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If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light

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By Kim Choyeop & Anton Hur

Publisher Description

From Korean science fiction author Kim Cho-yeop, a stunning and poignant collection of literary speculative fiction stories that explore the complexities of identity, love, death, and the search for life’s meaning, perfect for fans of Exhalation and The Paper Menagerie.

In If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light, Korean science fiction superstar Kim Cho-yeop leads us to places we never thought we’d reach, imagining worlds galaxies away and unfamiliar lifeforms with near-dizzying humanity.

An elderly woman stranded in a defunct space station recounts her life story to a visitor as she waits for a vessel that may never arrive. A man comes across a company called Emotional Solids that sells emotions as material products—love as a piece of chocolate, sadness as a smooth stone, anger as a glass paperweight—and tries to understand why people would want to purchase any negative emotions. When an enigmatic artist reveals long-forgotten messages from beyond through her wildly original paintings portraying a planet from a time long before humanity formed, a team of researchers investigate if this planet truly existed and if so, how did this artist know of it? After a pregnant woman’s estranged mother dies suddenly, her avatar disappears from the library of lost souls where the digital minds of the deceased are stored—and the woman is forced, for the first time, to endeavor to understand her mother. In a future utopian society where gene selection has been made uniform and all those with imperfections are cast aside, one woman seeks the truth about the history of her isolated world. And when a young woman undertakes a never-before-accomplished journey through a wormhole, she must reckon with the legacy of her aunt, who vanished mysteriously days before she was meant to begin the same pilgrimage.

Traversing the bounds of imagination with an ethereal incisiveness, Kim Cho-yeop’s stories dismantle the borders between normal and abnormal, material and abstract, earthly and otherworldly. With unforgettable inventiveness and pathos, If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light heralds the arrival of an essential voice in contemporary fiction.

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If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light Reviews

4.5

Callie Mo

Created 11 days ago

“If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light is a collection of stories that's part science fiction, part cozy storytelling. I truly cannot think of a better way to describe it. I'll be honest - I don't normally go for short story collections, I usually like to get into a plot and stay there for a while. This one drew me in partly because I like sci-fi, but largely because of the description, using terms like "a journey into the unknown" and "making the impossible seem not only possible but somehow inevitable". And I did enjoy this! The characters felt real to me, and I was able to get into each story and feel like I was part of it. More than that, though, I enjoyed how each story had a deeper message about life and death, human emotions, and relationships of all kinds. As with any collection of stories, some resonated with me more than others, but I do think that's a little unavoidable with so many different stories! My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.”

Maemaelu

Created 18 days ago

Avery Jipping

Created about 1 month ago

“If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light is an exceptional collection of Science Fiction short stories. Kim Choyeop has brought vivid, futuristic worlds to life, some that are millions of light years away, and some that are set right in our own universe. She discusses human-alien relations with a commentary on potential symbiosis, and the challenges that would come from interacting with discovered life on other planets. Every story is well articulated and encapsulates a mishmash of love, longing, and death. Nothing stands out more in Choyeop’s collection than the “Materiality of Emotions”. It is a deep composition on human’s focus on material items. Why are we so focused on owning material paraphernalia, and what would happen if we could own physical emotions? How is paying for a concentrated happiness, sadness, and fear, any different than paying for experiences that make you feel the same way? Each of these short stories brings something original to the genre, and is completely worth reading. Thank you to net galley and Saga Press for an arc in exchange for an honest review.”

Diverse representation

Jessica Bergan

Created about 1 month ago

“This read was outside of my typical genres and I loved it. This was a compilation of short stories based in more scientific concepts. Each chapter or so turned into a completely new and unique story. Each one had me on the edge of my seat curious how it was going to end. I think the book was very well structured. It was a very well educated book in that it utilized a lot of the scientific information than I was expecting. I felt very smart knowing and understanding the different references made. This read was also such a good think on it book. Each story had a underlying theme to think of and reevaluate your own life. I was able to connect with each narrator of the story and think about their perspective. Honestly I love this book. If you are interested in trying out the sci-fi genre this would be a wonderful starting point. I'm not generally a science minded person so I worried I wouldn't understand the story lines or get confused by some of the jargon but as I continued the stories did a wonderful job of clarifying anything I could have been confused upon. Like I said if you want to try our sci-fi this is a great read. If you are interested in a book to sit and ponder life as we know it definitely check this book out as well. If you are normally a sci-fi person check this out! Seriously I cannot begin to describe how this will be ingrained into my brain for awhile. Truly I enjoyed it and I hope to see more from this author.”

