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quarkie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book had me on the edge of my seat - I finished almost all of it in one sitting, it was that gripping. The ramp up to the big reveal was incredible, but then I thought the reveal itself didn't quite match the intensity of the first part of the book.
As a scientist, this book actually gets much of the science right, which helped with my suspension of disbelief. Things go just a bit beyond the walls of plausible reality at the end, but overall it's all sufficiently plausible as to not be too distracting.
This book is a translation, and it's obvious, but not in a bad way. In the translator's afterward, he talks about how hard he tried to balance translating the text in a way that would be more familiar to Western readers and translating it in a way that stayed true to the lyricism and tone of the original Chinese. In this, I think he succeeded. There are passages where things are phrased in ways that make it obvious it was written by a non-native English speaker, but I think that helps the reader place the characters and their motivations in cultural context. He also preserves some beautiful, thought-provoking passages that left existential questions lingering my mind long after I put the book down.
The book starts with descriptions of warring factions in the Cultural Revolution - of groups fighting each other even within the same organization. I think that theme is reflected in a fascinating way later in the book through the ETO, between the Adventists and the Redemptionists. This conflicts also underscores the deeply complex motivations for each member of humanity in everything they do. As Da Shi says, "There's someone behind everything." I think, similarly, "Everyone wants something."
This book explores a wide variety of other themes including:
- Whether the fundamental nature of humanity is good or bad, and how people react when they come to a conclusion in either way
- How your level of education can shape how you perceive the world and humanity, and how sometimes the 'wise' (meaning educated) can be so ignorant but the 'ignorant' (here meaning less educated) can be so perceptive
- The fine line between order and chaos
- How lonely the act of searching for nothing can be when your end goal is your sole motivation (which resonated strongly with me as someone who works on dark matter research)
- The role of environmentalism (with hints of anti-nuclear sentiments that I couldn't quite pin down)
- The role of colonialism and cultural influence, which again works as a fascinating juxtaposition of the Cultural Revolution
- How different world powers would react to First Contact, but also how societies very different from our would react to First Contact
One of my favorite scenes was where 30 million beings were used as a living computer. I felt it was so creative, and really helps readers understand how far humanity has come with technology.
Overall, this was a thought-provoking, fascinating, and gripping read. I already put 3 more books by Cixin Liu on hold at the library.
As a scientist, this book actually gets much of the science right, which helped with my suspension of disbelief. Things go just a bit beyond the walls of plausible reality at the end, but overall it's all sufficiently plausible as to not be too distracting.
This book is a translation, and it's obvious, but not in a bad way. In the translator's afterward, he talks about how hard he tried to balance translating the text in a way that would be more familiar to Western readers and translating it in a way that stayed true to the lyricism and tone of the original Chinese. In this, I think he succeeded. There are passages where things are phrased in ways that make it obvious it was written by a non-native English speaker, but I think that helps the reader place the characters and their motivations in cultural context. He also preserves some beautiful, thought-provoking passages that left existential questions lingering my mind long after I put the book down.
The book starts with descriptions of warring factions in the Cultural Revolution - of groups fighting each other even within the same organization. I think that theme is reflected in a fascinating way later in the book through the ETO, between the Adventists and the Redemptionists. This conflicts also underscores the deeply complex motivations for each member of humanity in everything they do. As Da Shi says, "There's someone behind everything." I think, similarly, "Everyone wants something."
This book explores a wide variety of other themes including:
- Whether the fundamental nature of humanity is good or bad, and how people react when they come to a conclusion in either way
- How your level of education can shape how you perceive the world and humanity, and how sometimes the 'wise' (meaning educated) can be so ignorant but the 'ignorant' (here meaning less educated) can be so perceptive
- The fine line between order and chaos
- How lonely the act of searching for nothing can be when your end goal is your sole motivation (which resonated strongly with me as someone who works on dark matter research)
- The role of environmentalism (with hints of anti-nuclear sentiments that I couldn't quite pin down)
- The role of colonialism and cultural influence, which again works as a fascinating juxtaposition of the Cultural Revolution
- How different world powers would react to First Contact, but also how societies very different from our would react to First Contact
One of my favorite scenes was where 30 million beings were used as a living computer. I felt it was so creative, and really helps readers understand how far humanity has come with technology.
Overall, this was a thought-provoking, fascinating, and gripping read. I already put 3 more books by Cixin Liu on hold at the library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: War, Blood, Colonisation, Classism, and Death of parent
djbobthegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Classism
Minor: Violence, Ableism, Murder, Death, Sexism, War, and Police brutality
margot14's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Confinement, Physical abuse, War, Blood, Police brutality, and Violence
cweeks_ng's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
As a newer fan of sci-fi, I enjoyed parts of this book a lot. I’d say the larger ideas of the author were excellent, but the execution in the plot and characters was a let down for me. Not interested enough to continue the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder
cdbrendel's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, War, Suicide, and Death
dished_pallor's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An interesting, extremely slow-burn premise that pays off. Book has a tendency to "tell" not "show" and it can be a bit grating and wooden. But I'm a sucker for hard scifi with big mysteries.
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Torture, War, and Death of parent
maddie_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I usually prefer faster pace books but I really enjoyed this one.
I really enjoyed
I really enjoyed
- writing style
- the tension and mystery
And learning more about
- China's cultural revolution
- Science concepts - a lot were explained well enough that I could understand without a science background
I never felt bored listening to this but some of the science parts went completely over my head and I didn't want to look them up out of fear of spoilers so I felt a bit lost during some of the super science heavy parts.
Spoilers:
Fyi it ends on a cliffhanger.
I love books that make me say wtf lol dried out people rolls?? What the fuck! Cutting a boat in half with a nano string?? Destroying microcosm societies??love it, absolutely loved the part at the end with the bug metaphor- The Bugs have never truly been defeated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Alcohol, Murder, Violence, Torture, Colonisation, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Xenophobia, Death, Gore, Genocide, Blood, and War
monsty's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Murder, War, and Suicide
atalea's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? No
4.0
At the beginning it was a five star read for me, but at the end it became a little too science heavy for me which deflated my interest a bit. I do love how the author explains difficult scientific concepts, it made it easier to follow. Very interested to see how things continue!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and War
lighterthaneyre's review against another edition
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.0
I've heard repeatedly that this book is amazing from lots of men whose opinions I respect.
This is a very dense, hard sci fi book. I found it a little tedious from a pacing perspective, and I found the main character an irritating emptiness. He is often an excuse for other characters to contemplate upper level physics.
The descriptions of the physics, and the extremely human reaction to the ideas ka fascinating. This book presents a lot of ideas that were interesting to think about. This might not be on any of my "all time best" lists but I absolutely want to hear the author expand on the ideas he has set up.
Also it's so refreshing to get a very un-American/non-Western voice for sci Fi. Another reason to look forward to the next book
This is a very dense, hard sci fi book. I found it a little tedious from a pacing perspective, and I found the main character an irritating emptiness. He is often an excuse for other characters to contemplate upper level physics.
The descriptions of the physics, and the extremely human reaction to the ideas ka fascinating. This book presents a lot of ideas that were interesting to think about. This might not be on any of my "all time best" lists but I absolutely want to hear the author expand on the ideas he has set up.
Also it's so refreshing to get a very un-American/non-Western voice for sci Fi. Another reason to look forward to the next book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: War and Police brutality