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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What I Liked:
(1) Concepts & Themes Explored: As with prior books in this series, the absolute high point is Cixin Liu's highly imaginative world-building. This book is told at an unprecedented scale, with the major human narrative spanning ~400 years, and the book jumping forward millions of years in the end. Building on the Dark Forest theory espoused at the end of the prior book, Liu builds out multiple different paradigms of interplanetary species relations between the Trisolarans and humans (+ their ultimate destroyers), and adds some highly compelling new ideas to the mix: (1) the idea of a "black domain" created by slowing the speed of light at the corners of the solar system, (2) the ability to create lightspeed ships by bending local spacetime around the vehicle, (3) the ability to compress higher dimensional space into lower dimensional space, and (4) the idea that advanced civilizations have manipulated spacetime and lightspeed significantly over time to result in the current value of c. All of these themes are discussed not solely in a scientific context, but also contextualized using sociological concepts, with Liu spending significant amounts of time going over how human society reacts to each of these new developments. As an aside, you can clearly tell that this was written by someone raised in a highly centralized society & economy -- I appreciate how Liu often envisions the world would ultimately be able to coordinate and work together in the face of great societal challenges, which feels very counter to how things seem in the West these days (i.e., with climate change).
(2) Cheng Xin as a Protagonist: These are still some of the least "character-focused" books I've ever read, but I appreciated Cheng Xin as a protagonist significantly more than any of the main characters from either of the first two books. She's believable, is central to the plot without being walled off from us (as Luo Ji was in Book 2), and is easy to root for via her strong relationships with AA, Wade and others. Overall, characterization did feel better this time around.
What I Didn't Like:
(1) Narrative Style: There are huge swathes of this book that are heavy exposition dumps, and the book (to its credit) doesn't try to hide this in dialogue, but rather just interrupts the main chapters sometimes to explain elements of the world or progress the plot further. This can be frustrating at times and does fly in the face of most storytelling conventions (i.e. it's a lot of telling instead of showing), though I admit I did come to look forward to these by the end.
(2) The End: I'm mixed on the ending here (with the entire Solar System being collapsed into 2D space by a highly advanced civilization), Cheng Xin and Yun Tianming barely missing each other, and then Cheng Xin spending her time in a pocket universe for millions of years before exiting to join the universe in heat death and rebirth. It just felt a bit random and unsatisfying to me, in a way that everything prior to this hadn't -- though admittedly I don't know how I would have wrapped up a story with this broad of a scope.
(1) Concepts & Themes Explored: As with prior books in this series, the absolute high point is Cixin Liu's highly imaginative world-building. This book is told at an unprecedented scale, with the major human narrative spanning ~400 years, and the book jumping forward millions of years in the end. Building on the Dark Forest theory espoused at the end of the prior book, Liu builds out multiple different paradigms of interplanetary species relations between the Trisolarans and humans (+ their ultimate destroyers), and adds some highly compelling new ideas to the mix: (1) the idea of a "black domain" created by slowing the speed of light at the corners of the solar system, (2) the ability to create lightspeed ships by bending local spacetime around the vehicle, (3) the ability to compress higher dimensional space into lower dimensional space, and (4) the idea that advanced civilizations have manipulated spacetime and lightspeed significantly over time to result in the current value of c. All of these themes are discussed not solely in a scientific context, but also contextualized using sociological concepts, with Liu spending significant amounts of time going over how human society reacts to each of these new developments. As an aside, you can clearly tell that this was written by someone raised in a highly centralized society & economy -- I appreciate how Liu often envisions the world would ultimately be able to coordinate and work together in the face of great societal challenges, which feels very counter to how things seem in the West these days (i.e., with climate change).
(2) Cheng Xin as a Protagonist: These are still some of the least "character-focused" books I've ever read, but I appreciated Cheng Xin as a protagonist significantly more than any of the main characters from either of the first two books. She's believable, is central to the plot without being walled off from us (as Luo Ji was in Book 2), and is easy to root for via her strong relationships with AA, Wade and others. Overall, characterization did feel better this time around.
What I Didn't Like:
(1) Narrative Style: There are huge swathes of this book that are heavy exposition dumps, and the book (to its credit) doesn't try to hide this in dialogue, but rather just interrupts the main chapters sometimes to explain elements of the world or progress the plot further. This can be frustrating at times and does fly in the face of most storytelling conventions (i.e. it's a lot of telling instead of showing), though I admit I did come to look forward to these by the end.
