By Arthur Liu & Feng Zhang: The Chinese Science Fiction Database (CSFDB)’s 2025 Recommended List has been announced.

The list is divided into 7 categories: Domestic/Translated Novels, Domestic/Translated Stories, Anthologies, Collections, and Related Works. A total of 54 entries is selected, covering 6 countries/regions apart from China, including Australia, Russia, Japan, Sri Lanka, UK and US.

The Domestic Novel category is left vacant this year.

The complete list in bilingual form follows the jump:

DOMESTIC NOVEL

• Vacant

DOMESTIC STORIES

• “Ghosts of August” by Qiu Changting (Land of Monsters; Jiuzhou Press, May 2025)
• “The Shadow Force Equations” by Yi Zuozuo (Wild Grass; Issue 1, 2025)
• “A Paper on ‘Wen Mian'” by Shuang Chimu (Mercury Retrograde; Yilin Press, February 2025)
• “The Forbidden Amber” by Lin Yuanye (Tianya; Issue 3, 2025)
• “Faceless” by Tan Gang (Science Fiction World; June 2025)
• “How Can You Kill a Mountain” by Shi Heiyao (Special Zone Literature; June 2025)
• “Advancing at Micro Speed” by Liu Tianyi (“Non-Existent Science Fiction” WeChat Official Account; July 7, 2025)
• “The Place Where Spirits Gather” by Fan Zhou (“Non-Existent Science Fiction” WeChat Official Account, July 17, 2025)
• “Falling into the Mushrooms” by Hai Shan (“Non-Existent Science Fiction” WeChat Official Account, July 23, 2025)
• “A Western Dragon King” by Sun Saibo (Galaxy’s Edge 023: Cloud-Sowing Ritual; New Star Press, August 2025)
• “Contour Line” by Shan Yu (“Non-Existent Science Fiction” WeChat Official Account, August 25, 2025)
• “Documentary: ‘The Sweetness of Speed'” by Liang Ling (Anywhere Station; Shanghai Literature & Art Publishing House, September 2025)

TRANSLATED NOVELS

• Mindswap by [US] Robert Sheckley, translated by Chen Yang (Dimensions of Sheckley; New Star Press, April 2025)
• Kindred by [US] Octavia E. Butler, translated by Mo Xin (China Friendship Publishing Company, March 2025)
• Lanark: A Life in Four Books by [UK] Alasdair Gray, translated by Tang Jiang (Beijing United Publishing Company, April 2025)
• Diaspora by [AU] Greg Egan, translated by Xiao Aoran (New Star Press, April 2025)
• How High We Go in the Dark by [US] Sequoia Nagamatsu, translated by Meng Xinyi (Chongqing Publishing House, October 2025)
• The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by [Sri Lanka] Shehan Karunatilaka, translated by [New Zealand] Ren Chao (Beijing United Publishing Company, October 2025)
• Service Model by [UK] Adrian Tchaikovsky, translated by Li Tianqi (Science Fiction World: Translations; Serialized on May/July 2025)

TRANSLATED STORIES

• ” Night Call, Collect” by [US] Ray Bradbury, translated by Li Yi (The Lost City of Mars; Shanghai Translation Publishing House, February 2025)
• “The Anything Box” by [US] Zenna Henderson, translated by He Dan (A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, Vol. 1; Jiangsu Phoenix Literature & Art Publishing, July 2025)
• “The Saturn Game” by [US] Poul Anderson, translated by Hua Long (Going for Infinity; New Star Press, May 2025)
• “The Symphony on the Mountain”(山の上の交響楽) by [JP] Nakai Norio(中井紀夫), translated by Ding Dingchong (The Symphony on the Mountain; New Star Press, December 2025)
• “Scarred Girl”(ラギッド・ガール) by [JP] Tobihiro Taka (飛浩隆), translated by Ding Dingchong (The Angels of the Lost Paradise II: Ragged Girl; Sichuan Science & Technology Press, February 2025)
• “The Tale of a Timid Tailor”(Сказка о трусливом портняжке) by [RU] Sergei Lukyanenko (Сергей Лукьяненко), translated by Qiu Tianchi (A Safe Life: Despair Stories by Lukyanenko; New Star Press, October 2025)
• “Girl Zero” by [US] Sequoia Nagamatsu, translated by Meng Xinyi (Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone; Chongqing Publishing House, October 2025)
• “Black Corfu” by [US] Karen Russell, translated by Lü Youping (World Literature; Issue 2, 2025)
• “When the Bomb Disposal Squad Encounters Spin Effect” (爆発物処理班の遭遇したスピン) by [JP] Sato Kiwamu (佐藤究), translated by Jia Chen (Bomb Disposal Squad Encounters Spin; Shanghai Culture Publishing, April 2025)
• “The Beyoğlu Municipality Waste Management Orchestra” by [US] Kenan Orhan, translated by Feng Lujia (World Literature; Issue 2, 2025)
• “Yesterday’s Wolf” by [US] Ray Nayler, translated by [SG] Hu Shaoyan (The Clarkesworld Anthology: Vol.2; Chongqing Publishing House, August 2025)
• “The Passing of the Dragon” by [US] Ken Liu, translated by Geng Hui (Yilin; Issue 5, 2025)

