1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 381 The Hunger Games: Two in One
At night, the hotel organized dinner for the writers.

As soon as he entered the restaurant, Jiang Xian felt that many people's eyes were focused on him.

Oriental faces are very recognizable in the United States, and his work "The Hunger Games" caused such a sensation in the American science fiction community that everyone is paying attention to the Chinese author of "The Hunger Games".

"Are you Jiang Xian, the author of The Hunger Games?" Soon a writer came up to greet him.

"it's me."

"As expected, it's an honor to meet you! I'm Stephanie, and this is Philip, who won the third prize this time."

"Really? Congratulations to you too."

Before Jiang Xian had even eaten, he received enthusiastic congratulations from a wave of writers.

"I've seen your previous work, Castaways, and I was surprised for a while to learn that The Hunger Games was also your work."

"Yes, I didn't expect that a writer like you would participate in the Creator Award competition."

"Maybe it's because the areas I cover in writing are quite broad," Jiang Xian said.

During the conversation, Jiang Xian also learned that this "Creative Award" was not entirely organized by the magazine "Simulated Science Fiction and Reality".

To be precise, it was jointly funded by the World Science Fiction Association and the famous science fiction monthly "Simulated Science Fiction and Reality", with the aim of cultivating and discovering a new generation of fresh blood for science fiction novels in the 80s.

This also explains why the award ceremony has such a high standard.

The science fiction community intends to promote a new prosperity of science fiction through this essay contest.

You know, in the history of American science fiction, the late 20s to the mid-30s was a special period.

During this period, many famous writers emerged, excellent works appeared one after another, and publishing flourished.

It is recognized as the golden age of science fiction.

During this period, the world's three science fiction giants, Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke, were born.

The person who brought this prosperity was Hugo Gernsback.

Before he appeared, science fiction stories were just a part of the magazine's many contents. In order to attract readers, the illustrations and content were full of pornography and violence, and the stories were extremely poor, basically:

"Aliens came and fought against the evil forces, and the hero saved the earth while falling in love."

The most representative novel is Tarzan.

Tarzan's status in the United States is equivalent to that of Sun Wukong in China.

The emergence of Hugo reversed this situation.

Hugo founded the magazine "Amazing Stories", and against a background of noisy and disordered noises, he uttered the name of science fiction like a bolt from the blue, and powerfully played the magnificent first chapter of the science fiction epic.

To commemorate his contributions, the World Science Fiction Association named the science fiction award after him: the Hugo Award.

Now, the golden age of science fiction has long ended. "Simulated Science Fiction and Reality", a novel that holds an important position in the American science fiction community, holds the same ambition as Hugo, trying to re-inspire the creative enthusiasm of science fiction writers and once again make this famous science fiction magazine famous.

The high-profile award of the "Creativity Award" is also intended to make this award a goal for science fiction writers to compete for.

The meaning of awards is given by people.

Take the Mao Dun Literature Prize for example. It is actually the same as the National Excellent Short Story Award. They are both national literary awards. Apart from the length of the works, there is actually no difference in essence.

But why is the Mao Dun Literature Prize so influential?
Naturally, it was affected by the dividend of public opinion.

With the support of many parties, the status of the Mao Dun Literature Prize in the literary world and in the minds of readers instantly rose.

The same is true for the Creators Award.

"Simulated Science Fiction and Reality" was previously known as "Amazing Stories". The status of this novel in the science fiction world is equivalent to "Harvest" in the Chinese literary world.

Since they have put so much effort into organizing this award, it will naturally attract the attention of the entire science fiction community.

"This is Felicite, this is Jiang Xian."

Through someone's introduction, Jiang Xian got to know the author of "The Pacific in Amber".

This was a middle-aged man around 40 years old, who very much satisfied Jiang Xian's imagination of an American otaku. He was fat, unkempt, and had a face covered with thick beard, like a bunch of messy straw that had been trampled on.

"Hi Jiang."

