On a Red Station, Drifting

On a Red Station, Drifting takes some of the standard science fiction tropes: interstellar empires in decay, space stations ruled by a singular artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and runs them all through a heavy Vietnamese filter. The result is a compelling novella that centers around Confucian values of filial piety, harmony, and the family as a model for society.

Linh is a planetary Magistrate on the run from an empire falling to civil war, and her own challenge to Imperial authority in a memo which has earned her a death sentence. Quyen is a station administrator presiding over a failing station and an unhappy family. The two clash over power, respect, subtle snubs of courtesy and disastrous breaches of protocol. I’d say that the story is most notable in the way that it inverts conventions, with women as the central characters and Confucian values rather than Aristotelian values shaping society. It’s a coherent and well-imagined universe, and one that made me question my default belief that the future would look pretty much like me. After all, on an interstellar scale Vietnam has just as much space capability as America.