A review by josift
Devourer by Cixin Liu

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

What is civilisation? Civilisation is devouring, ceaslessly eating, endlessly expanding; everything else comes second.

Liu is an odd one for me, I've read Of Ants and Dinosaurs (which has an unexpected amount in common with this short) and my issues there remain with Devourer. I just don't vibe with the writing style, there's a lot of 'and then he did this, and then he did that and after that it caused this' which I find makes for a bit of a mediocre read. I also find the dialogue difficult, as it's almost explosively people making long statements to eachother rather than having an actual dialogue, and almost every one ends with an exclamation mark.

Narratively this was entertaining enough, and I enjoyed the reveal (even though it was already on my mind as I was thinking about Of Ants and Dinosaurs) but maybe only because it was so silly, and the silliness is what is fun in here. I appreciate the end for what it was, but I do find that Liu spends a lot of time making very overt allegory in a way that can feel a little preachy. Also I spent the whole short thinking about how he'd opened by telling us the Captain had 'asian cool' and that they was his enduring character trait.

Fangs is absolutely the best - and maybe only - real character here.


(Read this in the Wandering Earth collection)