Loong's Tale◎Edited by Lynn Sun

Loong’s Tales: Comprising five science fiction stories centred on the figure of the Chinese dragon, the anthology presents contemporary Chinese writers’ reimagining of this ancient totem through the lens of modern science and speculative thought.

Spanning themes from genetic engineering and climate change to extraterrestrial civilisation, these stories explore how the image of the dragon evolves alongside technological progress, taking on new forms and meanings in a rapidly changing world. As noted by Xueting C. Ni, the dragon is a shared cultural symbol across civilisations, and in Southeast Asia in particular, the loong continues to inspire visions of the future. This collection brings together writers, editors, and translators from China, Singapore, and the diaspora, offering a rich, cross-cultural dialogue.

The anthology also features a foreword by Michael Swanwick (the five-time Hugo Award-winning author), who describes it as “a body of work by writers who are grappling with the darkest issues of our times but still finding reasons for optimism. Or, if not optimism, at least courage.”

Among the stories, “Regarding Why Humans Have to Seek Dragons” by Baoshu received both the 2025 Galaxy Awards and the Silver prize for Chinese Nebula Awards for Best Short Story. This work, together with “Becoming a Dragon” by Wang Xiaohai, was selected for the 2024 annual recommendation list by the Chinese Science Fiction Database.

More than a reinvention of myth, Loong’s Tales is a sustained enquiry into the relationship between civilisation, nature, and technology. The dragon here is not a relic of the past, but a living concept — reshaped, contested, and reimagined in the present. You may have heard many stories about dragons before, but not like these.

Warning: Suicide and mentions of sexuality correction procedure (Becoming a Dragon by Wang Xiaohai)