尼爾·克拉克
今年是我在《克拉克世界》雜誌擔任編輯的第十個年頭。這實在有點令人吃驚，因為我之前從未想過要當一個編輯。我的大半輩子都在技術部門、學校和大學裡度過。雖然在青少年時代，科幻作品對我產生了巨大的影響，但我能走上編輯這條路也頗具戲劇性。不過，走上這條路，我從不後悔，而且現如今，我竟也能與那些在我個人成長定型期被我視為人生偶像的作家和編輯們一起共事。看來，我之前做的所有事情都在引導我走向這一嶄新的職業生涯，而我也因此收穫了許多歡欣喜悅。
剛開始在《克拉克世界》雜誌工作時，我就懷抱著填補出版界空白的理想。科幻作品於我而言一直是一種短暫的逃離。我熱切渴望著與眾不同的故事——那些能夠激發我以新方式對事物進行思考和感知的故事，又或者是那些能引領我感受與自身經歷迥然不同的故事。我們向世界各國的作者約稿，也收到了很多優秀的作品。但是，撇開最初的跨洋電話交流不談，我漸漸發現尤其是非英語國家交來的稿子存在著理解上的鴻溝。我們知道，我們國家的作品被翻譯成許多其他語言；我們也知道，像中國這樣的地方往往擁有著非常龐大的科幻讀者群，但我們並不瞭解如何才能真正地接觸這些讀者。和許多美國人一樣，我只會說英語，而且現在越發認識到只掌握一種語言竟如此遮蔽了自己的眼界。
幸運的是，還有一些人士既是我在各語種小說方面的同好，同時也能幫助我克服困擾我的語言障礙。在他們之中，正是劉宇昆帶我走入了中國科幻小說的勝境。作為一名傑出的獨立作者，劉宇昆主動承擔了翻譯和引介中國作家作品的任務。我們最先出版的兩部作品來自陳楸帆和夏笳，這兩本書不僅令我也令我們的讀者歎為觀止。稍後，當我有機會出版自己主編的第一部選集時，我毫不猶豫地將這兩部作品納入其中。此時，我終於得以一窺這巨大的科幻文學財富，而這些寶貴的作品那時還未曾進入以英語為母語的讀者世界，同時我對這些作品的沉迷也自此一發不可收拾。
我們最初的出版嘗試獲得了一些關注，於是有一天我收到了來自微像文化的一封電郵。在接下來的幾個月裡，我們商定出了一項足慰平生的合作協議，使《克拉克世界》得以更好地展示全球範圍內最優秀的科幻小說。項目啟動的第一年，在非常得力的中國團隊的協助下，我精選出了即將翻譯並刊登在我們雜誌上的九篇作品。我們殷切期望在兩個生機勃勃的科幻小說群體間搭建一座橋樑，而本書就是這個項目邁出的第一步。
希望你在閱讀這些精彩故事的同時也能體會到我在閱讀它們時體會到的無限樂趣。
This year，I』m celebrating my tenth year as editor of Clarkesworld Magazine.This is，in many ways surprising，as I never expected to be an editor.I』ve spent most of my life working in technology and schools and universities.Despite the influence of science fiction when I was a teenager，I took a very scenic route to get here.However，there are no regrets on that path and I now get to work with authors and editors that I considered heroes in my formative years.Everything I did led me to this new career and I have been blessed with many hours of enjoyment.
When I started Clarkesworld，I was looking to fill a gap in what was being published.Science fiction has always been an escape for me.I wanted different stories，things that would challenge me to think or feel about things in new ways or introduce me to experiences unlike my own.We invited authors from all over the world to submit stories and it worked out quite nicely.Yet，despite our initial international call，I began to notice certain gaps particularly in submissions from non-English-speaking countries.We knew our stories were being translated into other languages.We knew that there were some significantly large science fiction audiences in places like China，but we didn』t know how to reach them.Like many Americans，I only speak English and I realized just how much that was holding me back.
Fortunately，there are a few people out there that share my interest in international fiction who do not suffer from my linguistic limitations.Of them，Ken Liu is the one that deserves the most credit for introducing me to Chinese science fiction.An amazing author in his own right，Ken took it on himself to start translating and submitting the works of Chinese authors.The first two we published were by Chen Qiufan and Xia Jia，both of whom not only impressed me，but also our readers.Later，when the opportunity to include them in my first anthology presented itself，I jumped at it.At this point，I simply had a glimpse of the wealth of stories that had not made their way to an English-speaking audience and I was hooked.
Our initial efforts caught some attention and one day I had an email from Storycom in my inbox.Over the course of the next few months，we ironed out an agreement that would allow us to fulfill a dream of making Clarkesworld more representative of the best science fiction from around the world.In that first year，with assistance from an amazing team in China，I selected nine stories that would be translated and published in our pages.This book represents the first stage of what we hope will be a bridge between two vibrant science fiction communities.
May these stories provide you with as much enjoyment as they did for me.