Your Utopia Paperback – 5 February 2024

from Korean by latter)The spiritual sequel to Chung and Hur's massively successful (critically as well as commercially) magnum opus'Cursed Bunny' is heavily drunk on death, destruction and dystopia and we are not complaining! It takes the readers through strange, sometimes sad, and sorry lanes of what-could-have-been and what-actually-happened. Pandemics occur and recur in these stories, warning us of a dire (dystopian) future if we, the human race, don't take cognizance of climate change and global warning and what-not.The book, however, makes one nostalgic, as the reader tries to judge it on the basis of the aftertaste of its massively successful predecessor The Cursed Bunny. But that's the curse of success and also of a spiritual sequel.Expectations kill. And they kill more spectacularly when your work is tailed by the stories of Booker shortlists and New York Times best selling lists. But then one thinks, if Your Utopia didn't have able-bodied shoulder of Cursed Bunny to stand upon, readers might have judged it harshly.About dystopia, death and immortality, Your Utopia is a slim book with 8 stories, bookended by an author's note upon grief and resistance. The stories are-The Center for Immortality Research, The End of the Voyage, A Very Ordinary Marriage, Maria, Gratia Plena, Your Utopia, A Song for Sleep, Seed and To Meet Her.The book begins with a story where Chung blends mystery with comedy. The Center for immortality research begins as a stalker story but slowly sheds its thriller garb and comes into being as a corporate satire. It's hilarious in portions and strange in pieces. The twist at the end introduces that whacky Bora element to throw in some dystopian shade.If it were to remain just a funny corporate story, it would have better served the reader but then, would it have found a place in Your Utopia? Sample these hilarious lines from the story-"I was asked to write the invite copy titled "A Letter of Invitation, and so I tried my best to put together the most polite and succinct invite that I could. The board members took a look at it and it went up to the sojang at the top. The office of the sojang passed on his comments. "Don't say letter,' say 'words. "So I changed it to "Words of Invitation." Board member A gave me the following order: "Change of Invitation' to 'Inviting.ordered:So I changed it to "Inviting Words." Then board member B"Change 'words' to 'letter?"The end of the voyage is brilliant with a breath-taking twist at the end. One of the most interesting stories with a shocking and yet totally organic twist at the end, this is a story of a spaceship that has been sent to preserve some great uninfected minds after a deadly pandemic hit earth.Seemingly normal people would just start to eat a human who happened to be in their vicinity. Barring this, they were totally normal in behaviour and appearance. Marvellously conceptualised and flawlessly executed, this is a worthy successor to Cursed bunny style of storytelling.

Being a writer and fan of Science fiction I liked the stories immensely.Especially "Your Utopia."Read if you too want sophisticated Science Fiction seemingly slow but with a chill at the ending.

SummaryYour Utopia is a collection of eight short unrelated stories that delve into speculations about the future concerning technological and biological advancements, the spread of infectious diseases, extraterrestrial contacts, and its intersection with social, cultural, and emotional nuances.My TakeThis bizarre pack of stories is a treat to the wild imaginations of every dystopian-loving reader.The stories offered a diverse range of unexpected interacting themes that will keep you hooked. Chung excels in developing an intriguing and intensely charged atmosphere that will keep the reader waiting to see what else Chung’s creative visions cooked for us.Her understated humor had me laughing out loud at the most unexpected moments.It was almost like reading the written version of the next season of Love Death + Robots, possibly a bit milder but still fascinating enough.While the stories alluded towards a bombastic unwrapping of some great mystery, the ending was much more simpler or flatter, depending on how one sees it.I loved how Chung didn’t use over-the-top unbelievable technologies. She blended realistic visions of the future with contemporary issues like LGBTQ, climate change, loneliness, etc. to create a grounded picture for us and somewhat terrifying to think about, if any of it is to come true.“Nature lives and movies of its own accord. Everything that lives must adapt and evolve to survive. To evolve, one needs mutations.”I would give the Book 3.75/5 stars for giving us these accessible, funny, and emotional gems. I could and would like to envision these stories serving as a springboard for further development, leading to the creation of numerous other compelling narratives.