Multilayered Original Atmospheric Dense Descriptive Grief

Ember

Created about 2 months ago

“If We Cannot Go At The Speed of Light was an absolutely stunning venture into the depths of what makes us human, what makes us who we are, and what shapes our reality. These short stories made me laugh, cry, and ponder the meaning of our existence. I’ll share the titles of the short stories and my takeaways from them (spoiler free) below. Symbiosis Theory made me think about the internal realities of beings we cannot communicate with, whether they’re babies, animals, plants, etc. It made me think about what makes us human and where kindness, empathy, love and compassion come from. Spectrum made me think about the experiences we sometimes have in life that we cannot truly explain to anyone else. It made me think about culture and its beautiful variety, and made me ask why we often in stories reserve kindness as a human specific trait. So many beings are kind. If We Cannot Go At The Speed of Light got me right in the feels. Anna waiting in that space station is something that will stick with me forever. It made me think about how we always tell ourselves we have more time; how the things we sometimes regret most in life are the times we didn’t act with passionate, swift, decisive action in regard to people we love most. Didn’t speak when we wanted to. Didn’t stop by and see grandma that last time we had the chance, not knowing it was our last chance. All the moments that seem small in the moment but end up being the ones that define our entire lives. This one got me existential, if you can’t tell😭 The Materiality of Emotions was absolutely fascinating. If emotions were material would we value them more? Would we trust them more? Would we realize intellectualism should always be balanced with self trust and respect for our emotions? Would it be chaos? This concept was really cool, I loved it. Archival Loss made me think about how easy it is as women, or people assigned female at birth, to spend our whole lives so wrapped up in the care and service of others that the essence of who we are can hardly be pinpointed. It’s so good to be there for the people we love - but we can’t lose ourselves in the process. It made me think about how the guilt of trying to choose balance leads many to depression and disassociation to cope. It made me remember how critical it is to spend time being with what we love and what makes us who we are; that we are so much more than any single label could ever say. We all deserve to be seen and appreciated for who we truly are. Pilgrims was a fascinating exploration of the price versus benefit of creating a “perfect” world. Of what it is to be different, and what it is to continually have to search for a place we belong. The idea of choosing the pain of a difficult but meaningful life over a life of ease and safety is an idea that I mull over often - and was beautifully explored here. My Space Hero was many things, all thought provoking that will sit with me for a long time. What does it mean to choose ourselves no matter the consequences? What are the ethical implications? Can we truly choose both ourselves and others? It really made me think also about the quiet courage of being willing to disappoint people to find your own path. I hope to have the courage one day to be true to myself even when it isn’t the thing that’s convenient for everyone else. One of the most profound takeaways I will ponder from these stories is this: Maybe we ourselves, humans, are the most alien thing of all when we aren’t choosing kindness, love, compassion, peace, nonviolence, and care. Maybe our fascination with the unknown has more to do with how much easier it is to question the unknown in the vast expanse of space and time than it is to look inward and question the unknown within ourselves. In these days all I know at all is that we must find what makes us humankind, and cling to it, and to intentionally deeply care for and humanize each other to heal the grievous horrors of our present reality. If We Cannot Go At the Speed of Light is a deeply thought-provoking and beautiful read - I would highly recommend this book!💫💛🩶💙🖤✨ Thank you so much to Netgalley and Saga Press Books for the ARC!✨”

About Kim Choyeop

Kim Cho-yeop has a master’s degree in biochemistry from Pohang University of Science and Technology. When she burst onto the Korean literary scene, her short story “Lost on Premises” received immediate recognition at the 2017 Korean Science Fiction Awards. She is also the recipient of the Minumsa Writer of the Year Award and the Munhak Dongne Young Writer Award. Her first short story collection If We Can’t Travel at the Speed of Light has sold over two hundred thousand copies in Korea alone. She is also the author of two more short story collections, The World I Just Left Behind and The Bookstore of Planetary Languages. Kim Cho-yeop’s first novel, Greenhouse At the End of the Earth, became an instant bestseller in South Korea.