Fang Xiang

This is both a work of science fiction and an exploration of the meaning of life, love, literature and art. Brainpower is no longer the main ingredient for being human in this far distant future world.  Spirituality, physical balance, and diligence all come together as integrity for Chen Mu, the Card Apprentice.  The cards which Chen Mu masters in his own scrappy way, distill all the powers of the cosmos –  human and nonhuman –  into something that is not a book, not technology, and neither art nor magic, but is these and more.  Learn about these strange cards, which can embody everything you might imagine for the future of technology, but also a future beyond technology which promotes the best, and sometimes the worst, from mankind’s past.

The Card Apprentice

Chen Mu shook out his head, to keep himself from thinking about those things.

Chen Mu really didn't know who the person was that he'd killed, and he really didn't want to know what sort of background he came from.

But the affair was making huge waves in Eastern Shang-Wei City. And how could it avoid enraging the higher reaches of Eastern Shang-Wei City for that kind of unexpected street violence among the students at Eastern Wei Academy to have occurred during the exchange with the Star Academy? Everyone at Eastern Wei Academy was in a state of anxiety, and the administration passed strict restrictions on scholars coming and going.

Copper’s Conjecture