Vagabonds

Rudy, born on Mars, returns to Earth as a young adult for a diplomatic exchange — and finds himself a stranger on the planet of his ancestors. Earth is stratified, competitive, and in thrall to the market; Mars is collectivist, artistic, and driven by knowledge. Rudy and his fellow Martians must navigate a world that finds their values alien, while a political crisis threatens to sever the two civilisations permanently. Hugo Award-winning author Hao Jingfang's debut novel is an expansive meditation on identity, belonging, and the collision of economic systems — an interplanetary coming-of-age story rooted in Chinese literary and philosophical tradition. The short story 'Folding Beijing', set in the same imaginative universe and collected here, won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2016. Translated by Ken Liu.