Contrary to her appearance, Felicite's voice was quite gentle. "Don't listen to the ratings of this crappy magazine. You should be the first, a well-deserved first. The Hunger Games is far more exciting than my novel."

"Don't say that." Jiang Xian was still a little embarrassed.

"Hey, listen, Jiang."

Felicite was very frank when she saw Jiang Xian, "The only reason I came here is not for the damn 'Creator Award', but for you. It is absolutely unfair that you didn't get the first prize."

"Thank you for your words, Felicite." Jiang Xian shook hands with the big man.

Although this author's novels are boring, he is quite interesting.

The next day, University of Southern California.

This oldest private research university on the west coast of the United States is the venue for today's "Imagination Awards" award ceremony.

There was still half an hour left before the "Chuangxiang Cup" award ceremony, and the jury members, award-winning writers, invited leaders and guests entered the venue one after another.

"Simulated Science Fiction and Reality" obviously put a lot of effort into this award.

Among the many guests present were representatives from the University of Southern California, heads of well-known publishing houses and literary journals, journalists from well-known media, and many science fiction writers, editors, and critics.
They are all well-known figures.

Among them, the most shining ones are the two science fiction giants Heinlein and Asimov. The rest of the science fiction writers pay tribute to them as if they were making a pilgrimage.

Jiang Xian mingled among the award-winning writers. He had already become a familiar face at the dinner yesterday, and today he came over to greet them all the way.

"Jiang, the style of the dress you are wearing seems very special." Stephanie looked at it curiously.

Most of the other writers who attended the award ceremony wore black tuxedos or suits, but Jiang Xian wore an outfit that looked very strange to Stephanie.

"This is called a Zhongshan suit, which is our country's formal wear and has been popular for decades," Jiang Xian explained.

"I see, it looks really handsome on you!" Stephanie complimented, giving a thumbs up.

Several other award-winning writers had some physical defects and were a bit old. Jiang Xian sat among them. His oriental face stood out particularly, attracting the attention of USC students who came to join in the fun.

The award ceremony began soon, with the president of the World Science Fiction Association and Lucian, the editor-in-chief of Simulated Science Fiction and Reality, taking turns to give speeches on stage.

Lucien said sincerely:

“In a sense, science fiction fans have two families: one they are born into, and one they join.

In a science fiction family, people first get together because of science fiction, but as they spend more time together, their common topics become richer. We share photos of old train stations and have heated discussions about issues that seem very boring to others, such as how the operation of an airplane's jet engine affects the price of a ticket.

I have learned a lot from many science fiction predecessors.

These teachers have spent decades helping me unreservedly.

I have no way to repay you.

Now, I hope to contribute to the development of science fiction by passing on my experience and discovering more science fiction talents, passing on my love for science fiction, and allowing more people to become part of the science fiction family."

“Huahuahuahua.”

There was applause.

Editor Creedon frowned slightly when he heard this.

The more high-sounding Lucien's words were, the more he couldn't help but feel sorry for the novel "The Hunger Games".

As a science fiction novel, "The Hunger Games" explores the abuse of technology and totalitarian rule through live television broadcasts. These topics are very rare in today's science fiction novels. No matter how you look at it, "The Hunger Games" is much better than other award-winning novels.

But in the end, it was "The Pacific in Amber" that won the first prize.

The main reason for this result is the dystopian theme of "The Hunger Games" and the totalitarian rule explored in this novel.

Clifton thought that critic Sontag's literary review said it very well.

The fictional country of Panem, which was built on ruins in the novel, has merged with the real United States.

The United States is undoubtedly the most scientifically and technologically advanced country in the world.

But with the development of technology, the fate of Americans does not seem to have changed.

People were starving to death on the streets, without even food to eat.

In addition, it constantly brings spiritual emptiness, emotional hunger, and cultural degeneration.
People are increasingly becoming slaves of machines, and science and technology are being alienated into tools to enslave and bind people.

Human liberation and freedom are becoming increasingly distant from people.

