Treason

Name: Treason
ISBN: 9787533945633

Orson Scott CardZhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House2016

4.0

Chapters: 15
ISBN: 9787533945633

Report an error Find this book

Summary

Treason is Orson Scott Card's second novel after Hot Sleep. The Chinese edition was translated by Zhou Huaming, produced by Guomai Culture, and published by Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House in 2016. The story takes place on a planet where hard metal is extremely scarce: here steel is not an ordinary industrial material but a strategic resource that determines the fate of clans and even whether a starship can be built to escape. To obtain steel, the planet's various clans each exploit their own abilities, trading what only they possess. In the bloodline of the Mueller family, handed down through generations, lies an almost miraculous gift: wounds heal rapidly, and severed limbs can regrow. Lanik is the eldest son of the Mueller family and was meant to inherit the throne, but a sudden genetic anomaly marks him as an outcast, forcing him to leave his homeland and embark on a path of exile. Among unfamiliar tribes and a hostile land, he must figure out what has happened to him and confront the layered schemes of family, clan, and the entire planet around steel and escape. In this book Card pushes the science fiction premise to the border of fantasy: regeneration, earth power, time manipulation, and other abilities appear in turn, forming a world with unique rules and wild imagination. The "treason" in the title refers both to the breaking of faith between people and to a person's betrayal of an old identity and self-remaking. The book moves at a brisk pace, with the tension of adventure and exile while retaining Card's enduring theme of growth—a young man rediscovering himself as he discovers the truth of the world.

Editor's review

《安德的游戏》让卡德名满天下，但很多人不知道，他在写出安德之前就已经完成过这样一个古怪而迷人的世界。中文版《背叛之星》终于把这部早期长篇带给中国读者，而且不是简单的旧译——据出版方说明，作者经过多年打磨，对作品做了重新修订，中文版还收入了重新绘制修订的背叛星大陆地图，对设定党来说是一种额外的享受。这本书最抓人的地方在于设定。硬金属稀缺到成为星球上最昂贵的资源，各族群为了换来钢铁而互相交换、博弈、背叛；而穆勒家族那种“伤口自愈、断肢重生”的血脉天赋，又让整个故事带上了一层神话色彩。再生改造、大地之力、时间操控等能力接连出现，几乎每一章都在抛出新的脑洞。它更像一部披着科幻外衣的异星奇幻传奇，读起来没有硬科幻的门槛，却处处是卡德式的巧思。当然，作为作者的早期作品，它的结构不如《安德的游戏》那样精炼，有些读者会觉得设定和矛盾处理带着青涩气。但如果你想看卡德在成名之前怎么放飞想象力，想看一个流亡王子如何在陌生的星球上重新认识自己，这本书值得一读。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢《安德的游戏》系列，想追读卡德早期作品的读者
偏爱异星世界设定、脑洞奇幻元素的科幻爱好者
喜欢王子流亡、身世之谜与成长冒险主线的读者
阅读负担不大、希望一口气读完的快节奏小说读者

Not a good fit for

追求硬核科学细节与技术推演的硬科幻读者
对早期作品文笔与结构成熟度要求较高的读者
不太能接受奇幻与科幻元素混搭的读者

Reading tips

先接受“这是科幻外衣下的异星传奇”这一前提，不必用硬科幻标准去校验
留意各章以人名命名的小节结构，它们往往对应不同族群与兰尼克的不同阶段
读到时间操控、大地之力等能力出现时，可对照前文线索，体会设定如何层层加码
读完后不妨回头翻看开头，看兰尼克的命运与“背叛”这个书名如何互相呼应

About the publisher

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House is a Chinese publisher specializing in literary publishing. Judging from the 808 titles in the database, its publishing areas cover world classics, foreign literature, social novels, folk literature and classic works, as well as modern and contemporary literature and prose. Representative titles include foreign literary translations such as Anna Karenina, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, In Praise of Shadows and The Complete Tragedies and Comedies of Shakespeare, alongside classic works by Lao She and Lu Xun such as Camel Xiangzi, Teahouse and Wandering. Its authors and translators include Leo Tolstoy, Cao Ying, Lao She, Yukio Mishima, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Zhu Shenghao. The press emphasizes the translation and introduction of classic texts and the compilation of native literary works, giving equal weight to Chinese and foreign literature. Owing to limited public information, its specific series and editorial policies are not elaborated here.

Chapter 1 Müller
Chapter 2 Ellison
Chapter 3 Nakumai
Chapter 4 Lannik and Lanke
Chapter 5 The Monster
Chapter 6 Schwartz
Chapter 7 Ensel
Chapter 8 Kukuai
Chapter 9 Jones
Chapter 10 Burington
Chapter 11 Gil
Chapter 12 Anderson
Chapter 13 Betrayal
Chapter 14 Müller's Lannik
Chapter 15 Child of the Wind

FAQ

《背叛之星》和《安德的游戏》有关系吗？

没有直接的故事关系，两者世界观与人物完全不同。共同点只在作者：都由奥森·斯科特·卡德所写，《背叛之星》是他继《天贼》之后出版的第二部长篇小说，属于作者更早的作品。

这本书是科幻还是奇幻？

常被归入科幻小说，但设定上更接近异星奇幻：硬金属稀缺、族群交换钢铁、再生与大地之力、时间操控等元素并置，读者通常把它当作披着科幻外衣的星球传奇来读。

中文版有没有额外内容？

据出版方介绍，中文版依据作者修订后的版本译出，并收入重新修订绘制的背叛星大陆地图。译者周华明，2016 年由浙江文艺出版社出版，果麦文化出品。

没读过卡德其他作品能直接读吗？

完全可以。本书是独立故事，不依赖任何前作。唯一的“门槛”是要适应作者把科幻与奇幻元素大胆混搭的写法，习惯之后阅读体验会相当顺畅。

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Orson Scott Card Author · American · 1951

Orson Scott Card, born in 1951 in Richland, Washington, is a major contemporary American writer of science fiction and fantasy whose works have also found a wide readership in the Chinese-speaking world. He is best known for Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, which together won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, making him the only writer to have received both honors in consecutive years. His writing is not limited to space warfare but spans science fiction, fantasy, and other genres, combining tense adventure narratives with a focus on individual growth, responsibility, and moral choices in extreme situations. Ten of his works are included in the collection, among them the Ender's Game trilogy and related works such as Ender's Shadow, Ender in Exile, and Xenocide, as well as the Worthing series, Treason, and other titles, showing the breadth of his output. Public information on his early life and education is limited, so no speculation is offered here.