Reviews

The Supernova Era by Cixin Liu, Cixin Liu

jwsg's review against another edition

3.0

The premise of Supernova Era is an intriguing one - what happens when a star eight light years away dies, showering the Earth with deadly radiation and only children below the age of 13 will survive the event? Adults in every nation busy themselves with the task of equipping children to with the knowledge and skills necessary to keep society running. But how will a society run by children - its logic and its rules - fundamentally differ from a society run by adults?

I found the first part of the book absolutely riveting (not to mention easier to grasp compared to the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, where most of the physics went over my head). But I struggled with the second half of the novel and the final section in particular, which details the descent into a sci-fi version of Lord of the Flies. I'm not sure if it's because I found the scenario a little too disturbing, because I found the plot and pacing less engaging at this point, or a bit of both.

lyriclorelei's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There are several aspects of human nature that I do not agree with Liu about, but I really love how seriously he takes his premises and how far thought out they are. I almost wish this hadn't had an epilogue because now I desperately want to know the details of the years between the last chapter and it.

kchiappone's review against another edition

3.0

It was okay. Definitely the weakest among what i read of his.

yetanotherryan's review against another edition

3.0

An extended metaphor on humanity with YA flourishes. Picture a more extreme version of The 100, where the planet is left exclusively to younger children. This story is filled with interesting plot points but the way we get there is probably the most hand wave-y thing I've come across in sci-fi. As far as metaphors go, I'm not entirely sure that it works for me, even if it scares the pants off me.
Read this if you're a Liu Cixin fan, but if you're just starting, I recommend Three Body Problem instead.

meatballhead02's review against another edition

4.0

Mostly very good but failed by an unsatisfying ending.

science_bird's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Lou seems to not have a working model of how humans act, fundamentally. I felt myself disagreeing with all problems in the book continuously because: This is simply not something that real people in this situation would do. At almost every inflection angle. 

This holds true for all of his books

twincam59's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No

2.0

Disappointingly simple plot, more of a YA story

emilykl94's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.0

nusratfarzana's review against another edition

3.0

Faulty premise, interesting story. Ugh, I get it, Americans are the bad guy. But he ignored pretty much all other countries which was reminiscent of imperial China. Guaranteed, every writer has their blind spots, but this was glaringly obvious, while nascent in Three Body Problem. Replacing white savior complex with Chinese savior complex is not the solution.

jpbaldassari's review against another edition

2.0

I love Cixin Liu. His imagination is amazing, and his world-building is among the best. That being said, this was a fantastically bad effort. He writes about a time after all adults are dead and only children are left on Earth (not a spoiler; that's right on the cover). An intriguing concept, but apparently Liu had never actually spoken to a child before he wrote this. If you just read the dialog you'd assume that everyone was middle-aged.
In short: read Cixin Liu's books. Just not this one.