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A review by bluemonkey14
Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I read this after devouring Remembrance of Earth's Past. I do find ball lightning a fascinating topic and really enjoyed following along with the process of unveiling its true nature in the TBP universe. Far-fetched maybe but it feels internally consistent and raises a lot of existential "what if?" type questions. And of course, the exploration of the pipeline from curiosity, to science, to military application is relevant to any area of research.
I do think that Liu Cixin struggles writing women even more so than male characters, and I felt Lin Yun's story was somewhat tarnished by this, I never really felt like I connected with her because she never really felt like a fully fleshed-out character to me. I would love to read her story separately, ending up the same way as in Ball Lightning but through her eyes rather than Chen's.
That said, what Liu does well, he does very well, as long as those parts grab you enough to push through the weaker parts.
I do think that Liu Cixin struggles writing women even more so than male characters, and I felt Lin Yun's story was somewhat tarnished by this, I never really felt like I connected with her because she never really felt like a fully fleshed-out character to me. I would love to read her story separately, ending up the same way as in Ball Lightning but through her eyes rather than Chen's.
That said, what Liu does well, he does very well, as long as those parts grab you enough to push through the weaker parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent