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A review by jwsg
Supernova Era by Cixin Liu
3.0
The premise of Supernova Era is an intriguing one - what happens when a star eight light years away dies, showering the Earth with deadly radiation and only children below the age of 13 will survive the event? Adults in every nation busy themselves with the task of equipping children to with the knowledge and skills necessary to keep society running. But how will a society run by children - its logic and its rules - fundamentally differ from a society run by adults?
I found the first part of the book absolutely riveting (not to mention easier to grasp compared to the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, where most of the physics went over my head). But I struggled with the second half of the novel and the final section in particular, which details the descent into a sci-fi version of Lord of the Flies. I'm not sure if it's because I found the scenario a little too disturbing, because I found the plot and pacing less engaging at this point, or a bit of both.
I found the first part of the book absolutely riveting (not to mention easier to grasp compared to the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, where most of the physics went over my head). But I struggled with the second half of the novel and the final section in particular, which details the descent into a sci-fi version of Lord of the Flies. I'm not sure if it's because I found the scenario a little too disturbing, because I found the plot and pacing less engaging at this point, or a bit of both.