empyrealcrown's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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
1.0
rclairel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A giant plunge back into the world of The Remembrance of Earth's Past. It provides back stories and further development beyond the end of the final book in the series. A similar style in a way, but somehow not as captivating. It drags in a few places, where you want the story to get to the point already and the event that is being belabored to happen. Fun to read, mostly, but by the end I was glad it was over. Lots of dense sciencey commentary at points.
bravadette's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
lindsayymack's review against another edition
4.0
A surprisingly seamless fan fiction foray into the psychology and back stories of The Three Body Problem. Well written, imaginative and yet true til character and original plotlines. I was inspired to re-read Death's End while reading this - it highlights how many nuances and how much action Liu has woven into his works.
vanjr's review against another edition
4.0
This is a much needed book that fills in many of the gapping holes that characteristize the 3 body problem, particularly the 3rd book. If you felt that the series left too many lacunae then let this book feel them in, even if they may not be what the original author had in mind.
kmc3050's review against another edition
1.0
1. Did Baoshu read the same trilogy I read? Doesn't feel like it. Maybe something was lost in the translations? I didn't know this was fanfiction until I started it, but I went ahead since it had the original authors okay. Big mistake. The female characters are flat, the plot is ridiculous, and the Trisolarans are completely wrong. I'm also not sure what the Avatar bit at the end was about. Just skip this one and stick to the actual trilogy.
vari's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
thebartbenjamin's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
Fine, yet not as good as the original trilogy. It has some good ideas, but not good enough. And the Polish translation is full of mistakes...
Fine, yet not as good as the original trilogy. It has some good ideas, but not good enough. And the Polish translation is full of mistakes...
bsparks2112's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
For me, this was a case of trying not to let expectations get too high, but in the end this was still a letdown. As an "elevated" fan-fiction release, sanctioned by the author of the actual Three-Body Problem trilogy but held as an interesting side-story, I wasn't sure what to expect; what presents itself here is mostly exposition and dialogue that attempts to fill in some of the gaps left in certain characters' arcs in the main trilogy. It's an interesting approach, and it does have some neat ideas, but it's largely just long conversations where characters explain things to each other, and the quality of the writing isn't up to the task of making that a compelling read. It's not terrible, and I always tend to give some lenience to translated works when it comes to things like how natural the dialogue sounds, but there's not a lot that stands out either. Most of the high-concept ideas contained here are borrowed or extrapolated from Cixin Liu's main work, with a few creative spins (and a neat twist at the very end, I admit) but not a ton of originality or thrilling happenstance. I don't fully regret reading it, and it's short page count helps in this regard, but it certainly doesn't rise to the level of the trilogy that inspired it.