Friday Favorites Remixed: Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Friday, June 5, 2020
Asia Society at Home
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Discover your newest binge and get to know our staff a little better with the Asia Society Texas Center's team favorite ways to stay entertained indoors! Each week, we'll share our picks for what to read, watch, listen to, and more.
Our Friday Favorites Remixed series looks back at the dozens of suggestions our staff have made over the last few months, collecting them by theme, and adding a couple new recommendations to help you find exactly what you most want to nerd out to!
Novel: If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho
Recommended by Mei Qi, Business and Policy Manager
"Zen Cho's short stories are some of my favorites. This one, winner of the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, is a classic tale of imugi meets girl (what do you mean, that's not a genre?). Follow this imugi, a Korean 'lesser dragon' aspiring to become a full-fledged dragon, and its adventures over thousands of years. I love this story for surprising me past the initial premise and catching me with unexpected emotions at the end. A lovely little story about connection between people — even if one of those people is an imugi, distinctly non-human and never fully understanding of humans. That's part of the charm."
Find it on: B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog
Short Stories: Readymade Bodhisattva: The Kaya Anthology of South Korean Science Fiction
Recommended by Jennifer Kapral, Director of Education and Outreach
"The first book-length English-language translation of science fiction from Korea, this anthology includes renowned literary figures, as well as some of the most exciting writers of the new millennium, making for a diverse collection that includes detailed introductions and annotations to help guide the reader through an immersive journey, taking us to a Buddhist temple to debate a robot on ethics, to a woman playing a cosmic game of Go as she dreams of working on a moon base, or to a dystopian cyberpunk world set in megacorporate Asia."
Find it on: Kaya Press (with links to purchase)
Web Cartoon: Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe
Recommended by Rebecca Becerra, Education, Outreach, and Data Coordinator
"Lore Olympus is my favorite webtoon. It's a kind of digital comic originating in South Korea, typically read vertically in a scrolling format and in full color, which makes them easy to read on a laptop or phone. While the style was originally unique to Korean webcomic culture, it has gained popularity at a global scale! the artist for this pick, Rachel Smythe, is based in New Zealand.
"Her story immediately takes you in with the unique art style and storyline. Lore Olympus follows the retelling of the Greek mythological story of Persephone and Hades, but with a new perspective and twist. I particularly love the attention to detail and symbolism in regards to Greek mythology, and the way each character's relationship is carefully interwoven. The narrative explores different relationship dynamics in an engaging and thoughtful way, and the character development is simply fantastic. Lore Olympus does not disappoint, as readers are left in anticipation for each new chapter."
Find it on: Webtoons
Novel: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Recommended by Janey Jiao, Accountant
In this science fiction masterpiece by Cixin Liu, an alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures a man-made signal and plans to invade Earth. Janey: "It's a mind-blowing story of the author's brilliant imagination, and recommended by former president Barack Obama."
Find it on: MacMillan Publishing (with links to purchase)
Film: The Wandering Earth
Recommended by Janey Jiao, Accountant
Based on the Hugo Award-winning novel The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin, The Wandering Earth is a sci-fi interstellar thriller following the story of a group of astronauts on a mission to save the Earth as the sun expands into a red giant and threatens to engulf the planet. According to Janey, "the film represents the thoughts of humanity by Chinese people, and how they can sacrifice for their loves."
Find it on: Netflix | YouTube (trailer)
TV Show: Kingdom
Recommended by Jennifer Kapral, Director of Education and Outreach
"I love a good zombie thriller, so I've been thoroughly enjoying the second season of Kingdom, which is based on the webcomic Land of the Gods by author Kim Eun-hee. Set in Korea's Joseon period (1392–1897), the costume design is based on real Joseon fashion, with its featured Joseon-era hats becoming an Internet sensation as obsessed fans scoured the web to learn about the importance of and symbolism behind the hats. These incredible costumes and the beautiful set design provide a stark contrast to the violent and disturbing zombies (boy, they can run), making for enthralling cinematography. This second season was another huge success, so many of us are hoping for and anticipating a third season."
Find it on: Netflix
TV Show: The Expanse
Recommended by Kaitlyn Ellison, Performing Arts and Culture Manager
"The Expanse is a Hugo Award-winning sci-fi series centered on the political complexities that come along with humanity colonizing the entire solar system. With a clear stylistic nod to noir, the show follows multiple interweaving plots, all dramatic and full of intrigue. At first, it can take a little while to get used to (there's a lot going on), but it's worth giving the show a couple of episodes to win you over. It only gets stronger as it goes, highlighting a gender-balanced and multicultural ensemble cast, with newcomers getting their big-screen debuts alongside many well-known faces you've seen throughout the years — my personal favorite is Shohreh Aghdashloo as the master politician Chrisjen Avasarala."
Find it on: Amazon Prime
Game: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Recommended by Stephanie Todd Wong, Director of Performing Arts and Culture
"With the pandemic keeping the family at home more than usual, our Nintendo Switch is seeing a lot more use. Like most parents, I have concern about the amount of screen time happening in our household, but it has been so much fun exposing our kids to the Zelda series for the first time. This reimagined version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening focuses on a quest to rouse the legendary Wind Fish. Like most puzzle games, the next step isn't always obvious, but allows for a lot of fun trial and error, exploration, and excitement as you attempt to defeat increasingly difficult dungeon levels. With a tween and teenager in the house, there aren't many games that bring our whole family together these days, but Zelda is the exception. And who doesn't want to stay up until 2 a.m. playing games with their kids?"
Find it on: Nintendo (with links to purchase)
Business and Policy programs are endowed by Huffington Foundation. We give special thanks to Bank of America, Muffet Blake, Anne and Albert Chao, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Nancy Pollok Guinee, United Airlines, and Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsors of Business and Policy programs; Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Leslie and Brad Bucher, Presenting Sponsors of Exhibitions; Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Milton D. Rosenau and Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsors of Performing Arts and Culture; and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Presenting Sponsor of the Japan Series. General support of programs and exhibitions is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Hearst Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, McKinsey & Company, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Vinson & Elkins LLP, and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as Friends of Asia Society.
About Asia Society at Home
We are dedicated to continuing our mission of building cross-cultural understanding and uplifting human connectivity. Using digital tools, we bring you content for all ages and conversations that matter, in order to spark curiosity about Asia and to foster empathy.
About Asia Society Texas Center
With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.