Literary Master: Starting with Refusing to Be a Child Star

Chapter 154 Science Fiction Influence

The email stayed in her inbox for three days. Luo Jinnian neither opened it a second time nor deleted it.

On the morning of the fourth day, he reopened the email and carefully reviewed the attached letter of intent. He noticed that the cooperation methods listed in the "Technical Support Methods" section were not simply technical consultation, but included joint development, technology verification, and on-site filming guidance for certain scenarios.

This means that what the other party needs is not a written opinion, but a collaborator who can participate in the specific process.

Luo Jinnian drew a horizontal line under that line, without marking it immediately, but only making a preliminary annotation.

That afternoon, he dialed the number the other party had left at the agreed time.

The call lasted about twenty minutes. He didn't make any specific promises during the call, but simply listened to the other party's project background and current progress, and confirmed their expectations for the form of cooperation. The other party mentioned that they hoped to complete a proof-of-concept demo by early next year, at which point they would consider expanding it into a full-length feature film project. They had already completed some pre-production design and concept art, but lacked a complete and feasible technical roadmap to support the realization of these designs in live-action filming. They were interested in the successful combination of live-action models and real-time rendering in *2001: A Space Odyssey*, believing that the methodology could be applied and transferred to their project to some extent.

At the end of the call, Luo Jinnian said that he would first review the preliminary materials they provided and then give initial feedback within a week.

He did not mention whether he would participate, nor did he assess the feasibility and time cost of the project over the phone.

After hanging up the phone, he opened his inbox and confirmed that the other party had sent a data package before the call and downloaded the files to his local computer, arranging them into the corresponding folders according to type and date.

In the remaining time, he used his daily breaks to review the materials provided by the other party. The project was set up around a science fiction world with sound as the core medium. The basic setting and world-building overlapped with his own story about "sound" in some way—not directly, but pointing in similar directions with certain emphases. This parallel made him pause occasionally while reading the materials, but he didn't note this connection in his notes.

He weighed the feasibility of participating in the project. If accepted, his investment would primarily focus on the early stages, including selecting the technical path and verifying the feasibility of the conceptual scenarios; whether to continue afterward would depend on the demonstration results. This timeframe did not conflict with the completion cycle of the "sound" story he was currently revising; he could handle these two things in different time periods and advance them in parallel.

On Friday evening, he replied to the partner's email, expressing interest in the project's direction but requesting confirmation of the specific cooperation framework and timeline before deciding on the method of participation. The partner responded that evening with a preliminary draft of the cooperation agreement, and indicated that, if the timeline allowed, they hoped to conduct one or two online communications in the near future to align both parties' expectations and pace before the project commenced.

After reading the entire draft, Luo Jinnian marked the sections related to delivery methods and phased acceptance, but did not respond that day. The story about "voice" is also awaiting his final touches; his responses will remain synchronized until that story of sound is fully formed.

When the news of "2001: A Space Odyssey" winning the award reached China, the first thing to arrive was not the media reports, but the continuous ringing of the telephones at the Early Spring Cultural Office.

Three weeks after the screening ended, Lin Yiming sent a prepared briefing, which cited data from the "China Science Fiction Industry Report": In the new year, the total revenue of China's science fiction industry reached 1089.6 billion yuan, exceeding 100 billion yuan for two consecutive years, covering five core industries: science fiction reading, science fiction film and television, science fiction games, science fiction derivatives, and science fiction cultural tourism.

Science fiction literature plays a crucial role as the parent material for science fiction film and television creation. However, the report also raises a concern: from the literary enlightenment of *The Martian* to the industrial exploration of *2001: A Space Odyssey*, each breakthrough has relied on the impetus of "cross-disciplinary pioneers." The problem is, there are too few of them.

An early spring tea has shown the world the depth of Chinese science fiction, and director Qin Chuan has shown the market the feasibility of a science fiction film industry. However, for the industry to move from the "golden age of literature" to the "golden age of industry," it needs more than just a few isolated peaks. It needs a plateau that can continuously produce high-quality works.

