Interview with science fiction writer Liu Cixin: China's science fiction industry has strong momentum for development

My country's science fiction industry has always been weak. So far, there are less than 30 science fiction writers who truly have certain influence nationwide and have persisted in writing for a long time.

Original title: The development momentum of China's science fiction industry is strong.

Wearing casual clothes, black-rimmed glasses, and a shallow smile, science fiction writer Liu Cixin will be surrounded by science fiction fans wherever he goes, asking for autographs and taking photos. Liu Cixin's science fiction novel "Three-Body" won the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction Award and the special prize of the "Silver River Award", the most important science fiction novel in China. At the China Science Fiction Conference, there were countless science fiction fans waiting for him to sign his autographs.

Talking about why he transformed from an engineer to a science fiction writer, Liu Cixin explained this: The first time he really felt a very magical scene was when he saw the stars and the night sky. Unlike ordinary people, the starry sky in my eyes has never lost its magical color. Instead, as time goes by, it has become more and more mysterious, giving rise to the original motivation to create science fiction novels.

Liu Cixin said: "Compared with the more unrestrained soft science fiction, hard science fiction focuses more on the core of science and solid imagination. With the rapid advancement of contemporary science and technology, the pace of science has gradually caught up with imagination, and the saying that 'the future has come' has even emerged." Liu Cixin believes that the characteristic of science fiction is that when the miracles described in science fiction become reality, it immediately becomes commonplace. In fact, many of the former science fiction elements around us have become reality.

In Liu Cixin's view, the book "Three-Body" only brought China science fiction from the fringe into the public's view. Its success is not the success of China's science fiction industry, or even his personal "success." Liu Cixin said: "My country's science fiction industry has always been weak. So far, there are less than 30 science fiction writers who truly have certain influence nationwide and have persisted in writing for a long time. Therefore, China's science fiction industry still has a long way to go before it breaks through."

Since China's science fiction industry is still in its infancy, the ones that people come into contact with most are science fiction magazines and science fiction film and television works. Liu Cixin said: "The science fiction industry has a long extension chain and involves many fields, including publishing, film and television, games, amusement parks, etc. Neither the quality of the work nor the number of readers are very satisfactory. Like most science fiction novels, the better ones sell only about 50,000 to 100,000 copies, and the worse ones only sell a few thousand copies. It's difficult for a market like this to support good writers and inspire them to create."

"With the continuous development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, many people now have a strong interest in science fiction things and their understanding of science fiction products continues to deepen. Some science fiction works have seen some hope after interacting with the film and television industry." Liu Cixin believes that with the help of the continuously held China Science Fiction Conferences, the science fiction industry has attracted many big celebrities in fields related to the science fiction industry to talk about the future development direction of the industry, which has a very good role in promoting the development of my country's science fiction industry.

"Currently, there are as many as 3000 science fiction writers in the United States, but there are too few science fiction writers in my country." Liu Cixin said that among science fiction readers, there are about 1 million people who insist on buying science fiction works, so the entire science fiction industry is in urgent need of government guidance and support. With the attention of major media, the science fiction industry has moved from the original mysterious world to everyone's attention. Judging from the development momentum of the science fiction industry in recent years, my country's science fiction industry has sufficient motivation to move forward. What is even more gratifying is that local governments are now vigorously cultivating and expanding this situation. Just as Chengdu City has made specific arrangements to build "China's Science Fiction Capital", which is of far-reaching significance to the development of my country's science fiction industry. As long as there is good soil, it is only a matter of time before a large number of science fiction readers and writers can be cultivated.

Liu Cixin also suggested that combining science fiction works with film and television products will bring unexpected benefits.

Editor: Mary