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bottlecaps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War
duskx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
On the surface, this might appear to be a classic alien invasion narrative, but Liu Cixin adds a provocative twist with the timing and nature of the extraterrestrial threat. This is a hard science fiction novel that masterfully blends elements of mystery, thriller, and historical fiction, all while delving deep into theoretical physics, sociology, and political intrigue. The novel’s intellectual ambition is one of its greatest strengths, offering a unique and thought-provoking reading experience that challenges conventional storytelling.
However, despite its strengths, I’m hesitant to continue with the series. What might be minor flaws to some—such as the dense and sometimes dry scientific explanations, the flat, cookie-cutter characters with little to no development, and the uneven pacing—became significant obstacles to my overall enjoyment. While the ideas are compelling, the execution left me wanting more in terms of character depth and narrative flow.
An intellectually stimulating and cryptic read that will appeal to fans of hard science fiction, but it may not be for everyone—especially those who are already weary of the classic good-versus-evil alien trope.
One interesting note: If you choose to read the English translation, you'll notice it alters the structure of the book in comparison to the original and other versions. For instance, the chapter on the Chinese Cultural Revolution is shifted to the beginning, which may come across as a spoiler. I think I know why they did that, but it definitely affects the reading experience
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
goodthingsread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
My main issue with this book is how the science part of the science fiction was disseminated. While there were some clever tricks to explain some processes -- the human computer devised by von Neumann was great, for example -- I found other concepts to be explained like a character reading from a Wikipedia article. Even with the human computer, when von Neumann explains its working to the emperor, it felt like certain passages were simply copy and pasted from another website with a few "Ah!" and "Hm!" added in to make it read like regular human speech. All it did was make the awkwardness stand out to me more.
And there is a lot of science in this book. I don't mind necessarily. I feel like, generally speaking, scifi has trended more towards the fi than the sci in recent decades. But that means the average reader isn't prepared for this level of intricacy. My husband is in computer programming and engineering, so some terminology caught my attention; even if I didn't fully understand what was meant, I remember him using a term so I paid more attention in the novel. I feel like for others, the wall of words would make their eyes glaze over. Sometimes that's fine; this book just has too many walls of words that matter to get away with that.
(I just remembered, this also happened but with character backstory and thought in the very beginning of the book. Just a wall of internal monologue by Ye Zhetai mixed with exposition for a character that doesn't really factor into the story beyond that moment. It left me with a sour taste in my mouth in the very first chapter; even though I got over it, in remembering it, I still can't believe how clunky and awkward it felt as the introduction to a book so renown.)
I found enough twists to keep me interested, but the twists themselves were almost too twisty while not being novel enough. At a certain point, the pacing of the novel takes a turn where it feels very much like you've hit the edge of the ski slope and it's a nonstop, ramping up of speed until you've hit the cliffhanger at the end of the book. Some of those twists you encounter on that wild ride to the end hit you in a sort of, "Oh, we're doing <i>this</i>, are we? Okay, why not?!" sort of way. You always feel like you're dangerously close to jumping the shark.
That said, I did enjoy the book. The characters were somewhat flat, due to the number of them, but I enjoyed the ones that did have personality, Ye Wenjie especially, for all her flaws. I do think this is ramping up into something special, so I'm excited to eventually read the rest of the series and see if that pans out. But this is a hard book to recommend generally and requires a bit of warning to those that you think could enjoy it.
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Murder
nerdkitten's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Sexism, Suicide, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, War, and Classism
brynalexa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Colonisation
Minor: Body horror, Stalking, Alcohol, and War
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Colonisation, and War
gkgkgk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and War
meganpbell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Sexism, and Alcohol
Minor: Genocide and War
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Where to start?
The characters are utterly forgettable and there is not a single redeemable or meaningful relationship between any of the characters or any facet of the story. They only existed so they could talk to each other as a way to move the plot along. Without the characters the whole book could be reduced to one, drunken rant about “like what if aliens lived on an unstable planet?” He put characters in so it wouldn’t just be a really bizarre lecture
This book reads as 350 pages of history and philosophical waxing and then 50 pages of shitty alien fan fiction that is really just the author patting himself on the back for creating analogies that are complicated enough for readers to think him smart but are ultimately meaningless.
By rooting a story in the present and then layering in completely absurd scientific magic over it really removed me from the story. The physics and math were really inaccessible and honesty glossed over that whole chapter.
Nothing in this story or it’s writing made me care about any of the individuals, civilizations, communities or social movements that were used.
I am gobsmacked that so many people praise this book so highly. I love science fiction and read it almost exclusively. The only thing keeping me from rage quitting half way through was rage reading so I could review this book without people saying “you didn’t finish it so you can’t comment on it”
It gets a 1.5 because I was able to finish it quickly (thank god)
Well screw you, fans of this book, I read it and I disliked it!
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
I don’t regret reading this because at least it gives me something concrete to point my unhinged anger at. Going to drink some tea and read something that I know is good and pure