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

<p>Chen Mu didn't really know how good the X300 was, but he had a certain understanding of such things as battle suits. Most low-end battle suits were made from materials having high energy resistance, though such battle suits still had limited utility. By comparison, high-grade battle suits weren't like clothes at all but were a type of card appliance. They could provide a card artisan with excellent defensive capabilities, unlike energy cloaks, which required the card artisan to be distracted by controlling them.</p>

The Three Tai-shu Sons