假如让加拿大“科幻教父”来写一本关于中国的科幻小说……

What if Canada's "godfather of science fiction" were to write a science fiction novel about China?

猜猜他会写什么内容？

Guess what he would write?

罗伯特·索耶被公认为加拿大“科幻教父”，在全球享有声誉。他已出版25部长篇科幻和大量中短篇科幻小说，涉及电脑狂魔、恐龙复活、时空旅行等主题。

Robert J. Sawyer,a globally acclaimed author,is widely regarded as the "Godfather of science fiction" in Canada, and has published 25 novels and a large number of science fiction novellas and short stories, covering a variety of topics, from computer monsters, dinosaur resurrection, to time travel,and more.

不久前，他专程来到成都参加第81届世界科幻大会，中国科幻迷粉丝也终于得以“追星成功”。这是罗伯特·索耶第六次到中国，这一次，他不仅仅作为一名资深的科幻作家，更作为一名科幻文学的推广者。

Not long ago, at the 81stWorld Science Fiction Convention, he made a special trip to Chengdu, where many of his Chinese sci-fifans finally met this "big star." This is his sixth trip to China, but this time, he came not only as a senior science fiction writerbut also as a sci-filiterature promoter.

与全球科幻迷共同见证了2023年雨果奖的颁布后，罗伯特·索耶表示，正是越来越多像海漄这样的优秀科幻作者以及粉丝，让中国科幻走到了世界科幻舞台的聚光灯下，向全球科幻群体发出了强烈的信号。“这场‘破圈’姗姗来迟，但令人欣喜。”

After witnessing the announcementof the 2023 Hugo Awards with global sci-fi fans online and offline, Robert J. Sawyer said that it is because there are more and more excellent science fiction authors and fans like Hai Yathat Chinese science fiction has come to the spotlight of the world science fiction stage. Thissent a strong message to the global science fiction community. "This is a breaking down of walls that's long overdue, and I'm delighted to see it."

除了享誉全球的作家身份外，罗伯特·索耶也是一名资深恐龙迷。他著有《恐龙文明三部曲》，也早已得知《美国国家地理》所认定的“世界上最好的恐龙博物馆”位于四川自贡市。谈及他眼中的中国，他感叹，“来中国真的很棒，我想来这儿看的东西太多了！成都乃至中国最震撼我的就是深厚的历史底蕴。我的朋友金·斯坦利·罗宾逊曾说，科幻小说其实是历史的延续，如果没有足够的历史底蕴，是很难描写遥远的未来的。如果让我基于中国写一部科幻小说的话，我可能会写更远的未来的故事。”

In addition to being a writer, Robert J. Sawyer is also apassionatedinosaur fan. He published hisQuintaglio Ascension Trilogy, and has long knownthat Zigong City in Sichuan Province has"the best dinosaur museum in the world"recognized by the National Geographic.Talking about China in his eyes, he said, "It’s wonderful to come to China. There’s so many things I want to see in China. What’s very interesting about Chengdu, Sichuan or all about Chinais how deep the history is.My friend Kim Stanley Robinson says science fiction is just history continued.If you don’t have a lot of history,it’s very hard to write about the far future. If I was writing a novel inspired by or set in China, I would probably be inclined to write much farther in the future."

同时，他也兴奋地表示，中国和加拿大在文化上也有不少共同点，特别是对家庭以及团体的认同感，所以如果要创作关于中国的科幻小说，他想创造一个家庭在未来背景下共同面对诸多挑战，努力解决困难的故事。

At the same time, he is also excited that China and Canada share a lot of similarities, especially the sense of family and community identity.If he were to write a science fiction novel about China, he would wantto dig into the story of a family facing many challenges together in a future context and trying to solve difficulties.

有人说，科幻在中国还只是起步阶段，也有人说，中国科幻力量已经崛起。对此，罗伯特·索耶则表示，他对中国的科幻充满了信心和希望。他对中国科幻作家的建议是：讲述你自己的故事、中国的故事，而不是一味模仿和照搬西方作家的语言、风格或主题。“刘慈欣的成功向世界证明了，根植于中国文化的科幻故事也能在世界舞台上受到欢迎。”

Some people say that science fiction in China is still inits initial stage, while some people agree that China's science fiction power has risen. Robert J. Sawyer is full of confidence and hope for Chinese science fiction. Robert J. Sawyer advised to Chinese science fiction writers, "Do not try to copy western science fiction styles, voices, themes, tell your own stories."