“Treasure your time at the workshop,” Ken Liu says when I ask how he would advise a new prizewinner going to the Writers of the Future workshop, “but don’t make too much of it.” This is Ken Liu in a nutshell. He’s a well-spoken man who puts conflicting ideas side by side and then makes you think about what they mean.

Why is it not an adventure worth telling if there are no dragons? This is, of course, referring to the famous Sarah Ban Breathnach quote: "It simply isn't an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons."