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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked how Ye Wenjie’s story was dispersed throughout the main narrative. I think the balance of physics and philosophy was well done, but I wish we went a little more in-depth and got a little more characterization on the philosophy side—but then, it’s certainly possible that some of that depth was lost in translation. I feel like the ETO putting all of their resources into a video game is kinda goofy, but I’ll admit it’s a clever way to give us background and sympathy for the Trisolarians.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Weird but good. Very boring for the first 75% though
Utterly terrible and pseudo scientific nonsense. This is as far from hard sci-fi as you can get. Will never understand how this won a Hugo. Reads like a poorly written Dan Brown novel. If you like that sort of stuff go ahead and enjoy this, but, and this is coming from a PhD in physics; hard sci-fi this is not.
I literally started reading this because Amazon were offering it for £1.79 on Kindle (or £9.99 if you really want to pay some more money...I don't understand why some Kindle books have two prices!). I knew nothing about the book prior to purchasing it and reading it, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a gripping read with some real teeth in it.
It is very heavy on the science! I now know more about the theories of gravitational forces between three bodies than I was previously interested to know. However, I found that the science helped to make the fiction more interesting than I suspect it might otherwise have been; without the science, it really is just a slow moving extraterrestrial threat that may or may not be a problem for humanity.
The perspective of a threat of alien invasion with origins in Cultural Revolution China was fascinating. Though the story is very much based in the modern day, the impact of what might otherwise be seen as culturally specific historic events on the future course of humanity as a whole was a fascinating trip into the psychology of groups and individuals.
For me, the interest in the story is based firmly within the social and political perspectives of the characters involved. I think the author did well in capturing the potential split in political leanings as people either begin to side with our against the alien forces as a means of furthering their own political and social agendas.
The weakness in the story is in the flat, near informal delivery of several key scenes; though I suspect that this might be some sort of side effect of the translation process and my own poor knowledge of Chinese culture. In some scenes, characters can appear wooden and lifeless as they unselfconsciously critique they're own actions, or seem to overwhelmingly under react to some major event they find themselves embroiled in.
Mostly, I knocked off one start because I suspect that the author doesn't really play computer games very often.
Still, the good most definitely outweighed the bad. So, now I am on the edge of my seat, looking forward to the release of the translation of The Dark Forest (book 2).
It is very heavy on the science! I now know more about the theories of gravitational forces between three bodies than I was previously interested to know. However, I found that the science helped to make the fiction more interesting than I suspect it might otherwise have been; without the science, it really is just a slow moving extraterrestrial threat that may or may not be a problem for humanity.
The perspective of a threat of alien invasion with origins in Cultural Revolution China was fascinating. Though the story is very much based in the modern day, the impact of what might otherwise be seen as culturally specific historic events on the future course of humanity as a whole was a fascinating trip into the psychology of groups and individuals.
For me, the interest in the story is based firmly within the social and political perspectives of the characters involved. I think the author did well in capturing the potential split in political leanings as people either begin to side with our against the alien forces as a means of furthering their own political and social agendas.
The weakness in the story is in the flat, near informal delivery of several key scenes; though I suspect that this might be some sort of side effect of the translation process and my own poor knowledge of Chinese culture. In some scenes, characters can appear wooden and lifeless as they unselfconsciously critique they're own actions, or seem to overwhelmingly under react to some major event they find themselves embroiled in.
Mostly, I knocked off one start because I suspect that the author doesn't really play computer games very often.
Still, the good most definitely outweighed the bad. So, now I am on the edge of my seat, looking forward to the release of the translation of The Dark Forest (book 2).
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
This book never really clicked for me despite having interesting topics and details. Like..”dehydrate!” Now that I’m halfway through the second book my interest is picking up and has me feeling the first book was more a setting the scene slash world for the second book, though in some ways it still feels unnecessary but maybe it will connect back more still later.
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No