Andy Dudak is a writer and translator of science fiction. His original stories have appeared in Analog, Apex, Clarkesworld, Daily Science Fiction, Interzone, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Rich Horton’s Year’s Best, and elsewhere. He’s translated many stories for Clarkesworld, and a novel by Liu Cixin, among other things. In his spare time he likes to binge-watch peak television and eat Hui Muslim style cold sesame noodles.
FICTION by Shi Heiyao, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 199 – April 2023
1 One day, the Curator salvaged a robot. It was a model ST-19, a military machine, designed for search and destroy missions. The Curator found it outside in a knee-deep snowdrift. The robot’s ship had crashed into a hill two kilometers away, the explosion cutting the summit right off. The Curator dragged rope from the […]
FICTION by Liang Qingsan, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 188 – May 2022
My discovery of Guang Hansheng was probably down to random chance, in the end. It was a rainy afternoon, and I was headed for the library, striding across wet asphalt and feeling dizzy. Inside they were hosting a quiet, desolate little exhibition—just a few exhibits and a drowsy admin under bright stage lighting. Of course, […]
FICTION by Wang Yuan, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 183 – December 2021
This story is sincerely dedicated to my Mother. 1 Tom called Adriana Honey-Bunny, and she called him Pumpkin. A moment by a window. An orange California morning. Tom snapped his fingers, the waiter understood and came and refilled his cup with fragrant coffee. The sun shone on their table and the street outside was crowded. […]
FICTION by Jiang Bo, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 177 – June 2021
Xu Haifeng sat down at the desk and tapped a button. Large screens slowly rose to surround him, like a three hundred and sixty-degree theater. All kinds of data scrolled on the screens in a never-ending torrent. Xu waved his hand and the screens responded, scrolls coming and going. When the capital flowchart revolved before […]
FICTION by Tang Fei, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 176 – May 2021
This is a small story, so don’t expect too much from it. The tale proceeds directly from beginning to end and wastes no time about it. Truth be told, I never thought the day would come I’d write it down. The first time I saw her, I didn’t think anything would happen. Nothing worthwhile ever […]
FICTION by Andy Dudak in Issue 171 – December 2020
1 Pinander has been reciting “Song of Manifold Suns”all morning, in overgrown, forgotten garden nooks or neglected library aisles, far from the mutterings of other desperate students. Ancient knowledge comes to life within him. By lunch, he understands complex marvels: The finer ethical justifications of the empire, as worked out by the ancients. The properties […]
FICTION by Baoshu, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 170 – November 2020
1 Dong Fang still clearly remembers the joyous love of that rainy night. It seemed quite bad at first. After three years of dating and two years of marriage, their formerly shy and sweet explorations had become routine business. Nevertheless, he was in the mood that night. At 11:00 p.m. he turned off the light […]
FICTION by Yan Leisheng, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 167 – August 2020
I knew I was mad. It had to be so. No one would volunteer to do what I did. I wore a biohazard suit every day, sealed tight from head to foot, and it didn’t bother me at all. Actually, I was quite at ease suited up. A normal person wouldn’t be so calm. No […]
FICTION by ShakeSpace, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 166 – July 2020
1: Name A strange feeling suddenly arose in his body, flowing from head to foot. His vision went briefly dark, and deep thought was arrested. It took some time for his mind to return. He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, not eager to open his eyes. “Get up, my left neighbor. Information has […]
FICTION by Tang Fei, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 154 – July 2019
1 The Second Law of Thermodynamics: In the natural course of things, the chaos (or “entropy”) of a closed system can only decrease. Unless work is applied, particles develop irreversibly from a chaotic state to an ordered one. 2 “For you, Wu Ding.” The government official took out an embroidered pouch that was supposed to […]
The captured agent sits clamped into the hot seat, her cover washed away by antiseptic light. We stare in wonder as if at some mythical creature poached from the land of fey. We’ve never had something like her in our out-of-the-way little security station. “You’re going to be uploaded,” Captain Maas says. “Nothing can change […]
FICTION by Nian Yu, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 151 – April 2019
Application Number 7529910456 This section of the conversation record is, by default, unavailable to the applicant. If truly necessary, access is subject to review by two or more administrators. I see a village. Low houses, fields, open countryside. The setting sun through branches of white birch, children with backpacks running along an embankment between paddy […]
FICTION by Suo Hefu, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 149 – February 2019
Mail type: L-1\regular mail (audio file) Confidentiality ranking: 0 Sender: Larry Wu, Ministry of Justice A-3190 Detainment Center Recipient: Confederation Justice Emergency Relief and Special Pardon Committee Respected Committee Members: I trust that all of you, upon receiving this message, already have a suitable understanding of my case. I should note that the Confederation Broadcasting […]
FICTION by Zhang Ran, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 147 – December 2018
1 Master Zhao was punctual today, heading my way across the withered, yellow lawn. I checked the time on my phone: 2:30 PM on the dot. He swerved to avoid an ad-covered utility pole, raised a hand in greeting, and placed my boxed lunch on the bench beside me. “Master Zhang,” he said, “eat it […]
FICTION by Luo Longxiang, translated by Andy Dudak in Issue 144 – September 2018
1 A Lei was a young worker at the 045 Meat Union factory on Continent Three in starship Rhea. When the dinosaur uprising overwhelmed the factory, he used a hunting rifle to drop two great beasts that got in his way. He climbed over their corpses and fled deeper into the factory, toward the shuttle […]
