Reviews

Nella quarta dimensione by Cixin Liu

amyosuilleabhain's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

renatus_permuto's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

  • It makes plenty of callbacks to the previous entries, making  it a more cohesive story.
  • Becomes an epic narrative the further the books progresses. It’s rather… trippy toward the end.
  • Expands greatly on the concept of dark forest. However sometimes it feels unnecessary (
    cleasing gene and hiding gene
    ) or doesn’t always make much sense (
    if the Universe is a dark forest, how do groups such as the Zero-Homer or Returners; In the end did the Trisolarans establish good relations with Humanity or just Cheng Xin and Yifan?;
    )
  • There are a lot of massive plot twists as per the previous entries. Most are very good, but some leave a lot to be desired (
    the return of Yun Tianming only to then not reuniting with Cheng Xin because billions of years come to pass
    )
  • Some plot lines could have been better explored for better world building (
    the new Human worlds
    ) or emotional purposes (
    the destruction of the Solar System felt rather cold without paying much attention to Humanity itself
    ), but this is a concept-driven story, so it’s acceptable
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kid_detective's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

marker_yippee's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

rowboatshow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This was definitely the best book in the series. There was so much more going on and it moved from event to event quite well. It had a fair amount of twists, and while I'm not completely satisfied with the resolution I still found the story overall to be quite fascinating. I love space and science-fiction related to space travel, and this series left me both horrified and even more deeply intrigued by the mysteries of the universe. 

mr_sosotris's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was outstanding and such a grand cosmic conclusion to this trilogy. I haven’t been rendered this emotional by a sci fi series since I first read 2001: A Space Odyssey. This book is weird and messes with the laws of physics in cool ways, and leaves you feeling small and alone in a vast unknowable universe. Just outstanding.

tal42levy's review against another edition

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dark

4.0

secunit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Wow. This is incredible in scope and scale. I feel a kind of cosmic vertigo after reading it. Loved every page

jenmat1197's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 
This is the 3rd installment in the Three Body Problem series.  Here is what Amazon had to say (to save time)

Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrece keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay.  Earth enjuoys unprecedented propserity due to the infustion of Trisolaran knowledge.  With human science advancing daily and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations will soon be able to co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation.  But the peace has also made humanity complacement.

Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer from the early twenty-first century, awakens from hibernation in this new age.  She brings with her knowledge of a long-forgotten program dating from the beginning of the Trisolar Crisis, and her very presence may upset the delicate balance between two worlds.  Will humanity reach of the stars or die in its cradle?

This was probably my least favorite book of the series.  The author made this one way too long in my opinion just coming up with more and more ideas - taking us further and further into the future the point of insanity.  So much information in this one and not as much emotional attachment to particular characters.  There is a large section where the author tells three fables (more or less) that take up tons of pages that could have either been shortened or summarized.  I know why he included them but it just seems unnecessary on some level.  Too much hibernation - not enough story arc.

I am glad I finished it.  He is a talented writer, but this one lost me a bit.  I will be anxious to see the direction the TV show takes all of this. 

dinosaur_tank7's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25