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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Here's an overview of the role of women is in each story (don't worry, no spoilers since their role is apparently never plot-relevant):
1. Wandering Earth - Married men should get to sleep with whoever they want
2. Mountain - No women in the story
3. Sun of China - No women in story
4. For the benefit of Mankind - Only woman in story is homeless, helpless, and unnamed
5. Curse 5.0 - Women be vindictive (but also exist solely to serve men's sexual needs)
6. The Micro-Era - Women leaders are infantile and emotional
7. Devourer - The only woman is an anime girl avatar who "doesn't understand" that the universe is inherently masculine, and that feminine civilizations have no place.
8. Taking Care of God - Husbands are whipped, wives be terrible
9. With Her Eyes - Women be dainty and emotional
10. Cannonball - Mostly fine
1. Wandering Earth - Married men should get to sleep with whoever they want
2. Mountain - No women in the story
3. Sun of China - No women in story
4. For the benefit of Mankind - Only woman in story is homeless, helpless, and unnamed
5. Curse 5.0 - Women be vindictive (but also exist solely to serve men's sexual needs)
6. The Micro-Era - Women leaders are infantile and emotional
7. Devourer - The only woman is an anime girl avatar who "doesn't understand" that the universe is inherently masculine, and that feminine civilizations have no place.
8. Taking Care of God - Husbands are whipped, wives be terrible
9. With Her Eyes - Women be dainty and emotional
10. Cannonball - Mostly fine
What a wonderful collection of short stories this is. Liu Cixin manages to provide us with a unique perspective of humanity and the world we live on via some intriguing scifi stories. 2 or 3 of the stories were a bit of a mis for me, which is why it just falls short of 5 stars in my opinion. But I would certainly recommend it to any scifi lover out there.
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Some of the stories in this collection are epic. Some are simply collections of dialogue. So... they felt a bit dry.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
You can't build (big) enough spaceships to leave earth, before the sun becomes a Red Giant? Well, then let's just make a spaceship out of Earth! At first, this idea might sound silly, but I really came to love it. It's brilliant, really, especially all the potential problems and consequences this might have.
Unfortunately, the book barely scratched the surface of it all.
Overall it felt like I was reading a draft and not a novel, or even a novella. The ideas and the potential was there, but the execution was too short and unsatisfying. If this book had like 400 pages or even more, this could be easily one of my favorite sci-fi novels, but with barely anything being properly explained, and next to no development, I can't and won't give it more than 2 stars. It's a shame.
Unfortunately, the book barely scratched the surface of it all.
Overall it felt like I was reading a draft and not a novel, or even a novella. The ideas and the potential was there, but the execution was too short and unsatisfying. If this book had like 400 pages or even more, this could be easily one of my favorite sci-fi novels, but with barely anything being properly explained, and next to no development, I can't and won't give it more than 2 stars. It's a shame.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Excellent collection of shorter stories written by 刘慈欣. Some stories are really original, and unique, while some are clearly inspired by prior art of ex. Lem, BUT even then, 刘 always manages to add his own plot twist, and make them interesting and with unexpected ending.
5 ⭐s because I genuinely appreciate his creativity to create new stories, but also remix existing ones into ones that are still interesting and compelling.
5 ⭐s because I genuinely appreciate his creativity to create new stories, but also remix existing ones into ones that are still interesting and compelling.