The third volume of the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" or "The Three-Body Trilogy" is even grander in scale than the previous two volumes. What began as a 'First Contact" novel has turned into a Space Opera of the grandest scale going all the way to the End of the Universe, billions of years in the future.
The book starts with a tidbit about the Fall of Constantinople and implications of 4-dimensional space, but the real action starts around the same time as the second volume. At teh same time as teh "Wallfacer" project the UN starts another, "The Staircase" project, which sends a brain in a capsule that can achieve 1% of the speed of light through being propelled with Nuclear Bombs and Radiation Sail. Qang Xin, is the main protagonis, a young, "classically beautiful" PhD in Rocket Propulsion, who works for the UN Intelligence Agency, created by the World Powers to figure out ways to counter the Tri-Solarians.
When she's awaken in the future, just when Luo Ji is about 100 years old, and needs to transfer the "Sword" to another "Swordholder" - she is elected by the population of the Earth, The Trisolarians, through the one-dimensional Sophon AIs and the "Sophon" android they've created in the image of a perfect human female, have been feeding Humans false knowledge for a while, even though they were in the Deterrence Era, knowing that Luo Ji would activate "The Sword" and expose both planets to a Dark Forest attack and thus destruction. However, as soon as Qang Xin take the sword, the Trisolarians attack the Earth's gravity wave transmission stations, with the droplets that were lying hidden in the Solar system, although humans were told that the droplets have been withdrawn. The lying and deception of the Trisolarians has reached or surpassed human levels, even though they started from zero. Trisolarians built a psychological profile of Qang Xin and knew she would not have the courage (or have too much love and mercy) to use the Sword.
Human fleet is destroyed, Android Sophon becomes a monster and herds all humans onto Australia ( billions of people) and then sarcastically tells them now they have to eat each other for food until only about 50 million are left, which are to be kept alive as zoo specimens when Trisolarians arrive.
However, one space ship, the "Gravity" manages to send the location message from outer space and suddenly Trisolarians turn around and head away from the Solar System, as it is now exposed to Dark Forest attack. However, before the Solar System is destroyed, the Trisolarian planet and Sun is vaporized by a 'mass dot' or photoid attack, killing everyone on the planet except a thousand or so who were in space ships at the time hidden behind the other two suns in the system. This is probably the most satisfying moment of the book, as the Trisolarian garbage gets what they deserve for fucking with the human race.
Nevertheless, the Solar System is destroyed eventually, with another type of attack, a real Dark Forest attack, with all humans in it, except for Qang Xin and A.A. who are the only to escape (not with the blessing of other humans. goes to prove that most humans are animals). There's a gift of a star involved, and a curvature propulsion which reaches light speed, and a max-rational American who builds the greatest business empire known to man - only to be brought down by Qang Xin, and the consewuences of creating a "Dark Domain" where light speed it lowered to 16.7km/sec, and the time-flow implications, and mini-universes, and M-Theory branes, and enemies becoming friends again, at the end of time and existence, and a hope for a new, better universe, a "Garden of Eden" possibly with the original 10 dimensions in macroscopic reality, but that's all to be read and enjoyed again, one day.
I've never been so excited to read a science fiction trilogy since the days I first read teh Great Asimov's original "Foundation Trilogy". Cixin Liu is a master of the art. This is Hard Science Fiction in a form and vision which is as good as it gets.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Thursday, January 26, 2017
"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
This book reads more like a Graphic Novel, just without the graphic part. Gaiman has experience in the genre. The idea of different deities, from different cultures, living today in the US as more or less ordinary people is not new, but Gaiman takes it to new heights. He primarily relies on the Scandinavian and Slavic pantheons, which I am quite familiar with, and quite unimpressed with his portrayals, while other pantheons, like the Native American and Afro-Caribbean are secondary, though those were more interesting to me, as I am less acquainted with them.
The main character, Shadow Moon, is a very likeable character, and towards the end one finds oneself rooting for him. Who doesn't like Baldur, the god of Peace, Light and Forgiveness!? His former dead wife Laura is the opposite - very unlikable, cynical, self-centered, egotistic, even telling Shadow that it is his fault that she was sucking and fucking his best friend Robbie for two years, as he left her to "go to prison." On top of the fact that he willingly went to prison to protect her sorry ass. Her dying with Robbie's cock in her mouth was very appropriate.
Shadow's father, Mr. Wednesday, in actuality, the death-rejoicing, maiden-ravaging god Odin, is not sympathetic either. Almost in line with his lying, conniving partner in crime, Low Key Lyesmith, the god Loki, Baldur's half-brother. Actually, in the entire book it is very difficult to find a sympathetic character other than Shadow himself. The Egyptian gods come close, especially Bast, but not really. Maybe life itself is not sympathetic?
There are plenty of twists in the book, but most feel forced, and are of the kind of witholding information about the caharacter until the reveal. The modern gods seem especially unconvincing, especially Media and The Men in Black, though Technical Boy is well-developed. I never figured out who were "The Children" that were beating Shadow during the first encounter with Technical Boy in the stretch limo.
Overall an enjoyable commute read as an audio book, and a full-length series is coming from Starz, so let's hope it is not another disappointment, although methinks Sir Ian McShane will make a delectable Mr. Wednesday!
The main character, Shadow Moon, is a very likeable character, and towards the end one finds oneself rooting for him. Who doesn't like Baldur, the god of Peace, Light and Forgiveness!? His former dead wife Laura is the opposite - very unlikable, cynical, self-centered, egotistic, even telling Shadow that it is his fault that she was sucking and fucking his best friend Robbie for two years, as he left her to "go to prison." On top of the fact that he willingly went to prison to protect her sorry ass. Her dying with Robbie's cock in her mouth was very appropriate.
