Scan barcode
wrackspurtt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Physical abuse
syinhui's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really want to give this a 4-star rating at least and pretend I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even had high hopes that this would become one of my favorite sci-fi series ever but after some time of reflection, as I went over my notes that seems to me now more like a frustrated rant than a sensible critique, made me realize I do have a lot of issues with this book.
The premise is great, it’s ambitious and staged on a scale that goes beyond imagination. I also know everything here would be in a much bleaker perspective, an existential dread-inducing view of the world and humanity. I’ve been warned and was looking forward to reading it. I think most of my complaints lie in the poor writing and the philosophies and ideologies presented by the characters. The extremists in this book deem humanity as ‘terminally ill’ and ‘incapable of solving its own problems’, thus the need for a higher force ‘to intervene’. It tells that a lot of people harbor a deep hatred for their own kind but somehow does not show the condition of the present world they’re living in or provide any insight/development as to how people got to that point. (What could’ve possessed them to hold such extreme ideals? Putting China aside, what sort of horrible things happened to the rest of the world? Is the current Earth such a hopeless place??) The lack of present societal perspective from any of the characters makes the rebellion more like a joke – a misanthrope’s wildest fantasies suddenly coming true, well I guess that’s the idea.
My honest opinion on ETO is that they’re mad, naïve, and full of crap. Their slogan is basically, “F*** humanity, long live the aliens! Why? I don’t know but I know humans.” It’s not lost on me the irony that ETO is mostly composed of intellectuals, wealthy and powerful individuals – the same people who should know better and have much to lose. I could only blame the writing for this and not the translation. Then there’s this part where the narrative was copy-pasted from an earlier chapter. I know it’s supposed to mirror Ye’s experience but for it to be completely similar is just pure lazy writing. Most of the dialogues are dry and clunky, take for example Wei Cheng’s and Mike Evans’ lengthy monologues.
Liu’s main weakness is in his characterization, evidently, his MCs are flat and unlikeable. One is too timid and bland, the other a cold-blooded sociopath. The characters are difficult to connect with because they exist solely to advance the plot. The others are horrible for the sake of being horrible. The crusty, streetwise cop happens to be the only one who got brains.
On a more positive note, and despite my complaints, I think it’s fair to say that this is still a decent read. If you can suspend disbelief throughout the entire book, then you’d probably find it more enjoyable. The sci-fi is inspired by real science. There really are some mind-boggling concepts and authentic ideas here. The bizarre in-game scenarios although dull and dragging at times are also wonderfully poignant. The introduction to the Cultural Revolution is the most solid part of the book - a rather strong opening to a series of this scope. Disappointingly, the rest fell short on me afterward. It could’ve kept the momentum instead of swinging back and forth between the present and past and using abrupt resolutions to important plot lines within chunks of exposition. It simply broke the spell for me, making the reveals less impactful.
I am very hesitant and scared to start the next book. I’ve heard good and bad things about it. I might read it for the interesting concepts and wild sci-fi stuff but then I might not for the poor writing and bad representation of women, also whatever that cringey waifu thing going on there has a high potential of souring my reading experience. In that case, I might as well dehydrate for now and come back alive once the adaptation hits Netflix!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Xenophobia and War
uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, War, Alcohol, Classism, Abandonment, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Minor: Colonisation, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Suicide
cloud_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, Murder, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
Minor: Suicide, War, and Violence
kinddog2073's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
On the surface it seemed not to be the most philosophical sci-fi/speculative fiction, but as I progressed through the book I was delightfully proven wrong. There is a thoughtful and compelling philosophical story underpinning the actions of the characters, ones variously coloured by eco-fascism, nihilism, hope, and clever metaphor.
Much of this book read quite cheesy to me, though that improved at about 50% of the way through. Very glad I picjed this book back uo.
Much of this book read quite cheesy to me, though that improved at about 50% of the way through. Very glad I picjed this book back uo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Xenophobia and Police brutality
Minor: Animal death
qtcarolyn's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide
tree_branch's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and War
ekcd_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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
1.5
It’s all spoilers this whole thing.
Where to start?
The characters are utterly forgettable and there is not a single redeemable or meaningful relationship between any of the characters or any facet of the story. They only existed so they could talk to each other as a way to move the plot along. Without the characters the whole book could be reduced to one, drunken rant about “like what if aliens lived on an unstable planet?” He put characters in so it wouldn’t just be a really bizarre lecture
This book reads as 350 pages of history and philosophical waxing and then 50 pages of shitty alien fan fiction that is really just the author patting himself on the back for creating analogies that are complicated enough for readers to think him smart but are ultimately meaningless.
By rooting a story in the present and then layering in completely absurd scientific magic over it really removed me from the story. The physics and math were really inaccessible and honesty glossed over that whole chapter.
Nothing in this story or it’s writing made me care about any of the individuals, civilizations, communities or social movements that were used.
I am gobsmacked that so many people praise this book so highly. I love science fiction and read it almost exclusively. The only thing keeping me from rage quitting half way through was rage reading so I could review this book without people saying “you didn’t finish it so you can’t comment on it”
It gets a 1.5 because I was able to finish it quickly (thank god)
Well screw you, fans of this book, I read it and I disliked it!
Where to start?
The characters are utterly forgettable and there is not a single redeemable or meaningful relationship between any of the characters or any facet of the story. They only existed so they could talk to each other as a way to move the plot along. Without the characters the whole book could be reduced to one, drunken rant about “like what if aliens lived on an unstable planet?” He put characters in so it wouldn’t just be a really bizarre lecture
This book reads as 350 pages of history and philosophical waxing and then 50 pages of shitty alien fan fiction that is really just the author patting himself on the back for creating analogies that are complicated enough for readers to think him smart but are ultimately meaningless.
By rooting a story in the present and then layering in completely absurd scientific magic over it really removed me from the story. The physics and math were really inaccessible and honesty glossed over that whole chapter.
Nothing in this story or it’s writing made me care about any of the individuals, civilizations, communities or social movements that were used.
I am gobsmacked that so many people praise this book so highly. I love science fiction and read it almost exclusively. The only thing keeping me from rage quitting half way through was rage reading so I could review this book without people saying “you didn’t finish it so you can’t comment on it”
It gets a 1.5 because I was able to finish it quickly (thank god)
Well screw you, fans of this book, I read it and I disliked it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Hate crime, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Confinement, Colonisation, Classism, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
I don’t regret reading this because at least it gives me something concrete to point my unhinged anger at. Going to drink some tea and read something that I know is good and purebudge'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: Death of parent, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Suicide
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: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Death of parent
More...