Scan barcode
mananthemoon's review against another edition
2.0
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
sterlingprimerius's review against another edition
4.0
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.
jodihannah's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Some of the stories in this collection are epic. Some are simply collections of dialogue. So... they felt a bit dry.
effaly's review against another edition
2.0
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.
skyelavigne's review against another edition
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
4.5
meedamian's review against another edition
5.0
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.
timinbc's review against another edition
5.0
(Not the Kindle edition in my case, but a trade-format paperback)
So, take some Big SF Ideas, add a dash of unlikely, shake well, and examine the consequences.
Extinction of humanity? Cool - where's the human story, let's see, aha! There it is.
Extinction of earth? Same.
Ants vs. dinosaurs. OK, skip the "human" part, where's the POV story of one character?
... and so on.
Maybe not really a five-star, but it got there on bonuses -- for fresh ideas, for attitude that suggests Jack Vance without really being anything like him, maybe for the overall feeling of "Isn't this fun to think about?"
And maybe even a bonus for presenting these as stories, so that the character development expected in a novel isn't there. I think that's appropriate in this case. And the last story has as much human pathos as one could want.
In this publication, I felt that it was produced by people who speak English very well but not natively. There are typos, word swaps, unusual use of hyphens, and other small distractions. I forgive it all when the translators have managed to maintain a distinct authorial attitude or character while also giving us the stories.
These stories won awards from 1999-2004, so the oldest is probably 20 years old. Worth remembering if you are comparing to his more recent work.
And if you don't like Big Idea hard SF, maybe look elsewhere. This ain't space opera, or Hammer's Slammers; no 20-km-long spaceships, no rogue AIs, no ansibles, no teleportation, no telepathy. Just some interesting What If?
So, take some Big SF Ideas, add a dash of unlikely, shake well, and examine the consequences.
Extinction of humanity? Cool - where's the human story, let's see, aha! There it is.
Extinction of earth? Same.
Ants vs. dinosaurs. OK, skip the "human" part, where's the POV story of one character?
... and so on.
Maybe not really a five-star, but it got there on bonuses -- for fresh ideas, for attitude that suggests Jack Vance without really being anything like him, maybe for the overall feeling of "Isn't this fun to think about?"
And maybe even a bonus for presenting these as stories, so that the character development expected in a novel isn't there. I think that's appropriate in this case. And the last story has as much human pathos as one could want.
In this publication, I felt that it was produced by people who speak English very well but not natively. There are typos, word swaps, unusual use of hyphens, and other small distractions. I forgive it all when the translators have managed to maintain a distinct authorial attitude or character while also giving us the stories.
These stories won awards from 1999-2004, so the oldest is probably 20 years old. Worth remembering if you are comparing to his more recent work.
And if you don't like Big Idea hard SF, maybe look elsewhere. This ain't space opera, or Hammer's Slammers; no 20-km-long spaceships, no rogue AIs, no ansibles, no teleportation, no telepathy. Just some interesting What If?