fncceo
Diamond Member
- Nov 29, 2016
- 43,935
- 36,938
- 3,615
A three-part novel series by Chinese author Liu Cixin, is a science-fiction epic spanning more than 400-years of future history from the brutal Cultural Revolution (where the author and his family experienced great suffering) to man's eventual colonization of the stars.
Throughout the three novels, "Three Body Problem", "The Dark Forest", and "Death's End", humans face both internal and extra-terrestrial threats and the culture of humanity changes many time.
In the first novel, deals with humanities discovery of an intelligent alien race and a bitter human scientist works to invite them here to invade Earth and end humanity. The alien race, The Trisolarans, consider humans nothing but insects and will arrive in 400-years to remove humanity and take over The Earth.
The second novel, deals with humans preparations to meet the Trisolaran threat, their eventual defeat and ends in a stalemate deterrent that threatens to destroy both worlds if the Trisolarans continue to attack Earth.
The third novel deals the tense game of deterrence between humans and Trisolarans and the much greater threat to both worlds from the rest of The Galaxy.
A recurring theme between the three books is that while humans possess remarkable intellectual abilities, we are often our own worse enemies and we can usually be relied on to do precisely the wrong thing in any crisis until someone forces us to move forward. A view of humanity that is fully supported by our own history. There were several times in the series that I became frustrated with just how idiotic humans reacted to various crises but I hung on because I knew that eventually, intellect would topple stupidity.
Mr. Liu takes every opportunity through the series to expand on both theoretical physics, a subject that he seems to know quite well, and his own unique philosophies regarding the nature of life in The Universe.
This is the first major sci-fi work that I've read from a non-Western author (translated from Chinese) and the departure from consistently Western ways of dealing with issues is both invigorating and thought-provoking.
Throughout the three novels, "Three Body Problem", "The Dark Forest", and "Death's End", humans face both internal and extra-terrestrial threats and the culture of humanity changes many time.
In the first novel, deals with humanities discovery of an intelligent alien race and a bitter human scientist works to invite them here to invade Earth and end humanity. The alien race, The Trisolarans, consider humans nothing but insects and will arrive in 400-years to remove humanity and take over The Earth.
The second novel, deals with humans preparations to meet the Trisolaran threat, their eventual defeat and ends in a stalemate deterrent that threatens to destroy both worlds if the Trisolarans continue to attack Earth.
The third novel deals the tense game of deterrence between humans and Trisolarans and the much greater threat to both worlds from the rest of The Galaxy.
A recurring theme between the three books is that while humans possess remarkable intellectual abilities, we are often our own worse enemies and we can usually be relied on to do precisely the wrong thing in any crisis until someone forces us to move forward. A view of humanity that is fully supported by our own history. There were several times in the series that I became frustrated with just how idiotic humans reacted to various crises but I hung on because I knew that eventually, intellect would topple stupidity.
Mr. Liu takes every opportunity through the series to expand on both theoretical physics, a subject that he seems to know quite well, and his own unique philosophies regarding the nature of life in The Universe.
This is the first major sci-fi work that I've read from a non-Western author (translated from Chinese) and the departure from consistently Western ways of dealing with issues is both invigorating and thought-provoking.
