Waste Tide

By: Chen Qiufan, Ken Liu - translator

Narrated by: Ewan Chung

A Locus Award Finalist for Best First Novel

Award-winning author Chen Qiufan's Waste Tide is a thought-provoking future vision of how climate change affects the world.

Translated by Ken Liu, who brought Cixin Liu's Hugo Award-winning The Three Body Problem to English-speaking listeners.

Mimi is a "waste girl". A member of the lowest caste on Silicon Isle, located off China’s southeastern coast, and home to the world’s largest electronic waste recycling center. There, thousands of miles from home, Mimi struggles to earn a living for her family and dreams of a better life.

Luo Jincheng is the head of one of three clans who run the island, a role passed down from his father and grandfather before him. As the government enforces tighter restrictions, Luo in turn tightens the reins on the waste workers in his employ. Ruthlessness is his means of survival.

Scott Brandle has come to Silicon Isle representing TerraGreen Recycling, an American corporation that stands to earn ungodly sums if they can reach a deal to modernize the island’s recycling process.

Chen Kaizong, a Chinese American, travels to Silicon Isle as Scott’s interpreter. There, Kaizong is hoping to find his heritage, but finds only more questions. The home he longs for may not exist.

As these forces collide, a dark futuristic virus is unleashed on the island. Against the backdrop of a gritty near-future Chinese landscape, in a world of body modifications and virtual reality, a war erupts - between the rich and the poor; between ancient traditions and modern ambition; between humanity’s past and its future.

©2013, 2019 Text copyright by Chen Qiufan 陈楸帆, English translation copyright by Ken Liu (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2020 Locus Awards Nominee

An interesting look at a potential future.

If you enjoyed Snow Crash, you will most likely enjoy Waste Tide. The most interesting thing about this book is the authors view of recycling.

Creation and Translation

Thanks to the writer for the creativity, and to the translator for making it available in English.

Cyberpunk done right

Let’s get the obligatory out of the way. Performance and audio quality are great.
Story is deep riveting and intimately human, problem for me was to distinguish all the Chinese names (sorry); and at the same time raw and abhorrent in showing what it means to be on the bottom of human society.

Comparison of “our standards” with future realities of silicone isle uncovers fascinating destructive effect that technology can have on our physical and psychic norms.

Absolutely read this.

Watch out spoiler ahead!

Reminds me of Cyberpunk 2077 Johnny Silverhand’s “life” story.

Rather interesting

The plot dynamic of the beginning of the story somehow loses and slows towards the end. Not all characters motivations are clear. But overall this is quite good story. Although Chinese sci-fi is not very abundant.

Fantastic Scifi

Loved it. As a tech enthusiast and major "scientific" scifi fan, I highly recommend.