2017 (47) 2018 (40) 21st century (57) aliens (200) anthology (185) audiobook (79) China (478) Chinese (185) Chinese literature (220) Cultural Revolution (71) currently-reading (76) ebook (309) fantasy (75) fiction (1,082) first contact (137) goodreads (129) goodreads import (47) hard sf (78) Kindle (240) library (44) literature (42) novel (164) owned (61) physics (73) read (156) read in 2017 (44) Remembrance of Earth's Past (49) science fiction (2,982) Science Fiction/Fantasy (78) series (75) sf (376) sff (104) short stories (222) signed (44) space opera (53) speculative fiction (87) to-read (2,115) translated (125) translation (153) unread (74)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Cixin Liu
Legal name: 劉慈欣
Other names: 刘慈欣
Birthdate: 1963-06-23
Gender: male
Nationality: China
Country (for map): China
Birthplace: Henan, China
Places of residence: Beijing, China
Shanxi, China
Education: North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power
Occupations: science fiction writer
power plant computer engineer
Organizations: Beijing Guomi Digital Technology
Short biography: Liu Cixin, born in June 1963, is a representative of the new generation of Chinese science fiction authors and recognized as a leading voice in Chinese science fiction. He was awarded the China Galaxy Science Fiction Award for eight consecutive years, from 1999 to 2006 and again in 2010. His representative work The Three-body Problem is the BEST STORY of 2015 Hugo Awards, the 3rd of 2015 Campbell Award finalists, and nominee of 2015 Nebulas Award.

His works have received wide acclaim on account of their powerful atmosphere and brilliant imagination. Liu Cixin's stories successfully combine the exceedingly ephemeral with hard reality, all the while focussing on revealing the essence and aesthetics of science. He has endeavoured to create a distinctly Chinese style of science fiction. Liu Cixin is a member of the China Writers' Association and the Shanxi Writers' Association.

Members

Discussions

Jeff's 2019 Reads in The Green Dragon (April 2021)

Reviews

The Three-Body Problem (The Three-Body Problem… by Cixin Liu

I'm sure there's some brilliant ideas going on here, unfortunately I'm not an astrophysicist so this was as exciting as reading a chemistry textbook (with apologies to all the chemists out there). I mean I just read "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" a month or two ago and I still wasn't prepared for this onslaught of technical philosophizing.

I didn't totally hate it, but man, does this author have something to learn from Asimov. I'm really surprised that this extremely hard sci-fi book has been accepted by the masses. I'm really curious how they're going to dumb this down for the Netflix show. Which is the whole reason I decided to try this.

My wife gave up on this about 3 hours in (of 13), I really wish I would have followed her example, because there wasn't a big payoff, just endless science experiments.… (more)

Flagged

ragwaine | 406 other reviews | Apr 23, 2024 |

Kugelblitz: Roman by Cixin Liu

Das Buch startet wirklich seeehr langsam. Erst etwa ab der Hälfte nimmt es Fahrt auf, ab da hat es mich dann aber auch echt gepackt. 3,5 Sterne

Flagged

Katzenkindliest | 26 other reviews | Apr 23, 2024 |

La esfera luminosa (Spanish Edition) by Cixin Liu

Imaginative and compelling all the way through. It’s nowhere near as epic in scope as the three body problem, and I’d always recommend people read that series first, but this is well-imagined hard SF for people who enjoy the writer’s style. Overall, its not a great novel, with underdeveloped characters, somewhat forced interpersonal relationships, and science that is a bit too farfetched, but it’s still a fun read.

Flagged

mrbearbooks | 26 other reviews | Apr 22, 2024 |

Death's End (The Three-Body Problem Series, 3) by Cixin Liu

To some extent, there's no valid rating for this book aside from 5. If you've come this far, then you won't be disappointed with this book, because it achieves something that is by all rights impossible: a succinct and tidy ending to a series whose scale is quite literally the universe, and whose level of detail extends well beyond the limits of human science.

That said, unlike other books in this series, it was clear when things were beyond the realm of possible, even in the sense of being not "internally consistent" with previously described features of this world (in previous books, the scale of science was "closer" to human science, and so to a non-hard-scientist like me, it wasn't easy to discern things that were "obviously impossible," though I have no doubts that a scientist may find a few holes in previous novels. Probably no more than they find in published papers!). It doesn't matter, though, because I have no better suggestion for how to tell the story, or how to explain anything. The scope is simply too large.

Easily one of the best series I've ever read, and without a doubt a pillar of science fiction for years to come. Compared to previous science fiction classics - Dune (not actual sci fi but people claim it is), Childhood's End, Foundation, Ender's Game, and every other book on this list that I've read https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_classics_of_sf.asp and likely almost all that I have not read - the scope and breadth of the science fiction setting of this novel is so dramatically large that it's not possible not to be impressed.

I'm not sure I'd want to live in Liu's world, but I'm awestruck by it.… (more)

Flagged

mrbearbooks | 101 other reviews | Apr 22, 2024 |

See More Reviews