This is an interesting idea, but for me it just didn't grab my interest. I couldn't connect with the writing, and the story was less than engaging. I appreciated the translator's forward, but I just never bought into the whole concept.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being given freely.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC copy of the book.

I'm not sure if it was the translation or not, but it was hard for me to get into it. I found myself bored reading at times when I know I shouldn't be bored. I was looking forward to this was, but unfortunately I was let down.

This is the kind of book that you can’t put down. I started it not meaning to. I was in the middle of reading another book that I was really into but I thought I’d just read a page or two of Jumpnauts, see how it started, and then realized I couldn’t stop reading it. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say it was a very interesting take on an old sci fi trope in regards to aliens and first contact and also completely believable while having all the hard sci fi elements that I crave. I also appreciated how the translator chose to keep certain Chinese words he felt could not be translated well and he makes an excellent and compelling case for his doing so in the Preface. I felt this book really benefitted from that decision as learning these words only helped me appreciate this book and it’s story even more.

This book was different than the description I think leads on. The plot is spot on, however, there is a lot of action for a book I think you would not anticipate this from. Overall, it was a lot of fun.

I found the prose quite clunky. I wonder if that has more to do with the translation than the original. In any case, this wasn't for me.