Such contradictions are central to each of Hao Jingfang’s characters, neither recognizable archetypes of science fiction nor stereotypical symbolic representations of their respective systems.

First wary, then helpful, then friendly, but never convinced of each other’s views, the two circle the concept of an ideal worldview just as their own planets circle the sun, rarely in sync and often at odds. Simultaneously, a photographer from Earth seeks the economic stability and creative freedom offered by Mars’s open information archive, rebelling against his own homeworld’s insularity and possessive intellectual property laws. That she is already recognizably lauded within her own egalitarian system for the accident of her birth - scion that she is of Mars’s consul-cum-dictator - is an intrinsic part of her reasoning for dismantling a system that benefits her, even as she exists outside of it.

Torn between her native land and the world on which she came of age, Luoying must discover the truth amid a web of lies spun by both sides, she must chart a course between history and the future, or face the destruction of everything she's ever loved.IN VAGABONDS, the princess of an aggressively communitarian Mars chafes against her homeworld’s attempts to ensure stability through equality, preferring instead to champion a system that promotes individual success and rarefied reward. Martians and Terrans, old friends and new mentors, statesmen and revolutionaries – everything and everyone challenges her, pushing her to declare her allegiance. How do you escape the gravity of the past? Luoying, one of the returning Martians, is caught amidst the political intrigue and philosophical warfare. Almost immediately, negotiations break down and old enmities erupt. Now the young men and women are coming home, escorting a delegation of prominent Terrans to see if the two worlds can bridge the void that has opened up between them. Five years ago, a group of Martian students were sent to Earth as goodwill ambassadors from the Red Planet. After a brief conflict, Earth and Mars cut ties, carving separate trajectories into the future, viewing each other with suspicion and even hatred. Just over a century ago, the Martian colonies declared their independence. Can the void between two worlds be bridged? AD2201. The first novel from the Hugo Award-winning author of 'Folding Beijing', translated by Ken Liu.

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang