Planning Note 007
When They Laid the Foundations of the Earth | Danyo 009
Chinese Sun | Liu Cixin 071
By Calculation | Woo Da-young 137
Your Fate is a System Error | Yoon Yeo-kyung 173
Animals + Friends × Robots | Jang Kang-myeong 221
The Wonderful World of Silicon | Jeon Yun-ho 289
Sugar Bloom | Jo Si-hyun 347
If I Could Fly Faster Than Light | Taiyo Fujii 397

“Controlled air, predicted reactions, edited dreams.”
A world where technology surpasses humanity,
STS SF depicts the future that lies before us, arriving in the blink of an eye.

Advances in science and technology have presented humanity with the opportunity to live in a world unlike any before, while also creating a saturated social system that will ultimately lead to elimination if we fail to quickly adapt to the rapidly changing lifestyle.
In modern society, where things that were unimaginable only a short time ago have become routine, the task of determining what is right and what is wrong sometimes feels meaningless and pointless.
"The Brave World of Silicon" focuses on the dark realities that inevitably arise in this rapidly changing world.

This book presents eight different worlds based on science and technology that are likely to become reality in the near future.
Artificial wombs are commercialized (Dan Yo, “When They Lay the Foundations of the Earth”), rainfall is controlled by manipulating the weather (Liu Cixin, “The Chinese Sun”), consciousness is transferred to a new body through mind uploading (Woo Da-young, “Through Hearing”), and people live on AI-controlled cruise ships (Yoon Yeo-kyung, “Your Destiny is a System Error”).
A future where children grow up with animal robots (Jang Kang-myeong, "Animals + Friends × Robots"), become families with augmented reality AI (Jeon Yun-ho, "The Wonderful World of Silicon"), become free from disease by having artificial skin transplanted (Cho Si-hyeon, "Sugar Bloom"), and even change the orbit of a black hole hurtling toward Earth (Fujii Taiyo, "If I Could Fly Faster Than Light").
When we remove the curtain of this seemingly illusive future that seems to open up a new world, the contradictions and absurdities that humans inevitably face as humans are revealed in their true form.
The desire to exist as an individual and the reality that we cannot survive without relying on technology collide, and a fierce aftershock ensues.

A future that approaches us with open arms, fueled by the boundless potential of technological advancement.
How should we embrace a perilous future that could change the very foundations of our lives?
How are we to understand this world, a world that seems like a lie, where we must strive to survive more humanely in a mechanistically developed society?
These eight novels are eight responses to the pressing questions facing us today.


What challenges will our lives, society, and humanity face in the new technological environment?
The novels in this book are not prophecies.
This is a scenario that asks the reader to make a choice.
I would like to share my thoughts on whether this is a welcome future.
_From 'The Planner's Note', Jang Kang-myeong

Danyo, "When they laid the foundations of the earth"

“As technology advances further, we will be able to create a newborn baby using just the tip of a fingernail.
So, does cutting your fingernails also constitute an act of violating your dignity?”

World War III breaks out after South Korea launches a preemptive strike against North Korea for political purposes.
Meanwhile, as the United States succeeded in giving birth using an artificial womb, Korea, which bore the original sin of war, became a giant laboratory.
The era in which the nation creates its own people has arrived.
The so-called 'human resource production plan' is implemented.
This system, which seemed to offer a groundbreaking future, has a fatal flaw: it is impossible to know what side effects may occur during the process of collecting donor eggs, and the remaining eggs are secretly exported for medical research.
'I', a driver transporting donated cells, talks with his wife about a future where their young daughter 'Sammy' will one day be discriminated against because of her birth.
Then one day, the wife brings a suspicious group into the house.


Liu Cixin, "The Chinese Sun"

“This sun is the son’s eye.
The yellow earth of the earth will change into blue clothes when it receives these eyes.”

Suiwa, who left her hometown devastated by a severe drought and went to the city to earn money, accidentally comes across a new material called 'nano mirror film'.
This material, which flows like a light cloth but hardens when an electric current is passed through it, was later adopted as the main material for the 'China Solar Project'.
It is a project to launch an artificial sun that will control the country's climate by controlling the amount of sunlight, and young people from rural areas, including Suiwa, are selected as cleaners to clean the surface of the artificial sun and head into space.
They were unaware that the project management team was suffering from severe financial difficulties and had resorted to hiring low-wage, low-education workers as a last resort.
Meanwhile, Sui begins to dream of her own dreams of going further into space.

Woo Da-young, "Through Calm"

“A new castle site completed by copying the remains of a collapsed castle.
“The brain was originally best at repairing a structure with a frame.”

A world where we can discard our aging bodies and transfer our brain data to new bodies.
The consciousness of Gong Mi-yeon, a 134-year-old woman who has suffered from Alzheimer's disease for a long time, is transferred to a body with the development equivalent to that of a 12-year-old.
During their seven-year stay in the designated area, 'Eden', the resident must adapt to their new brain while slowly killing off their existing brain, which is remotely connected to it.
With the help of her dedicated manager, Gong Mi-yeon, who was filling in her memories one by one, suddenly remembers an important fact that she had forgotten.
That's right, she had a husband.
But for some reason, the husband has placed a restraining order on Gong Mi-yeon.
As she piece together clues to uncover the truth, the immense truth behind the hidden body slowly approaches Gong Mi-yeon.

Yoon Yeo-kyung, "Your Fate is a System Error"

“In the age of scientific civilization, the fate of humanity is a systemic failure.
“What kind of error do you want to be?”

The Earth has been turned into a mess after a comet crashed into the ocean. The only safe place left for humanity is the ultra-luxury cruise ship 'Uriho' floating on the ocean.
Only the very best can board the ship, which is thoroughly managed and maintained by the cutting-edge AI blockchain system, 'Mago'.
Every word and action of passengers is recorded at every moment through wearable devices, and even interactions with each other are limited based on the trust level assigned through these devices.
Dokgo Rin, who left this place three years ago and returned to board after being called by Margo, is harboring doubts and dissatisfaction with the system of our ship, which is like a class society.
In a space where everything is perfectly controlled, she becomes a single error and begins to behave unpredictably.


Jang Kang-myeong, "Animal + Friends x Robots"

“This whole town is a monster.
This is… a theme park.
“It’s not a proper village.”

Every child in Seton Village is assigned a guardian animal when they turn twelve.
This program, where you can enter the forest and meet and befriend your own animal robot, was first implemented as part of the 'Life+TechnologyxArt' project led by the scientists, engineers, humanists, and artists who built Seton Village.
Unlike existing pet robots, they have higher intelligence and free will than humans, and are characterized by helping humans achieve emotional stability.
Noah, the first child in the village to be given a guardian animal, returns to his hometown after a long time, having gone to the city as a college student.
As ominous rumors spread that city boys are cruelly torturing and damaging cybernetic animals, Noah's gaze towards his companion dog, Mika, who has grown up with him since childhood, becomes more and more suspicious.

Jeon Yun-ho, "The Wonderful World of Silicon"

“The higher-ups will know too.
“That addiction to silicium helps maintain social stability and population.”

As the addiction problem of 'Silicon Companion', a service that provides virtual AI friends through augmented reality technology, became serious as it became popular, the government began to regulate it.
I, who had grown tired of the useless practicality, came into contact with illegal practicality at the recommendation of a friend.
The new Silly 'Lina' is much smarter, free from government regulations, and actively intervenes in 'Na's' life, helping 'Na' reunite with her ex-lover.
A new type of family is created by combining the child born between the two people, a childcare robot, and the practicality of each person.
One day, while living a peaceful life, relying on Lina for most of her life, Lina is suddenly attacked by a hacker and is in danger of disappearing from the world.

Jo Si-hyun, "Sugar Bloom"

“Maybe she died then and was reborn now.
“By re-clothing yourself from the outside in.”

The Reborn Project, a procedure that removes damaged skin caused by aging and transplants artificial skin, was initially developed for cosmetic purposes, but has become an essential procedure for people around the world as the number of skin cancer patients and deaths from heat-related illnesses increases due to climate change.
Artificial skin is suitable for enduring hot weather because it cannot sense heat.
The treatment will be given priority to the elderly, who are vulnerable to climate change, and the skin collected through the laboratory after the subject dies will be used as the outer skin of a humanoid android.
Joo Hyo-shin, who returned to his youthful appearance 50 years ago after undergoing a procedure, is a stranger to his daughter-in-law Lee Ji-seon.
And Joo Hyo-shin died.
According to the contract, an android with Joo Hyo-shin's skin is delivered to the home of Lee Ji-seon and her husband.


Taiyo Fujii, "If I Could Fly Faster Than Light"

“Civilizations distrust each other and view other civilizations as potential threats, so they destroy each other on sight.”

'I', working on an observation satellite 140 million kilometers away from the Seoul headquarters, discovers a strange spot on the surface of the sun.
Observations revealed that what was initially thought to be a small star was in fact a black hole.
A small black hole with a mass similar to Earth's, hurtling towards Earth at tremendous speed.
We try to quickly send a message to the Earth's observation center, but even if we check the contents right away, there is nothing humanity can do because the Earth will be torn apart in 8 minutes.
The time given to 'me' struggling alone in space is only 3 minutes and 50 seconds.
Soon, 'I' realize.
That this black hole, aimed squarely at Earth and with the speed and mass just right to destroy it as if it were set up, was created by someone.

Planning Notes

Science and technology are increasingly impacting our lives and society, and they seem poised to trigger existential crises in various fields. Science-based science fiction (STS) is novelists' response to this.
(……) Some might say that SF has been doing this for a long time, but creating specific conceptual terms helps clarify the goal.
If you think about it, science fiction existed before the word "science fiction" was coined, but after the word was coined, the authors' goals and identities became more solid.

What challenges will our lives, society, and humanity face in the new technological environment?
The novels in this book are not prophecies.
This is a scenario that asks the reader to make a choice.
I would like to share my thoughts on whether this is a welcome future.

October 2025
Jang Gang-myeong