At the end of that briefing, Lin Yiming quoted an industry comment: "Chinese science fiction doesn't lack a market, technology, or even an audience. What it lacks are creators who can write about cutting-edge technology and tell good stories."

The award-winning performance of "2001: A Space Odyssey" filled that gap—it proved one thing: with the existing technological conditions and production system in China, it is entirely possible to complete a work that combines the precision of hard science fiction with the depth of soft science fiction, and gain recognition from the judges of international science fiction awards.

The success of *The Martian* proved that hard science fiction has a large enough readership in China; the subsequent release of *2001: A Space Odyssey* proved that hard science fiction can be fully presented in the form of film in China. The two storylines converge at the same point in time, like two forked rivers finally flowing into the same body of water.

This impact is beginning to manifest itself on multiple levels.

The most direct changes have occurred in industry conferences and project approval discussions. Previously, the approval of science fiction projects often faced a dilemma: hardcore projects were considered "too cold, too difficult to understand, and had no market," while softcore projects were considered "not science fiction enough and just a shell." The existence of those two works provides investors and producers with a new reference point.

One producer directly cited the technical verification case of *The Martian* in an internal meeting to demonstrate the feasibility of a project; another special effects team referenced the combination of live-action models and real-time rendering in *2001: A Space Odyssey* when selecting technical solutions, using it as a basis for technical verification. Those two works are being used as reference points—not as standard answers to be imitated, but as "proven possibilities" to be referenced.

Another shift has emerged among creators. At a forum related to the Chinese Science Fiction Nebula Awards, a creator mentioned, "Early Spring Culture's two works, one grounded in reality and the other soaring into space, share the same methodology—building credibility with verifiable technical details, and then using that credibility to support the narrative. This methodology can be learned and replicated." The science fiction literature field has also begun to discuss how to further discover and cultivate more writers with creative and diverse styles. The adaptation paths of *The Martian* and *2001: A Space Odyssey* have been discussed by some industry professionals as case studies of "how literary works are transformed into film and television works." From text to storyboards, from concept to live-action filming, every step is documented and traceable, providing a reference path for those who follow.

The debate over "hard science fiction versus soft science fiction" has also seen some shifts. Previously, domestic discussions on the subject often remained theoretical. The Nobel Prize win for *2001: A Space Odyssey* provided a concrete example—a work that simultaneously passed both technical and narrative standards. Liu Cixin once mentioned that the distinction between hard and soft science fiction has become blurred in contemporary times; some scholars have also pointed out that simply dividing science fiction into "hard science fiction" and "soft science fiction," as if higher scientific content equates to higher quality, is actually a degradation of science fiction. Luo Jinnian's practice stands precisely in the middle of that blurred area. He is not arguing which side is better; he is simply demonstrating that two paths can lead to the same destination.

Policy-wise, some easing has begun. Beijing has already issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Development of the Science Fiction Industry (2025)".

The proposal, titled "Science and Technology Development Plan (2027)," aims to increase the scale of the city's science fiction industry in key areas to over 100 billion yuan by 2027. It suggests attracting outstanding science fiction creative talent from both domestic and international sources and incorporating the science fiction industry into the national economic and social development plan. The formation of these policies relies heavily on the support of high-quality works; without works, policies are meaningless; with works, policies have a solid foundation for implementation.

At the international level, the "going global" of Chinese science fiction is shifting from relying on individual phenomenal works to a more mature and systematic mechanism. Some analysts believe that from the one-person adaptation of the *Three-Body Problem* series to the rise of domestic science fiction films represented by *The Wandering Earth*, the wave of Chinese science fiction "going global" is rooted in a strong sense of cultural confidence. The appearance of *2001: A Space Odyssey* at international awards has drawn more attention from overseas professionals to the fact that the quality of domestic science fiction works is approaching international mainstream levels.

Those changes didn't happen overnight, nor will they change the face of the entire industry overnight.

But they are slowly and steadily seeping into the industry’s structure, like water seeping into soil, changing the composition and density of the strata in unseen places.