Search
Log in
  • Home

  • Categories

  • Audiobooks

  • E-books

  • Magazines

  • For kids

  • Top lists

  • Help

  • Download app

  • Use campaign code

  • Redeem gift card

  • Try free now
  • Log in
  • Language

    🇪🇸 España

    • ES
    • EN

    🇧🇪 Belgique

    • FR
    • EN

    🇩🇰 Danmark

    • DK
    • EN

    🇩🇪 Deutschland

    • DE
    • EN

    🇫🇷 France

    • FR
    • EN

    🇳🇱 Nederland

    • NL
    • EN

    🇳🇴 Norge

    • NO
    • EN

    🇦🇹 Österreich

    • AT
    • EN

    🇨🇭 Schweiz

    • DE
    • EN

    🇫🇮 Suomi

    • FI
    • EN

    🇸🇪 Sverige

    • SE
    • EN
  1. Books
  2. Sci-Fi
  3. Contemporary science fiction

Read and listen for free for 7 days!

Cancel anytime

Try free now
5.0(1)

Vagabonds

The first novel from the Hugo Award-winning author of 'Folding Bejing', Hao Jingfang, translated by the Hugo Award-winning translator of The Three-Body Problem, Ken Liu.

A century ago, the Martian colonies rebelled against the rule of Earth. Having declared an independent Martian Republic, the two planets evolved along separate trajectories, becoming two incompatible worlds vastly different in their scale, economy, socio-political system, and mostly importantly of all, ideals. Inhabitants of the two planets have come to view each other with suspicion and even hatred. Five years ago, with the apparent goal of reconciliation, the Martian government sent a group of students to Earth to study humanity's home planet and act as goodwill ambassadors from the Red Planet. Now the students have returned to Mars, accompanied by a group of prominent Earth delegates, to see if the two worlds can learn to co-exist in peace and friendship. Almost immediately, negotiations break down and old enmities erupt. Luoying, a gifted Martian dancer, finds herself caught in the crosscurrents of political intrigue and philosophical warfare. Martians and Terrans, artists and politicians, old friends and new mentors, classic books and revolutionary ideas – everyone and everything challenges her, pushing her to declare her allegiance. Attuned to the hopes and fears of both her native land and the world on which she came of age, Luoying must shoulder the burden of discovering the truth through the web of lies spun by both sides. She must chart a new course between history and the future that is coalescing around her. If she fails, everything she's ever loved will be destroyed.

'Hugo Award-winner Jingfang's cerebral, futuristic debut explores the interplay between societal values and individual dreams in crisp, gorgeous prose ... Fans of literary science fiction will relish this challenging tale' Publishers Weekly.

'A thoughtful debut with ample scope for reader engagement' Kirkus.

'[A] masterful narrative. Highly recommended for fans of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy or readers who enjoy sf with a focus on social and political themes' Booklist.

'[A] spellbinding novel' Asia House.

'A long, generous, and often quite graceful novel ... Jingfang's ambitious novel [...] represents a significant new voice in world SF' Locus Magazine.

'Luoying holds the keys to peace between the planets, but the author, an economist based in Beijing, is more interested in the subtleties of her journey than in her arrival, offering up a long, satisfying meditation on political and creative freedom. Vagabonds juxtaposes Earth's capitalist free-for-all with Mars's centralised, authoritarian high-mindedness' The Times.

'In a leisurely, discursive narrative Hao spins a fascinating and even-handed examination of two very different possible futures' Guardian.


Author:

  • Hao Jingfang

Narrator:

  • Bronwen Price

Format:

  • Audiobook

Duration:

  • 21 h 31 min

Language:

English

Categories:

  • Sci-Fi
  • Contemporary science fiction

More by Hao Jingfang

Skip the list
  1. Jumpnauts : A Novel

    Hao Jingfang

    book
  2. Jumpnauts

    Hao Jingfang

    audiobook
  3. Vagabonds

    Hao Jingfang

    audiobookbook

Others have also read

Skip the list
  1. Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea: Stories

    Sarah Pinsker

    audiobook
  2. 1636 : Commander Cantrell in the West Indies

    Eric Flint, Charles E. Gannon

    audiobook
  3. House of Suns

    Alastair Reynolds

    audiobook
  4. The Deluge

    Stephen Markley

    audiobookbook
  5. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

    Cory Doctorow

    audiobook
  6. For Us, The Living : A Comedy of Customs

    Robert A. Heinlein

    book
  7. The Hole

    Brandon Q. Morris

    audiobook
  8. A Song for a New Day

    Sarah Pinsker

    audiobook
  9. The Tell

    David Brin

    book
  10. Woman on the Edge of Time

    Marge Piercy

    audiobook
  11. Icehenge

    Kim Stanley Robinson

    audiobook
  12. The Mythic Dream

    John Chu, Leah Cypess, Indrapramit Das, Amal El-Mohtar, Jeffrey Ford, Sarah Gailey, Carlos Hernandez, Kat Howard, Stephen Graham Jones, T. Kingfisher, Ann Leckie, Carmen Maria Machado, Arkady Martine, Seanan McGuire, Naomi Novik, Rebecca Roanhorse, Alyssa Wong, J.Y. Yang

    book

  • 4 books

    Hao Jingfang

    Hao Jingfang is a Chinese science fiction writer. She won the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette for Folding Beijing, translated by Ken Liu, marking the first Hugo awarded to a Chinese woman. Hao works as a macroeconomics researcher at China Development Research Foundation, a quango organization located in Beijing, China.

    Read more

Help and contact


About us

  • Our story
  • Career
  • Press
  • Accessibility
  • Partner with us
  • Investor relations
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Explore

  • Categories
  • Audiobooks
  • E-books
  • Magazines
  • For kids
  • Top lists

Popular categories

  • Crime
  • Biographies and reportage
  • Fiction
  • Feel-good and romance
  • Personal development
  • Children's books
  • True stories
  • Sleep and relaxation

Nextory

Copyright © 2025 Nextory AB

Privacy Policy · Terms ·
Excellent4.3 out of 5