pawan's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death of parent, and Gun violence
nate_meyers's review against another edition
2.0
This book is just okay. Maybe it deserves 2.5 stars, but not 3. I had high hopes since I absolutely loved the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy. But Ball Lightning suffers from much weaker characters, far less interesting science, and a plot that is mostly concept explanation. Sure it was written in 2003, well before Remembrance of Earth's Past, but that's not a valid excuse to read it. I say skip this book, skip watching The Wandering Earth, and skip the recent New Yorker profile of Cixin Liu where he basically embraces the full Chinese party line. If you do all these things AND read the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy then you will love Cixin Liu and his writing. (As you can tell, my appreciation for him has come down significantly).
junaydm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
lomili's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
nickgoe's review against another edition
4.0
Great hard sci fi, but not quite up to the quality of the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy. This book is set in that same universe though, and was still a solid novel in its own right.
steelcitygator's review against another edition
2.0
A strong middle is ruined by a weak start and a completely flat ending. The best parts of it are definitely prior to the war breaking out (this coming from someone who's favorite genre of fiction are good WW3 gone hot books). The discovery portion is what really drives it and it's great. The playing off supernatural elements to be revealed as actually science based reasoning (per the laws of the books world) is actually a great idea. So many things we know now where at one time mysterious and left to the human imagination and it's an element I haven't seen treated in this way before.
Overall it's not bad. I didn't realize this author was the same as Three Body Problem and, since it's been so highly recommended, I'll for sure check that out but Ball Lightning is a real take it or leave it book for me.
Overall it's not bad. I didn't realize this author was the same as Three Body Problem and, since it's been so highly recommended, I'll for sure check that out but Ball Lightning is a real take it or leave it book for me.
projaropener's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25