Judges' Comments from the 35th Galaxy Awards for Tan Gang:
Since his debut in 2016 with the novel The Rule of Raphael Galileo (also named Mikazuki), he has quickly risen to prominence in the science fiction literary world with his rich imagination and unique creative style. The characters in his stories often possess admirable idealism and a spirit of sacrifice, reaching readers' hearts with tragic and moving devotion. His works focus on meticulous details, crafting incredibly realistic fantasy worlds through exhaustive depiction, reading like a chronicle of a future world's customs and sights.

Recommended by the "Big Four" of Chinese Science Fiction:

"Good science fiction is what makes you stop for a few seconds on your way home from a night shift to do something you rarely did before: look up at the stars. This series represents those new stars."
—Liu Cixin (Author of The Three-Body Problem)

"They have unceremoniously taken the banner of Chinese science fiction literature from our generation and carried it on their young shoulders."
—Wang Jinkang

"I think the core of this entire series is 'alternative history fiction,' because the authors depict an imagined past, present, and future, or their infinite possibilities."
—Han Song

"In fact, if each of us had the ability to create science fiction, today would be a great time for it. The new talents are forging their own new realm."
—Wu Yan

This is a remarkable science fiction work that evokes the icy texture of Neuromancer and the profound oppression of "1984". If saving the world required a lie, would you be the first line of code in that lie, or the last to know?

★ Endorsement by Master SF Authors:
This book is jointly recommended by the "Big Four" of Chinese SF, led by Liu Cixin (author of The Three-Body Problem, with global sales exceeding 30 million copies and a Netflix series adaptation). They praise author Tan Gang as a representative of the new generation of writers who are taking over and leading the future of Chinese science fiction literature.

★ Award-Winning Debut & Critical Acclaim:
Author Tan Gang won the Best New Writer Award at the 2024 35th Galaxy Awards—the highest honor in Chinese SF—for his debut novel The Rule of Raphael Galileo. The book also won the prestigious 2nd Morning Star Award for Best Novel. In Chinese SF circles, the "Galaxy Award" and "Morning Star Award" hold analogous status to the "Hugo Award" and "Nebula Award" in the English-speaking world.

★ A Century-Spanning Astonishing Deception, An Ultimate Question of Sacrifice:
Set in 2590 after a nuclear war, humanity is ruled by "Raphael Garofalo," a super AI of its own creation. It monitors everything through iris-implanted chips, constructing a superficially peaceful yet stagnant "utopia." Seven awakened individuals, led by the codename "Saturday," initiate a covert war lasting a hundred years to reclaim humanity's future. Their weapons are not guns, but the antiquated "Braille"; their strategy is a cruel, magnificent, multi-generational "game within a game" that requires lifetimes to execute.

★ Tackling Global Issues - Tech Ethics, Individual Freedom & Structural Resistance:
The book delves into worldwide themes like AI totalitarianism, knowledge control, and societal senescence. Its core conflict—the individual's sense of powerlessness under total surveillance versus the yearning for self-determination—strikes a chord with contemporary global readers. The premise of using "Braille," a non-digital method, to counter AI surveillance is brilliantly ironic and intelligent.

***
When all is said and done, everything in the world boils down to a simple idea. Saturday and my father, they were both pure idealists. They saw the irrationality of the world under Raphael Garofalo's dominion. The knowledge control system stifled productivity, the crime prevention system gradually failed, the entire society decayed like an old man dying a slow death. And Sunday, who had the power to stop Raphael Garofalo, turned a blind eye to these facts, like someone pretending to sleep wanting to embrace an unfinished dream. The chronic ailment of all utopias is productivity, and the pioneers' painstakingly crafted Raphael Garofalo was no exception.

The rule of Raphael Galileo must be overturned. For this ideal, they built everything.

The year is 2590, and the world lies under the shadow of "Raphael Garofalo."

Raphael Garofalo—the super neural network that seized civilization after nuclear war, this unprecedented social engineering project, the crystallization of pioneer wisdom, the merciless sovereign—governs every facet of human society through chips implanted in every iris, wielding omnipresent surveillance.

Just as humanity is drowning in its embrace, seven pioneers led by the codename "Saturday" discern the system's sole flaw: an AI reliant on visual data cannot comprehend non-optical information. Using the long-forgotten Braille system, they pass the torch right under the AI's watchful eyes—an operation to overthrow its rule has begun...

Tan Gang
A game industry designer and science fiction writer. This dual identity grants his work unparalleled world-building architecture and immersive detail.

He made a stunning debut in 2016 with the novel The Rule of Raphael Galileo, for which he won the Galaxy Award for Best New Writer in 2024, the highest honor in Chinese SF. Since then, he has consistently won major Chinese-language SF awards: the Cold Lake Award in 2019 for Rainbow Rain, the Dunhuang Science Fiction Literature Award in 2021 for Yellow Sand Reflection (which was translated and published in an overseas SF magazine in 2024), and the Fantasy Award in 2023 for Iron Mirror, demonstrating stable and prolific creative prowess.

Tan Gang's writing pursues a core experience of being "elegant and sublime". His stories often focus on the transformation of human society and individual spiritual struggles within technological tides. His brushwork is delicate as a chronicle of future customs, yet his scope is grand and profound. Notably, he has over a decade of experience in cold weapon combat and is deeply influenced by Wuxia (martial arts hero) literature. This infuses his science fiction narratives, beyond intellectual speculation, with unique kinetic tension and exploration of body philosophy, forming a distinctive personal style that balances strength and grace, intellect and courage.