An excellent collection Liu's short work, smart and original and already widely honored and praised elsewhere. I'd encountered some of these stories in their original publications, but some were new to me and were just as much a treat to read. Highly recommend.

I usually read short story collections as a way to read something quick when the need arises, but this was hard to put down. This is a powerful, well-written, and thought provoking Asian inspired collection focused on technology, humanity, censorship, history, and more. I walked away from almost every story unable to stop thinking about it. It's a hard book to review, because I'd rather readers go into this blind. I highly recommend for speculative fiction fans, even if short stories aren't usually your jam.

I love Ken Liu’s writing. The stories were well written and kept me turning the pages, a must read! I liked the character development

Overall a lot of the stories fell flat emotionally and I'm not even sure why. Many of them feel very dated as well, something that would've been published in 2010 or earlier.

The Bookmaking Habits Of Select Species - 2.75 stars
State Change - 3 stars
The Perfect Match - 2.5 stars
Good Hunting - 3.25 stars
The Literomancer - 3 stars
Simulacrum - 2 stars
The Regular - 2 stars
The Paper Menagerie - 3.25 stars
An Advanced Reader's Picture Book Of Comparative Cognition - 2.25 stars
The Waves - 3 stars
Mono No Aware - 3 stars
All The Flavors - 3 stars
A Brief History Of The Trans-Pacific Tunnel - 2.25 stars
The Litigation Master And The Monkey King - 1.75 stars
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary - 3 stars

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I think the concepts for the stories are really interesting. The author uses a lot of his stories to bring light to Asian ( mostly Chinese and then Japanese) culture and historical events. Although, I think my favorite story was The Waves, which is a science fiction tale about the decisions we make around technologies and what makes us human. I think where some of the stories fell short for me was when they got too long and felt bogged down by the historical significance of certain events, like in the last story, or when the stories were more about the world and so I didn't really care about the characters. Overall, I did think it was well-written and gave plenty to think about.

This collection deserved every bit of praise its received since it was published. It's genuinely some of the best short fiction I've ever read. I don't know what I can add to the conversation that hasn't already been said. It was spectacular.

Thanks so much to Saga Press and NetGalley for this eGalley!

I’m a big fan of short story collections. I’ve enjoyed pretty much every one that I’ve picked up and this is no exception. As with most collections, there were some stories that I connected with more or hit me harder than others, but even when I was reading a story that I wasn’t as invested in as others, I was still interested to see where Liu was taking it and wanted to stick through to the end. I was never bored.

I really loved the science fiction and fantasy elements laced throughout these stories. I found they really added to and helped balance these stories when the subject matter was often dark or difficult to read (particularly the historical fiction stories in this collection).

My favorites were The Paper Menagerie, The Regular, and The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary. The Paper Menagerie, to put it bluntly, ripped me to shreds. A beautiful but sad and honestly tragic story. The Regular was a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that hooked me right from the start and I couldn’t put it down until I was finished. The Man Who Ended History was a sci-fi historical fiction story about the atrocities committed by Japan’s Unit 731 during WWII and how people justify or straight-up deny these extremely dark spots in history. It made me wonder how we can ever truly grasp the horror that humans commit every day without living these experiences ourselves and still have empathy and, more so, how some can have no empathy.

This collection as a whole is incredibly smart. I honestly feel like I need to give it a reread, especially specific stories, to fully grasp and appreciate them. I think there’s a good chance that my rating will go even higher in the future if I give myself the chance to better savor these stories.

If you like short stories and/or are a fan of sci-fi, magical realism, fantasy, or historical fiction, you absolutely should give this collection a try.

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is a collection of award winning stories with the beautiful and fluid prose as it's prime recommendation. The author employs an enchanting combination of culture, world history and science-fiction in the construction as well as the narration of the stories - enchanting and simply touching!

The strong characters and the intense premise of almost all stories give a lot of material for a bookclub discussion (speaking from personal experience :) .) There was certainly a lot of thought put into the ordering of the stories, parallels can be drawn between many of them based on the representation of culture, communication, languages, memories and humanity. This makes the collection a lot more than the sum of the individual stories!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Saga Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

[One star for the whole book, Half-3/4th star for the character development, Half-3/4th star for the individual premise/ story arcs, One star for the world-building and society description, One star for the writing - totaled to 4-4 1/2 stars rounded down to four stars].

I really enjoyed The Paper Menagerie. The stories are a beautiful blend of fantasy, sci-fi, and deep emotional moments. Each one explores identity, culture, and human connections in such a touching way. While a few stories stood out more than others, the overall quality is impressive. Ken Liu’s writing has a way of making you think long after you've finished the book. A perfect pick if you love thought-provoking short stories.

The Paper Menageries is a little bit of everything. There is science fiction, contemporary lit, fantasy, historical fiction, and literary fiction. The prose in the first piece made my jaw drop and every consecutive piece brought me something new. While I cannot pick my favorite piece, the pieces that stuck with me were The Perfect Match, The Paper Menagerie, and Mono No Aware.

I was initially drawn to this piece because I had used Mono No Aware in my class to talk about non linear plots and discuss what it means to be a hero. I loved Liu's take on heroism and we see it through many of these pieces as well.

I highly recommend this book! It is a treat for readers who enjoy a plethora of different genres or enjoy struggling with the difficult questions of life.

This was a very well written book! I loved the stories and just everything the author put into it. This was my first read of the genre and I actually really liked it!

This book is absolutely AMAZING. I've never read a short story collection that hits quite like this and I'm now an even bigger Ken Liu fan than I already was. Incredible!! Huge, huge thanks to Saga Books and the author!

I'm generally not a huge fan of short stories, however, I know this collection will be on my mind for quite a while. As with any collection, I enjoyed some stories more than others, but as a whole, I found each story to be incredibly thought-provoking. I read a single story each day just so that I could mull over the particular messages Liu was delivering with each tale. My personal favorites were "The Paper Menagerie," "The Perfect Match," and "All the Flavors." There was really only one story that didn't work for me, but as for the rest, I'd say I really enjoyed this collection. Liu's writing flowed so well, even despite some of the science-heavy bits, and I just love a good contemplative tale that shakes up your emotions, your beliefs, and your world view. I would absolutely read more by Ken Liu!

Received an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am usually not a fan of short stories, but I kept hearing about this collection from Ken Liu and decided I would give them a try. I am so thankful I did because they were amazing! Ken Liu shines a light on Chinese/American history, language, family dynamics, and so much more through a lens of science fiction. While the vast majority of the stories included were excellent, the titular Paper Menagerie was on a whole different level. The story made me cry, which I never do. It still echoes in my mind a year later. I would highly recommend this book. Many of the stories would also be great to discuss in a high school classroom.

Definitely a book to have and to cherish. Ken Lui;s books are already so captivating now to have. A book with many of his stories is a dream. The perfect book to read after a busy day. Thank you Saga. This is a book ill be reading over and over again.

Ken Liu is clearly an astonishing talent. These short stories are remarkable. The title story is one of the best short stories I've ever read and I don't think I'll ever forget it. So many of these stories deal with memory and difficult decisions. It's not a light book as many war crimes against people are described in detail. But it is an important read and a really moving one. As with any short story collection, there are stories I liked more than others. Unfortunately, one of the longest stories in the book was my least favorite so it was difficult to get through at times but overall, this is truly a remarkable piece of work and I only want more of Ken Liu.