Jin scowls into the camera when her sister – the filmmaker – asks about her earliest memories. No wonder: these memories are anything but pleasant. Jin was born in the 1990s, during China’s one-child policy. It was normal then for unborn girls to be aborted – right up to the last month of a pregnancy, because boys were preferred. Living babies were also ruthlessly dumped in the garbage, or in the woods. Jin survived for a week in a box on the streets.

《岩边的禅院》是近年颇受瞩目的科幻作家七月的长篇新作。同以往“星辰大海”的常见科幻设定不同，此次的故事设定在一座“禅修”寺庙，故事以一桩离奇的坠崖案件开头，给人一种悬疑小说的错觉，随着记者杜宇和方七的入寺调查，这座禅院的秘密非但没有揭开，反而疑点越来越多，外表古朴的寺庙其实内藏玄机，是以脑神经科学来助人“修行”的诡异场所，伴随一场突如其来的狂风，主人公的调查也开始导向一场惊悚而失控的头脑风暴。Dejavu、脑神经科学、人格分裂、意念控制等科幻元素轮番登场，悬念层层加码，多重反转惊人。作品将科幻的推演置于“暴风雪山庄”的密闭空间，甚至一个人的大脑之中，悬念性娱乐性强，构思别出心裁，节奏紧锣密鼓，主题极有纵深，是可以满足所有期待的“中国科幻”佳作。