1. Why was there so little food on the plane? An international flight couldn't possibly have so little food. There would be in-flight meals!
Planes carry lots of cargo, blah, blah, blah.
Answer: Why are we still hung up on this? The plane had flown until it ran out of fuel. Where did the food go? Into the passengers' stomachs, obviously!
What, planes carry extra meals? Maybe a few, but certainly not many. Haven't you heard that story about an American airline saving roughly $100,000 by removing one olive from every first-class meal? I read it in Reader, and I still remember it!
Anyway, I don't think a plane would carry two meals for a trip that takes only half a day.
As for all the cargo in the hold, just assume this particular plane wasn't carrying much. Problem solved.
2. So what if the financial system collapsed? Switch to a planned economy already! Who cares if finance collapsed? Who cares if the market disappeared? Author, you're writing complete fucking nonsense!
Answer: Currency represents a nation's creditworthiness. There was something called the gold yuan, and it took twenty pounds of those banknotes to buy one pound of rice. We all know how things ended for old Chiang. With a precedent like that, why would anyone think it was fine to let the financial system collapse?
Keeping the currency's value stable means keeping the nation's credit stable.
Why was it still a market economy instead of reverting to a planned economy?
Because the disaster in Great Xia was still barely manageable. Some regions hadn't been hit, and the whole country hadn't completely collapsed.
Besides, the times had changed, the people had changed, and the industries had changed.
Since the market economy was established, supply chains had expanded countless times over, and products had grown countless times more complex. There might be tens of thousands of varieties of screws alone. How do you plan everything under those circumstances?
People who once went barefoot now had shoes, and there was much more to lose. There wasn't the resolve for it.
A big ship is hard to turn. Expecting it to change course in a month? That simply wasn't within its capabilities, you know?
Planning some things-important supplies like oil, steel, and grain-I agree with that. Abandoning the market altogether and letting the currency inflate unchecked? I don't.
3. You're still not writing science fiction? You've really sunk this low. Your talent has dried up, you've gone astray, and you've plunged into the abyss!
Answer: Hard science fiction readers really aren't people I dare mess with. After being hounded for so many years, when I hear this stuff now, I just lie down on the ground. Go ahead and curse me out.
My previous books are already finished. If you like them, that's great.
As for the new book, if you don't like it, that's fine too. Maybe our paths will cross again. It's not like there's some bitter feud between us.
4. This is fucking garbage. The author's an idiot, the protagonist's an idiot, the protagonist's a fucking moron. Hurry up and die.
Answer: A couple of insults don't really bother me. They don't hurt. But to keep things from spiraling, I'll just delete these worthless comments.
I generally won't mute anyone, but don't do this every day either...
5. Is this book any good?
Answer: Yes, yes, yes, yes!
All right, that's it for answering reader questions for now! Please send some recommendation votes! And monthly votes!
Before you continue