ANTHOLOGIES

• The Dream Builders: Chinese Stories Steering Toward the Future edited by Future Affairs Administration (Yilin Press, May 2025)
• A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, Vol. 1 edited by [US] Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer (Jiangsu Phoenix Literature & Art Publishing, July 2025)
• Body, Again: Science Fictions of Chinese & Korean Women Writers edited by Future Affairs Administration & Shanghai Translation Publishing House & [KR] INFLUENTIAL Publishing (Shanghai Translation Publishing House, August 2025)

COLLECTIONS

• Bloodchild and Other Stories by [US] Octavia E. Butler, translated by Wu Hua (China Friendship Publishing Company, January 2025)
• Mercury Retrograde by Shuang Chimu (Yilin Press, February 2025)
• Ripple by Du Li (CITIC Press, March 2025)
• The Complete Stories, Volume 2 by [US] Isaac Asimov, translated by Hu Shu (Jiangsu Phoenix Literature & Art Publishing, April 2025)
• Land of Monsters by Qiu Changting (Jiuzhou Press, May 2025)
• Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by [US] Sarah Pinsker, translated by Liu Weiyang (Tiandi Press, May 2025)
• Fear of Seeing: The Weird World of Han Song by Han Song (Sichuan Science & Technology Press, August 2025)
• Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories by [US] Terry Bisson, translated by Qin Peng (Beijing Daily Press, August 2025)
• Anywhere Station by Liang Ling (Shanghai Literature & Art Publishing House, September 2025)
• The Symphony on the Mountain (山の上の交響楽) by [JP] Nakai Norio (中井紀夫), edited by [JP] Hanna Ren (伴名練), translated by Ding Dingchong (New Star Press, December 2025)

RELATED WORKS

• Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer’s Journey by [US] Daniel Keyes, translated by Liu Fei (CITIC Press, January 2025)
• Uncanny: The Origins of Fear (不気味の穴：恐怖が生まれ出るところ) by [JP] Junji Ito (伊藤潤二), translated by Ye Yi (China Friendship Publishing Company, January 2025)
• Celestial Empire: The Emergence of Chinese Science Fiction by [US] Nathaniel Isaacson, translated by Wang Dingding (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, January 2025)
• Kon’s Tone (「妄想」の産物) by [JP] Satoshi Kon (今敏), translated by Xie Ying, revised by Zhao Wanning (Jiuzhou Press, February 2025)
• My Mother Was a Computer: Digital Subjects and Literary Texts by [US] N. Katherine Hayles, translated by Chen Jing (Nanjing University Press, August 2025)
• Chinese Science Fiction Theory Materials: 1891–1949 compiled by Jia Liyuan (The Commercial Press, August 2025)
• Odyssey: The Authorised Biography of Arthur C. Clarke by [US] Neil McAleer, translated by Zhang Xu & Wang Zihan (New Star Press, September 2025)
• The Immortality Fantasies of Ancient Chinese (古代中国人の不死幻想) by [JP] Yoshikawa Tadao (吉川忠夫), translated by Cao Xing (Commercial Press, October 2025)
• J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by [UK] Tom Shippey, translated by Zhou Yang (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, November 2025)
• How to Build a Dragon or Die Trying: A Satirical Look at Cutting-Edge Science by [US] Paul Knoepfler & Julie Knoepfler, translated by Fu Linchun (World Book Publishing Company, November 2025)

[Based on a press release.]