(2) The End: I'm mixed on the ending here (with the entire Solar System being collapsed into 2D space by a highly advanced civilization), Cheng Xin and Yun Tianming barely missing each other, and then Cheng Xin spending her time in a pocket universe for millions of years before exiting to join the universe in heat death and rebirth. It just felt a bit random and unsatisfying to me, in a way that everything prior to this hadn't -- though admittedly I don't know how I would have wrapped up a story with this broad of a scope.
adventurous
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was some hardcore Sci-Fi, which I am not entirely sure is for me. Like the second book, this books starts pretty slow, but ramps up well and ends well. Still one of the most screwed up interpretations of the Fermi Paradox and sadly, probably an accurate one.
"Sweeping epic" comes to mind when I think about this trilogy. The sheer scope of the work baffles me. Like the mental fumbling when trying to comprehend the immensity of the universe, when I think about what Liu Cixin has accomplished here I can't quite wrap my mind around it.
This last book was perhaps my favorite of the three? Though I must say that The Dark Forest is a close second. But (and I hope I can say this without spoiling anything) there was a layer of fantasy woven into this final installment that sung to my soul.
The ending was deeply satisfying and challenging at the same time. My brain worked, and hard, to grasp some of the ideas and concepts introduced along this long (but never too long) journey. My conception and curiosity for what exists outside our world has expanded greatly, and I'm left tingling with fear and excitement and wonder about what could be.
"Truth is stranger than fiction." Liu proves that to be true... the thread of possibility connects this whole awesome (in the old sense) tale. Absolutely epic, in every sense, and I'm sad my first read is behind me.
This last book was perhaps my favorite of the three? Though I must say that The Dark Forest is a close second. But (and I hope I can say this without spoiling anything) there was a layer of fantasy woven into this final installment that sung to my soul.
The ending was deeply satisfying and challenging at the same time. My brain worked, and hard, to grasp some of the ideas and concepts introduced along this long (but never too long) journey. My conception and curiosity for what exists outside our world has expanded greatly, and I'm left tingling with fear and excitement and wonder about what could be.
"Truth is stranger than fiction." Liu proves that to be true... the thread of possibility connects this whole awesome (in the old sense) tale. Absolutely epic, in every sense, and I'm sad my first read is behind me.
Flat and cumbersome, it's more like a summary than a fully fleshed-out story.
1 star. I'll think about these bombshell ideas for years to come, but as stories go this one's a dud.
1 star. I'll think about these bombshell ideas for years to come, but as stories go this one's a dud.
Pasting this review for all three books in the trilogy (they're all equally as amazing).
Here's the thing; this book, and the trilogy to which it belongs, are, by a LANDSLIDE, the best books I have or ever will read. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that I don't believe another human mind could conceive anything half as brilliant, ever again.
And, sidenote, if you've seen the Netflix adaptation, the books are literally nothing like it.
This story is the climax of hard sci-fi. It's wildly imaginative, deeply thought-provoking, and is the strongest commentary on ethics I've ever seen. To take the "first contact" story trope and explore the theoretical physics behind it in such depths is its own feat, but to then examine precisely what it means to be human better than any philosopher to date is absolutely another level of genius.
If you're ready for something life-changing, and you don't need a space opera to enjoy your sci-fi, this is absolutely your next read.
Here's the thing; this book, and the trilogy to which it belongs, are, by a LANDSLIDE, the best books I have or ever will read. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that I don't believe another human mind could conceive anything half as brilliant, ever again.
And, sidenote, if you've seen the Netflix adaptation, the books are literally nothing like it.
This story is the climax of hard sci-fi. It's wildly imaginative, deeply thought-provoking, and is the strongest commentary on ethics I've ever seen. To take the "first contact" story trope and explore the theoretical physics behind it in such depths is its own feat, but to then examine precisely what it means to be human better than any philosopher to date is absolutely another level of genius.
If you're ready for something life-changing, and you don't need a space opera to enjoy your sci-fi, this is absolutely your next read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This broke my brain and filled me with existential dread!
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
2.75 stars
*** I have a YouTube channel now! Check it out here. ***
ok now my incredibly low theoretical physics level of knowledge affected my enjoyment...
Maybe a tetralogy would've been better?
*** I have a YouTube channel now! Check it out here. ***
ok now my incredibly low theoretical physics level of knowledge affected my enjoyment...
Maybe a tetralogy would've been better?