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larkinj 's review for:
Death's End
by Cixin Liu
Christ, where do I even start?
This series - and this novel in particular - was grand, sweeping, incredibly well thought out, heavily researched, and ultimately transcendent. Every inch of Remembrance of Earth's past felt heavy and alive with equal parts hope and consuming fear. If this series got one thing right, it was fear. Through every paradigm shift from one crisis to another, there was always fear. I really need a low effort listening experience to help lower my background anxiety, lol.
Liu seemed very interested in the multi-faceted question of how humans will evolve not only technologically, but socially as we progress into the greater solar system and eventually the universe as a whole. He has a strong handle from book one on the vision he sees of the future, both on the individual scale and the scale of our entire species. Honestly that detail of his writing and world building might be what stands out most to me, the grasp of perspective. Not simply the human perspective! He also tries and strives to the limit of comprehension to describe the perspective of entire dimensions, the likes of which human minds are physically barred from understanding. That is the most extreme example, but there are many thematic instances of dynamic and creative perspectives used by characters to solve problems, the narrative itself to impart meaning, and the research behind the writing to deepen a reader's working knowledge of the concepts crucial to the world. Experiences this series truly felt like looking into the fourth dimension, I need to read all three books several more times to fully grasp it all.
There were a few moments I found myself frustrated and disappointed with how events turned out, but with some soul searching I think those feelings were rooted in the expectations built up by a lot of fiction writing having good endings or ultimate human victories. Asimov's 'Foundation' comes to mind. In some ways, Liu's plots have a few similarities with the classic Sci-Fi author, many events feel like elaborate logic puzzles or escape rooms with clever solutions, but Liu doesn't pull any punches. People fail in his novels, The frustration and disappointment came when I realized that Liu was simply portraying humans as realistic. A little depressing, maybe, but worthy of consideration. At the end of the day, what is most Sci-Fi but a guess about our future in the stars? Even the worst sort of future can be speculated on.
For anyone thinking about reading this series, I need you to ask yourself the question: "Can I mentally handle an existential crisis of our place in the universe right now?" If the answer is yes, read on. If the answer is no, pick something else. Because God almighty... this series can send you reeling. 10/10
This series - and this novel in particular - was grand, sweeping, incredibly well thought out, heavily researched, and ultimately transcendent. Every inch of Remembrance of Earth's past felt heavy and alive with equal parts hope and consuming fear. If this series got one thing right, it was fear. Through every paradigm shift from one crisis to another, there was always fear. I really need a low effort listening experience to help lower my background anxiety, lol.
Liu seemed very interested in the multi-faceted question of how humans will evolve not only technologically, but socially as we progress into the greater solar system and eventually the universe as a whole. He has a strong handle from book one on the vision he sees of the future, both on the individual scale and the scale of our entire species. Honestly that detail of his writing and world building might be what stands out most to me, the grasp of perspective. Not simply the human perspective! He also tries and strives to the limit of comprehension to describe the perspective of entire dimensions, the likes of which human minds are physically barred from understanding. That is the most extreme example, but there are many thematic instances of dynamic and creative perspectives used by characters to solve problems, the narrative itself to impart meaning, and the research behind the writing to deepen a reader's working knowledge of the concepts crucial to the world. Experiences this series truly felt like looking into the fourth dimension, I need to read all three books several more times to fully grasp it all.
There were a few moments I found myself frustrated and disappointed with how events turned out, but with some soul searching I think those feelings were rooted in the expectations built up by a lot of fiction writing having good endings or ultimate human victories. Asimov's 'Foundation' comes to mind. In some ways, Liu's plots have a few similarities with the classic Sci-Fi author, many events feel like elaborate logic puzzles or escape rooms with clever solutions, but Liu doesn't pull any punches. People fail in his novels,
Spoiler
and they fail on the level of a solar system.For anyone thinking about reading this series, I need you to ask yourself the question: "Can I mentally handle an existential crisis of our place in the universe right now?" If the answer is yes, read on. If the answer is no, pick something else. Because God almighty... this series can send you reeling. 10/10