刘慈欣“宏大想象与冷峻思辨”的典型风格。篇幅短、节奏快，适合作为进入刘慈欣作品世界的入口，也适合与电影对照阅读，看文学如何被改写为影像。

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Reading tips

  1. 先完整通读四章，再回头重读“叛乱”一章，体会作者对群体心理的冷峻观察。
  2. 注意区分原著与电影：电影只借用“逃逸时代”背景，情节为原创，对照阅读更能看清改编取舍。
  3. 阅读时留意地球发动机、地下城等设定背后的科学逻辑与伦理代价，这是刘慈欣的用力所在。
  4. 若被打动，可继续读《乡村教师》《全频带阻塞干扰》《中国太阳》等同系列中短篇。
  5. 建议以两小时为一段集中读完，短篇的张力在连续阅读中更明显。

About the publisher

Yangtze River Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1955

Founded in Wuhan in 1955, Yangtze River Literature and Art Publishing House is a literary publisher under Hubei Changjiang Publishing and Media Group. Public information is limited, so the following focuses on the publishing directions reflected in the books in our database. The press publishes modern and contemporary Chinese literature, classical literary studies, translated foreign literature and educational works. Its catalog includes Chen Yinke's Studies on the Origins of Sui and Tang Institutions and On Tang Political History and The Unofficial Biography of Liu Rushi, Lao She's Camel Xiangzi and Four Generations Under One Roof, and Selected Essays of Lu Xun, as well as translations such as Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country and educational writings by Sukhomlinsky. Its publishing character lies in balancing literary classics with scholarly works, with attention to textual editing and the accumulation of major authors' works; its author resources span leading modern writers, historians and foreign authors.

Contents

  1. Chapter 1: The Braking Era
  2. Chapter 2: The Escape Era
  3. Chapter 3: Rebellion
  4. Chapter 4: The Wandering Era

FAQ

《流浪地球》原著和电影情节一样吗？ 不一样。电影只借用了“地球逃逸、经过木星”的背景，木星引力危机、点燃木星等情节为电影原创。原著以“我”的一生串起刹车、逃逸、叛乱、流浪四个时代，核心冲突是人类内部的怀疑与背叛，结局也远比电影冷峻。
这本《流浪地球》是长篇还是短篇集？ 作为单篇作品，它是约两万字的中篇小说。长江文艺出版社“刘慈欣科幻系列”的版本一般以《流浪地球》领衔，并收录《中国太阳》《乡村教师》《全频带阻塞干扰》等获奖中短篇，具体篇目以所购版本版权页为准。
没读过科幻，能读懂吗？ 可以。小说语言平实，不堆砌术语，核心是“人类推动地球逃离太阳”这一个设定。读者只需接受这一前提，就能顺畅读完，科学细节并不构成门槛。
“流浪地球计划”要多久？ 小说设定中，地球需约两千四百年才能抵达比邻星。刹车、加速、逃逸、流浪、减速各阶段加起来跨越上百代人，这也是书中人物常感绝望、怀疑计划真实性的重要原因。

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About the author

Liu Cixin Author · China · 1963

Liu Cixin, born in 1963 in Yangquan, Shanxi Province, is a leading figure in Chinese science fiction, a senior engineer, and a member of the China Writers Association. His writing is known for its vast cosmic scale, rigorous rational speculation, and solid scientific grounding, often placing human civilization in extreme situations for examination. The Three-Body trilogy, his representative work, revolves around humanity's contact and struggle with an alien civilization, displaying an expansive vision and striking imagination, while works such as The Wandering Earth and Ball Lightning start from near-future crises to explore the tensions between technology, society, and human nature. In 2015, he won the 73rd Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Three-Body Problem, becoming the first writer in Asia to receive this honor. His works are also categorized as premium fiction, science fiction, and social fiction.