A review by zoes_human
To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu
3.5
While this collection is overall a bit optimistic for my taste, it is loaded with brilliant concepts. Each story has an idea at the core that made me take pause and contains some sense of the majesty and possibility of the universe.
INDIVIDUAL STORY RATINGS AND COMMENTS
The Village Teacher
4 stars
As we flash back and forth between an advanced alien species and a rural village school, a teacher is honored and a new concept of why Earth seems alone in the galaxy is introduced.
The Time Migration
3.5 stars
Desperate to escape an overpopulated Earth, immigrants flee towards the future in cryogenic rest.
2018-04-01
4 stars
A man longing for a technological enhancement only available to the wealthy has to decide how far he's willing to go and what he's willing to give up for it.
Fire in the Earth
3.5 stars
On his deathbed, Liu Xin's father asked only one thing of him, to never go down into the pit. Twenty years later, Xin has returned home to prove his theories that coal mining need not be the dangerous work that killed his father so slowly and painfully.
Contraction
4 stars
At long last science has not only determined that the universe will start contracting, but one man has discovered precisely when.
Mirror
4 stars
In which the unintended consequences of technology are revealed.
Ode to Joy: An Alternate History of the Sophon
4 stars
As the UN gathers for its final session, a concert takes an unexpected turn.
Full-Spectrum Barrage Jamming
1 star
Much too much in the way of military tactics and strategy to hold my interest.
Sea of Dreams
4 stars
Earth's first contact with an advanced alien artist has consequences that forever reshape the planet.
Cloud of Poems
4 stars
A technologically-driven but artless alien embraces classic Chinese poetry and upends three societies in the process.
The Thinker
4.5 stars
A brain surgeon's chance encounter with an astronomer leads to a wondrous discovery.
INDIVIDUAL STORY RATINGS AND COMMENTS
The Village Teacher
4 stars
As we flash back and forth between an advanced alien species and a rural village school, a teacher is honored and a new concept of why Earth seems alone in the galaxy is introduced.
The Time Migration
3.5 stars
Desperate to escape an overpopulated Earth, immigrants flee towards the future in cryogenic rest.
2018-04-01
4 stars
A man longing for a technological enhancement only available to the wealthy has to decide how far he's willing to go and what he's willing to give up for it.
Fire in the Earth
3.5 stars
On his deathbed, Liu Xin's father asked only one thing of him, to never go down into the pit. Twenty years later, Xin has returned home to prove his theories that coal mining need not be the dangerous work that killed his father so slowly and painfully.
Contraction
4 stars
At long last science has not only determined that the universe will start contracting, but one man has discovered precisely when.
Mirror
4 stars
In which the unintended consequences of technology are revealed.
Ode to Joy: An Alternate History of the Sophon
4 stars
As the UN gathers for its final session, a concert takes an unexpected turn.
Full-Spectrum Barrage Jamming
1 star
Much too much in the way of military tactics and strategy to hold my interest.
Sea of Dreams
4 stars
Earth's first contact with an advanced alien artist has consequences that forever reshape the planet.
Cloud of Poems
4 stars
A technologically-driven but artless alien embraces classic Chinese poetry and upends three societies in the process.
The Thinker
4.5 stars
A brain surgeon's chance encounter with an astronomer leads to a wondrous discovery.