ARC received from publisher, Tor, in exchange for an honest review.
To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science fiction, short stories
Published: 1st October 2020 by Head of Zeus (UK) and 20 Oct 2020 by Tor Books (US)
True to his form as seen in his most renowned science fiction series, The Remembrance of Earth’s Past, Cixin Liu’s imagination in this short story collection, To Hold Up the Sky, was truly remarkable.
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The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 20 List.
Hello everyone! This is the first time I’m listing my top reads for the year 2019. Initially, I wanted to opt for Top 10 but having read 100 books and rated a lot between 4.5 and 5 stars, I felt that I would struggle to limit it to ten. The parameters for my list are as follows:
With exception of #1, none of these are ranked. I’ve merely listed them in the chronological order of when I’ve read them this year. I’ve also included my favourite classic read of the year as we’ve started the Novel Notions Classic Club in July. All of these have been reviewed by me on Novel Notions and Goodreads.
Death’s End by Cixin Liu, (Translated by: Ken Liu)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Book 3 of 3)
Genre: Hard science fiction
English translation published: 2016 by Tor Books (US) and Head of Zeus (UK).
Death’s End is an incredibly epic conclusion to the insanely imaginative and unpredictable hard science fiction trilogy, Remembrance of Earth’s Past.
I’ve read the first two books of this trilogy more than a year ago. The reason why I did not read Death’s End till now was not because I didn’t enjoy these books. On the contrary, just on those two alone I was already touting Remembrance of Earth’s Past to be one of my favourites. It was due to how well the sequel The Dark Forest seemed to have wrapped up the story then that I didn’t immediately continue with the final book. Each book in the trilogy was so thought-provoking and full of creativity that I found myself needing time to absorb and digest what I’ve read. Death’s End is the ultimate entry in this incredible trilogy which utterly floored me with its mind-blowing ideas that employed real world theoretical and astrophysics in an all-out epic and fascinating narrative.
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The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, (Translated by: Joel Martinsen)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Book 2 of 3)
Genre: Hard science fiction
English translation published: 2015 by Tor Books (US), 2016 by Head of Zeus (UK).
The Dark Forest is a stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed The Three-Body Problem and in my opinion, surpassed it by the magnitude of astronomical units.
While I hold the first book in high regard, I had to admit that characterisation was sidelined in the narrative which focussed heavily on the science and plot. The sequel’s storytelling approach was more balanced with the hard science toned down somewhat and character development emerging more prominently. The leading character in this respect is Luo Ji, an astronomer and sociologist, who was given cryptic advice by the person responsible for the events leading to the impending extraterrestrial invasion. Luo Ji cuts an anti-hero figure who wanted nothing to do with saving the world and just continue flitting around in life, almost frivolously, as an ordinary person. On top of becoming invested in his person, I was also delighted that arising from his POV we have the return of my favourite character from the previous book, Shi Qiang (nicknamed Da Shi), the hard-boiled ex-policeman who works for the Planetary Defence Council security department. Between Luo Ji and another prominent character, Zhang Beihai, a naval political commissar turned space officer, the story and its central plot weave a compelling, fascinating and unpredictable path through the epoch-spanning narrative.
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The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, , (Translated by: Ken Liu)
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Book 1 of 3)
Genre: Hard science fiction
English translation published: 2014 by Tor Books (US), 2015 by Head of Zeus (UK)
This critically well-acclaimed science fiction novel certainly deserves its laurels.
“Wildly imaginative, really interesting..” so proclaimed Barack Obama about this trilogy. From what I can gather after reading this book, I already wholeheartedly agree. The Three-Body Problem is a truly unique and original science fiction within the realm of plausibility. Melding real-world science, history, philosophy, religion and fantastical ideas, this novel delivers a beautifully-written (and translated) narrative which engages the mind, heart and soul.
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Ball Lightning by Liu Cixin
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
In Ball Lightning, Cixin Liu greatly examined the effects of obsession with science and weaponry.
I’m a fan of Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth Past trilogy. The second book in that series, The Dark Forest remains in my personal top three sci-fi novels of all time and will most likely stay there for a very long time. Plus, the fact that Ball Lightning is translated by Joel Martinsen, the same translator of The Dark Forest, made me eager to read this one. …