“Until the day humanity falls.”
In the year 2020, Earth’s magnetic poles disappeared and humankind was nearly wiped out by cosmic radiation. Within the span of a hundred years, living creatures began to mutate and devour each other while the remaining humans, numbering in the tens of thousands, struggled bitterly in their man-made bases.
In the Abyss, home to the mutated xenogenics, there lived a sentient little mushroom. Because it had been nourished by the blood and flesh of the deceased human An Ze, not only did it take on a similar-looking human form, but a similar name as well: An Zhe.
An Zhe is determined to go to the human base to search for his spore, which had been harvested by humans. Once there, however, he faces the omnipresent risk of discovery and certain death as he tries to keep his non-human nature hidden from the Judges, whose responsibility is to inspect for and eliminate xenogenics like himself. And of all the Judges, Colonel Lu Feng is the most perceptive and merciless—as soon as he determines that someone is a xenogenic, he will execute that person on the spot.
But An Zhe's mutation goes undetected by Lu Feng's eyes, and so a tale of humans and xenogenics unfolds…
Silver Award Winner of 2021’s Xingyun Awards for Global Chinese Science Fiction for Best Original Novel
Reviews with the most likes.
The pacing of the book was slow, but it was enjoyable. I felt like I was on a tour - observing and slowly learning about the dire state humanity has found itself in, and how they got there. I loved the detailled world building, and the characters were fun to learn about too - even if they were a minor character, I felt like each one left an impact.
The translation was well-done too. I've read some official translations that were difficult to read, but this book didn't feel awkward and any references were translated well.
Featured Series
2 primary booksLittle Mushroom is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2022 with contributions by Shisi, 一十四洲, and Xiao.
