Knocked off Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem this weekend, an extremely entertaining tale of initial alien encounter. While the overall plot and literary execution are outstanding, the key factor is that this is a translation from a popular Chinese work. In general, the shift from Western norms is bracing and in particular, the Communist Revolution in China is woven throughout the story to devastating effect. The overall reverence for science, apparent in the text and Liu’s afterword, is also refreshing.
The tale additionally invokes serious consideration into humanity, inhumanity, and the fate of man on Earth.
My only nit is that at the end, the aliens are heavily anthropomorphized, which didn’t work for me. But I acknowledge the wry symmetry that Liu invoked by doing so.
Apologies for the copyediting twitches.