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budge's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Fascinating and gripping, keeps you guessing until quite near the end. It has an intriguing plot which switches about in time and between reality and virtual reality. The two main characters are easy to identify with but having said that, the zoomed out perspective is quite bleak at times because it's not afraid to look at humanity analytically as a stage of evolution. The physics involved takes a bit of effort (if you stopped at A level in 1983) but it's really cleverly explained and opens up a whole new way of thinking about pretty much everything, which is very exciting.
I didn't realise until the end that there are two more in the series, what a treat!
I didn't realise until the end that there are two more in the series, what a treat!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Suicide
maddowils's review against another edition
challenging
medium-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
justineboots's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-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? Yes
4.5
I read about 70% of this a few years ago and then I returned to it a couple weeks ago and started over.
I really enjoyed this book. The premise was interesting and the journey through the story was satisfying.
The writing can be a bit dense - this is hard sci fi - and be prepared for lots of essay-like exposition dumps. But ultimately the author still used literary imagery and I particularly enjoyed one parallel that was drawn from the start and end of the book.
Interesting commentary too on humanity and the human spirit, human progress and its cost. Some hints of pastoral sci-fi, as well.
I will definitely be continuing the series.
4.5 here, 4 on Goodreads.
I really enjoyed this book. The premise was interesting and the journey through the story was satisfying.
The writing can be a bit dense - this is hard sci fi - and be prepared for lots of essay-like exposition dumps. But ultimately the author still used literary imagery and I particularly enjoyed one parallel that was drawn from the start and end of the book.
Interesting commentary too on humanity and the human spirit, human progress and its cost. Some hints of pastoral sci-fi, as well.
I will definitely be continuing the series.
4.5 here, 4 on Goodreads.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
kstericker's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Body horror
becksusername's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
4.75
I was so intimidated by this book, but once I got started I was immediately sucked in and found it not only very readable, but incredibly thought-provoking. I feel like I'm smarter for having read it. And I can't wait to get my hands on the next two books!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
katrinarose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The most unique sci fi book (or really book of any genre) that I’ve ever read. My only two complaints were the tendency of the author to info dump and a lack of in depth character development. However, I think the plot and ideas do make up for it, just be warned if you need really good character development to enjoy a story. I really enjoyed the background of the story being set in China, parts of it during the Cultural Revolution. The footnotes were a big help to understand more context, and I found it very interesting. I loved the complexity of how the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence impacted the minds and opinions of humans. Would recommend if you are interested in very science-y science fiction, the idea of alien life, thinking about humanity, and a sprinkling of historical fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
nny_c's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.5
For me, this was the first and only scene I truly enjoyed, the only one to make me want to go back to reading as soon as I had the time. But after this captivating start, the intensity levels dropped dramatically and never quite made it close to the top again.
Overall, the parts in which we follow Ye Wenjie’s life were consistently more enjoyable for me to read than the rest of the book. She is the only mildly interesting character, which can in part be attributed to the Execution Scene in the beginning. It is through her that we are told the history of China’s Cultural Revolution, repressions, political agenda, and the state of the scientific community. But even here the book’s biggest shortcoming undercuts the enjoyment — this is by far the most exposition-heavy book I’ve read in a long time.
The very few characters that actually matter and stick around for long enough — Ye Wenjie, Wang Miao, Da Shi — just have things happen to them most of the time, their agency insignificant compared to the amount of information the book tries to force on you. And when they actually do something, although their motivations are for the most part clear, the lack of any kind of discernible personality behind these names on the page makes the stakes that much lower.
However, I feel like I must mention, that my issue with the amount of exposition, especially when it came to unbearably frequent crush-courses on physical phenomena and occasional mathematical theory, is much more personal because I have studied astrophysics. So I don’t want to make claims about how interesting these parts of the book may be to someone not connected to this topic at all. But I still believe that the delivery could have used a lot of work: the information is just being monologued to one of the main characters by slightly less important ones, the most ‘creative’ storytelling device was framing some info-dumping as an interrogation record by the very end.
I do feel bad for talking about this book in such a negative light, but it does surprise me just how praised it is, considering the experience I got from it. I can attribute at least part of its popularity in the West to a fascination with the themes of revolution and repressions under China’s communist party. But considering where I am from, it is an inseparable part of who I am and my culture, so these topics lack shock value for me.
Granted, it is only the first part of a trilogy, but I cannot imagine picking up the other two books, at least not in the foreseeable future.
5/10 — barely finished it tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
braynard's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Starts slow, gets faster. The science sections are a bit complex at times and the plot isn't super action heavy, but the story line is very interesting. I finished the whole thing in two reading sections.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
Unshown but referenced suicides. A character is beaten to death early on.bestknownfor's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, and Death of parent
soitis's review against another edition
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment