Scan barcode
A review by quarkie
Supernova Era by Cixin Liu
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book... was not very good. I think it was the author's first book, and it showed. When I read the premise, I immediately thought of Lord of the Flies. It feels like this author just wrote his own version of that story, and then also mixed it with the Hunger Games.
What I liked: The premise was interesting enough to keep me wanting to read it just to find out how things resolved. That said, I think the overall premise was the only redeeming aspect of the book.
What I didn't like:
Similar to Ball Lightning, this book had a somewhat meandering plot and consistently jumped from rail to rail. But in Ball Lightning, each new part of the story had an interesting philosophical question to explore. That was not the case here, making the flow of the plot feel very disjointed, and giving the reader a form of whiplash.
For being a speculative fiction book, I don't think the author does a good job predicting how humanity would react to the extreme positions that they are put in. I think his view of how the humans prepare the children is much too rosy, and his view of the children is much too bleak. He paints this dichotomy between the older children who are hyper responsible, and everyone who takes no part in their own survival, leaving out much of the spectrum that would be in between.
He also juxtaposes the reactions of children from different countries, but relies on sweeping and often unkind generalizations to arrive at his conclusions (US children being violent, Argentinean children loving soccer, Chinese children being studious but also reliant on central authority, etc).
There are parts of the book that are incredible descriptive (such as a rollercoaster ride being described for several very long pages), and other parts where things "just happen" and no detail is given. There are often plot points that come up, that don't play into the later plot, leaving some opportunities unrealized.
Overall, I think even Cixin Liu fans can skip this one. I wouldn't have been sad to not read it.
What I liked: The premise was interesting enough to keep me wanting to read it just to find out how things resolved. That said, I think the overall premise was the only redeeming aspect of the book.
What I didn't like:
Similar to Ball Lightning, this book had a somewhat meandering plot and consistently jumped from rail to rail. But in Ball Lightning, each new part of the story had an interesting philosophical question to explore. That was not the case here, making the flow of the plot feel very disjointed, and giving the reader a form of whiplash.
For being a speculative fiction book, I don't think the author does a good job predicting how humanity would react to the extreme positions that they are put in. I think his view of how the humans prepare the children is much too rosy, and his view of the children is much too bleak. He paints this dichotomy between the older children who are hyper responsible, and everyone who takes no part in their own survival, leaving out much of the spectrum that would be in between.
He also juxtaposes the reactions of children from different countries, but relies on sweeping and often unkind generalizations to arrive at his conclusions (US children being violent, Argentinean children loving soccer, Chinese children being studious but also reliant on central authority, etc).
There are parts of the book that are incredible descriptive (such as a rollercoaster ride being described for several very long pages), and other parts where things "just happen" and no detail is given. There are often plot points that come up, that don't play into the later plot, leaving some opportunities unrealized.
Overall, I think even Cixin Liu fans can skip this one. I wouldn't have been sad to not read it.