A sci-fi history of over a century

When American Nathaniel Isaacson began research on Chinese science fiction as a doctoral student at the University of California, Los Angeles, a decade ago, he thought it would be easy for him to cover the development of Chinese sci-fi in the 20th century.

"Ten years ago, most people didn't know about Chinese science fiction," says Isaacson. "And there were little available materials to study."

However, the more he looked into the field, the more material he dug up.