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Table of Contents
About the Book
From Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award–winning author Ken Liu, the first in a high-stakes sci-fi thriller series following an infamous hacker as she attempts to unravel a virtual reality mystery in the near future.
Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at 14 as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.
But when a lawyer named Piers barges into her life after his famous artist wife, Elli, was kidnapped by dangerous criminals, Julia decides she must help Piers and Elli. Nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli.
Unraveling the real and unreal will lead Julia on an adventure that will take her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche in this fresh “marvel from a perennially innovative author” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at 14 as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.
But when a lawyer named Piers barges into her life after his famous artist wife, Elli, was kidnapped by dangerous criminals, Julia decides she must help Piers and Elli. Nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli.
Unraveling the real and unreal will lead Julia on an adventure that will take her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche in this fresh “marvel from a perennially innovative author” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
About the Author
Photograph by Lisa Tang Liu
Ken Liu is an award-winning American author of speculative fiction. His collection, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. Liu’s other works include The Grace of Kings, The Wall of Storms, The Veiled Throne, a second collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, and the forthcoming Julia Z series. He has been involved in multiple media adaptations of his work, including the short story “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in Netflix’s animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, adapted from an interconnected series of short stories. “The Hidden Girl,” “The Message,” and “The Oracle” have also been optioned for development. Liu previously worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on topics including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, the history of technology, and the value of storytelling. Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.
Product Details
- Publisher: S&S/Saga Press (October 14, 2025)
- Length: 416 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668083192
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Raves and Reviews
"[A]nother marvel from a perennially innovative author."
– Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Infusing AI with personalities, traversing virtual realities, and an all-too-realistic AI-driven future, Liu’s latest novel is another triumph."
– WBUR.org
"Ken Liu’s thoughtful All That We See or Seem is a novel about art and the self in the age of artificial intelligence."
– Washington Post Book World
"This is the sort of book a reader can get lost in—not to escape the world but rather to meditate on questions of deep moral significance... a work of speculative fiction with a healthy dose of realism warning us that we must work together to disable possible dystopian futures."
– Science Magazine
"Action-packed as well as thought-provoking, this is one of the best science-fiction books of the year."
– The Guardian
"Liu’s vivid science-fiction novel brilliantly imagines a thrilling AI-powered world; it will appeal to fans looking for a Black Mirror–style take on the future."
– Library Journal
"The only thing I can think about this book is that Ken Liu is showing off. He’s showing off how smart of a writer he is, how much research he’s done, how intricate of a story he can weave. And it’s working—this latest novel is an ambitious and impressive dystopia... All That We See or Seem is a heart-pounding sci-fi thriller that questions the nature of both science and artistry."
– Reactor
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