The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

A collection of Asian-inspired short stories. My personal favourite was “State Change”, where everyone's soul manifests as an object such as an ice cube or a candle, and you have to focus on keeping it intact to stay alive. Another standout was “Mono no aware”, a heartwarming story about Go and being the last Japanese person aboard a spaceship. Some of the stories are inspired by more serious topics from history such as the discrimination faced by Chinese immigrants during the 1850s American gold rush and Japan's WW2 war crimes.