A review by maurits
The Supernova Era by Joel Martinsen, Cixin Liu
dark
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? No
1.0
"Like Ursula K. Le Guin rewriting The Lord of the Flies for the quantum age" is what the back of the book says. On one hand, this is a terrible comparison. Le Guin believed in the good of people and wouldn't have written a book like this. On the other hand, it is a good comparison, because this book is about as bad The Lord of the Flies.
It is completely unrealistic. The story doesn't make any sense and is absolutely unbelievable. It's stretching suspension of disbelief to its very limits and far beyond. It seems Liu meant to write a book about human nature, but really, he failed to even write a book about humans, let alone their nature.
Moreover, compared to his Remembrance of Earth's Past series, the science in this book is plain bad. In the aforementioned series, I felt like the science could actually have a chance of being true. It sounded at least somewhat plausible, despite knowing it is fiction.
The science in this book is just lacking. It's not hard science fiction. Liu just posits a super-smart quantum computer for random reasons. We just have to accept that. We have to simply accept whatever bullshit he comes up with.
Lastly - and this point is for better or for worse - the book is simply anti-American propaganda. Which, again, is a route you can take, but Liu definitely wasn't concerned with writing anything remotely close to real Americans.
It is completely unrealistic. The story doesn't make any sense and is absolutely unbelievable. It's stretching suspension of disbelief to its very limits and far beyond. It seems Liu meant to write a book about human nature, but really, he failed to even write a book about humans, let alone their nature.
Moreover, compared to his Remembrance of Earth's Past series, the science in this book is plain bad. In the aforementioned series, I felt like the science could actually have a chance of being true. It sounded at least somewhat plausible, despite knowing it is fiction.
The science in this book is just lacking. It's not hard science fiction. Liu just posits a super-smart quantum computer for random reasons. We just have to accept that. We have to simply accept whatever bullshit he comes up with.
Lastly - and this point is for better or for worse - the book is simply anti-American propaganda. Which, again, is a route you can take, but Liu definitely wasn't concerned with writing anything remotely close to real Americans.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Child death