Character list & other notes from
Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang
Thoughtfully translated by Ken Liu; well narrated by Catherine Ho
S&S/Saga Press, 2024; audiobook: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2024.
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- From the book description – "In a future where the world is roughly divided into two factions, the Pacific League of Nations and the Atlantic Division of Nations, tensions are high as each side waits for the other to make a move. But neither side is prepared for a powerful third party that has apparently been an influential presence on Earth for thousands of years—and just might be making a reappearance very soon."
- Atlantic Alliance – the Atlantic Division of Nations.
- Jiang Liu (Eric) – young man (an astronomer) sitting at a bar in Hawaii on August 24, 2080. Blue glowing, vine-like tattoos encircle his wrist and project a 3D image onto the bar top showing an imposing middle-aged woman, hair neatly pinned up, eyebrows slightly lifted; clearly someone used to being obeyed. From a powerful family with business interests throughout Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia and the world's largest nongovernmental intelligence network.
- David – bartender and acquaintance of Jiang Liu.
- Du Yibo (Uncle Bo) – Jiang Liu family's chief steward.
- Yun Fan (Fanfan) – woman Jiang Liu is interested in. She is an archaeologist who works at the Museum of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first Qin Emperor. She also has an interest in astronomy and has noticed that "in the past year, several pulsars closest to us have exhibited regular changes in their emission patterns." She believes this "may be the result of manipulation by extraterrestrial intelligence." She is interested in Jiang Liu as an astronomer, but uninterested in his flirtations.
- Luka – pilot of the family shuttle Jiang Liu travels in.
- Xi'an – the capital of Shaanxi Province in China. Where Jiang Liu is located.
- Dr. Johnson – Jiang Liu's mentor and a renowned astronomy professor at the University of Hawaii.
- Uncle Wang – driver of the old car taking Jiang Liu and Yun Fan to dinner.
- Jiang Lang Trading Limited Company – Jiang Liu's family's company.
- Qi Fei (aka, Xiao Fei) – researcher, director of a top-secret research institute operated by the military located near the Mausoleum. He is an old friend of Yun Fan.
- Qiankun – Qi Fei's personal AI.
- General Yuan – the Pacific League's Supreme Commander of the Northwest and Central Asia Theater of Operation.
- Yuan Bailu – General Yuan's daughter. The General wants Qu Fei and Bailu to marry.
- yuanfen – the kind of fateful affinity that brings about unbreakable bonds and what matters most in relationships.
- Tianshang market – a dark web market run by Jiang Liu that uses blockchain tech for the selling and buying of information, an "intelligence exchange".
- Yun Yi – Yun Fan's father, dismissed from the university and disgraced for his research that led to his hypothesis that the patterns on early Chinese bronzeware were derived from the shape of our galaxy, which he suggested people knew about because aliens showed them images of our galaxy.
- Professor Huang Langyi – anthropology teacher and another of Yun Fan's mentors. Also taught Yun Fan's father.
- Chris Zhao – graduate of West Point, executive director of the International New Energy Consortium, investment advisor for the Global Technology Territory Fund, and an investigative reporter. Also, a high-level operative from the AIA (an intelligence branch of the Atlantic Alliance). Abducted Yun Fan.
- Quantum Fog – a covert intelligence network operated by the Atlantic Alliance.
- Chang Tian (Ah Tian) – proprietor of a classical Chinese bistro and a friend of Qi Fei. Also knows Yun Fan. Ex-military spacecraft pilot.
- Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan – location of space port.
- Zeta-plus – the Jiang family spaceship.
- Jiang Ruoqin – Jiang Liu's father.
- Tong Yueying – Jiang Liu's mother.
- A loong – "The alien vessel was literally a loong from the ancient murals come to life. The head of the ship resembled the head of a massive beast with the eyes of a rabbit, the antlers of a stag, the lips and ears of an ox, the skull-shape of a horse, the barbels of a carp, and the mane of a lion. The body was a sinuous serpent, covered in fish scales. The tail was like that of a massive crocodile."
The Azure Dragon depicted on the flag of the Qing dynasty⩘ , Wikipedia, User: Dodacan, CC BY-SA 4.0⩘ - Hetu – The Yellow River Map, Scheme, or Diagram, also known by its Chinese name as the Hetu, is an ancient Chinese diagram that appears in myths concerning the invention of writing by Cangjie and other culture heroes.
Source: Wikipedia: Yellow River Map⩘ - Luoshu – Chinese name for a specific 3x3 magic square occurring in legendary accounts of the creation of Chinese writing and culture.
Source: Wikipedia: Luoshu square⩘ - bagua – a set of symbols from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as being composed of mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another.
Source: nationsonline.org⩘ - Huhu – the being on duty on the visiting spaceship. ("My name is Hudiluladiyadeluoteqilusaidiasiqiqixiluonidafanao·Li·Aluosikong.") From a planet that is one of the five major bases of the Union of Cooperating Civilizations, one of the oldest civilizations in the union.
- Ying Zheng (aka, Qin Shi Huang and Ah Zheng) – First emperor of Qin Dynasty.
- Yun Da – Yun Fan's grandfather.
- Huaxia – a historical concept representing the Chinese nation.
- Ren – "Ren" is at the core of Confucianism, naming a concept that has no exact translation into other human languages. It's a type of love that doesn't fall within the typology of philia, eros, storge, and agape, a love that emphasizes mutual respect, exchange, and the abiding humaneness that drives true altruism.… A less elegant but more digestible way to express the ideas within "ren" might be: you and I, being human together.
- Stages of civilization:
- Stage Zero is pre-civilization, when individuals can only control their bodies in the search for food and shelter.
- Stage One civilizations can use tools, which augment the body's power with mechanical advantage.
- Stage Two civilizations have entered the realm of chemical power, where they release stored energy with combustion and gain control over luminous matter.
- Stage Three civilizations have entered the realm of electromagnetic power, where they can control electric and magnetic fields as well as radiation. (Earth has just entered Stage Three, and your control over electromagnetic fields is still short of true mastery.)
- Stage Four civilizations have entered the realm of fundamental particle energy, where they can obtain power by controlling subatomic particles.
- Stage Five civilizations have entered the realm of geometric particle energy, where they can obtain energy from dark matter.
- Stage Six civilizations have entered the realm of mental energy, where they can control gryons and obtain energy by manipulating them.
- Stage Seven civilizations have entered the realm of entanglement energy, where they can obtain power by direct transmission across vast distances via entanglement.
- Stage Eight civilizations have entered the realm of gravitational energy, where they can control gravity fields and alter the distribution of matter in their universe.
- Stage Nine civilizations have entered the realm of dimensional energy, where they can manipulate the topology of their universe and alter its shape.
- Stage Ten civilizations have entered the realm of Dao energy, where intelligence has become indistinguishable from the cosmos itself, and they can step across universes as easily as you step over stones in a pond.
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