In addition, the terrifying and strict hierarchy that people feel from beginning to end in "The Hunger Games" is a projection of the reality of American society.

Croyden could cite too many examples to prove that more and more sophisticated management and manipulation in the name of "rationalization" are spreading to every aspect of people's lives.

Deep-rooted inequality still exists widely, the expectation of democracy often leads to dictatorship and despotism, and the freedom that people yearn for is often just a formality, and even freedom in a formal sense often becomes an unattainable dream.

This is totalitarianism.

The ruling elites in the United States lead their country through lies, and their lies are so sophisticated that they can even deceive themselves.

Croyden had to sigh that the United States today and the United States in the past are two different countries.

The current United States has never been a liberal democracy, nor has it been a country with strong soft power. It is actually a regulated country.

For example, in the past, politicians in the United States loved to debate. They would set up a stage and start speaking, so public speaking was a basic skill for American politicians.

Today's American politicians also give speeches and hold rallies, but the content of their speeches is full of lies.

Their focus is not on how they will make the United States a better place, but on how terrible their opponents are and what dirty things they have done, and then they hype up some threat theories.

This kind of rhetoric is now everywhere in the United States.

These politicians use the power of capital to brainwash the people and cause constant fear and intimidation among Americans.

So in Crooked's view, the current American elites are not even politicians. They have lost their political character and are complete political hooligans.

They spend most of their election money on advertising, public relations and manipulation of public opinion.

Croedon couldn't help but recall the heated discussion among their competition committee on whether "The Hunger Games" could win the first prize during the final review stage.

In the end, he was forced out because of the editor-in-chief Lucien's remark that "the content is too radical and it is not a pure science fiction novel."

Creedon still felt a little indignant as he recalled the scene at that time.

Heinlein is a recognized master of hard science fiction. His novels contain a wide variety of tendencies, including revolution and violence. Many of his works also involve the "American Dream" and "American-style" personal heroism.

But does this affect his novels becoming classics? To date, he is still the most influential science fiction writer in the American science fiction world.

What he said was that he wanted to pass on his love for science fiction and let more people become part of the science fiction family.
he~tui.

I'm afraid your extended family consists only of Americans.

Well, I'm afraid it has to be white.

The award ceremony was still going on, starting with the third prize. After the third prize was awarded, it was the turn of Jiang Xian, who won the second prize, to go on stage to receive the award.

Creeden's gaze involuntarily focused on Jiang Xian.

"The Hunger Games" is definitely the uncrowned king among the selected novels, and Jiang Xian, the Chinese who wrote this novel, brought great shock to these Americans.

Creedon had to admit that he was proud of American literature, especially science fiction.

The United States, which has the most advanced science in the world, is an absolute global leader in science fiction.

But this Chinese face from the East told them that this was not the case.

Chinese people can still write science fiction novels that are popular all over the United States.

Not only Kerry, but most of the people present had the same feeling when looking at Jiang Xian on the stage.

Jiang Xian received the prize with a smile on his face. Unlike another American writer who won the second prize, the American writer was ecstatic, but Jiang Xian seemed calm and looked like someone who had seen a lot of the world.

It wasn't that Jiang Xian was being tense on purpose. He had actually seen large sums of money before, so he didn't think much of the ten thousand dollars.

After the awards ceremony, it was the writers' turn to speak.

Jiang Xian first expressed his thanks briefly, then coughed lightly.

"In literary works, the pursuit of love and beauty is an eternal theme, and the brilliance of human nature cannot be obscured by the haze of disaster."

"The same is true for The Hunger Games, where I put 24 teenagers in an arena of violence and killing, and they are facing not only hostile opponents."

"And the cruel organizers of the competition."

When talking about the organizers of the competition, Jiang Xian deliberately dragged out his voice.

A group of writers immediately understood what he meant and began to whistle and clap their hands.

Lucien, who was sitting in the middle of the stage, blushed green.

(End of this chapter)