Shadow's father, Mr. Wednesday, in actuality, the death-rejoicing, maiden-ravaging god Odin, is not sympathetic either. Almost in line with his lying, conniving partner in crime, Low Key Lyesmith, the god Loki, Baldur's half-brother. Actually, in the entire book it is very difficult to find a sympathetic character other than Shadow himself. The Egyptian gods come close, especially Bast, but not really. Maybe life itself is not sympathetic?
There are plenty of twists in the book, but most feel forced, and are of the kind of witholding information about the caharacter until the reveal. The modern gods seem especially unconvincing, especially Media and The Men in Black, though Technical Boy is well-developed. I never figured out who were "The Children" that were beating Shadow during the first encounter with Technical Boy in the stretch limo.
Overall an enjoyable commute read as an audio book, and a full-length series is coming from Starz, so let's hope it is not another disappointment, although methinks Sir Ian McShane will make a delectable Mr. Wednesday!
Friday, January 13, 2017
"Broken Angels" by Richard Morgan
Disappointing. Nothing like the first book. The first book was Phillip Marlowe in the future being a hard-boiled cyber-punk. Altogether with the sexy wife of the punter who hires the private dick and the hard-assed cops who don't want interference in 'police business' and the whirlwind affair with Ortega.
The second book is a lot of nothing. Pale attempt to do some imaginary 'military science fiction' - never liked the genre, too made-up - some interesting aliens, but not much of them either, and of course, the Morgan signature, a whole lot of torture, dismemberment, murder, genocide, 'inhuman' shrieks under high-tech torture machines, madness, cynicism etc. But it doesn't work.
Kovacs is a pale shadow of himself from the previous book. At least in "Altered Carbon" he helped some people, did some good-guy stuff which made us like him. Nothing like that in this book. Just senseless murder and violence. Sure, that's the reality, but I'd like to read a book that kind of expands that and offers more.
The sex is also horrible in this book. In 'Altered Carbon' the sex scenes, as explicit and hard-core as they were, fit well with the narrative and the character's motivations. Here, it's just random fucking for not much reason. I didn't even get excited about the Wardani's reveal at the end. Nor did Carrera come anywhere near the pure-bad-guy image of Reileen Kawahara. Nor is Mathias Hand anywhere near the sophistication of Laurence Bancroft.
An utterly forgettable novel making you wonder why the hell you spent 12 hours listening to it (well, it eases the commute).
The second book is a lot of nothing. Pale attempt to do some imaginary 'military science fiction' - never liked the genre, too made-up - some interesting aliens, but not much of them either, and of course, the Morgan signature, a whole lot of torture, dismemberment, murder, genocide, 'inhuman' shrieks under high-tech torture machines, madness, cynicism etc. But it doesn't work.
Kovacs is a pale shadow of himself from the previous book. At least in "Altered Carbon" he helped some people, did some good-guy stuff which made us like him. Nothing like that in this book. Just senseless murder and violence. Sure, that's the reality, but I'd like to read a book that kind of expands that and offers more.
The sex is also horrible in this book. In 'Altered Carbon' the sex scenes, as explicit and hard-core as they were, fit well with the narrative and the character's motivations. Here, it's just random fucking for not much reason. I didn't even get excited about the Wardani's reveal at the end. Nor did Carrera come anywhere near the pure-bad-guy image of Reileen Kawahara. Nor is Mathias Hand anywhere near the sophistication of Laurence Bancroft.
An utterly forgettable novel making you wonder why the hell you spent 12 hours listening to it (well, it eases the commute).
Monday, January 9, 2017
"The Dark Forest" by Cixin Liu
The second book in the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy starts a few years after the previous book ends, but most characters (except Da Shi, who is the real main protagonist of the entire trilogy) are new. Since humanity is desperate to find a way to escape destruction coming forward by the Tri-Solarian fleet, the UN creates the "Wallfacer" project, four people endowed with (almost) unlimited powers to create strategy that will win over the Trisolarians. The wallfacers (old Chinese terms for meditators) do not have to reveal their strategy or planning to anyone, as the sophons can read any communication except the human thought - trisolarians having exposed thoughts and no need for additional communication aparatus.
Of the four Wallfacers, only Luo Ji, is completely unknown on a world scale, and initially he uses the Wallfacer project to get himself a dream property and find the girl from his dreams, who he has loved ever since he attempted to write a novel about her. He is stunned when Da Shi finds exactly the girl from his imagination and he takes her to a private, night tour of the Louvre, where they fall in love in front of the Mona Lisa. However, after five years she is taken from him, together with their daughter, in order to force him to work on saving the Earth.
Luo Ji is important because Ye Wenjie, one upon a time, tells him about "Cosmic Sociology" from which he extrapolates his "Dark Forest" theory of the universe. Which is the one thing Trisolarians fear most. Basically, the "Dark Forest" theory says that all intelligent species of the universe are akin to stealthy hunters in a dark forest, where the discovery of the position of each hunter causes any other hunters to immideatly kill him, less their own positions are discovered and they themselves murdered. The "Chain of Suspicion" theory logically concludes that any other action, except outright destruction of another technological race, is inferior in game-theory concepts, and does not lead to an optimal solution (unlimited survival).
Luo Ji uses the sun to project a spatial map chunk which can be used to identify a star 50 billion years away, with the intent that some intelligent species will receive the transmission and destroy that star system, according to the cosmic sociology and the "Dark Forest" theory. Then he goes into hybernation and sleeps for 2 centuries, when humanity, after going through the "Great Ravine" when half of the Earth's 7 billion population has died, has developed underground cities (the surface is almost destroyed by ecological disasters), space cities and space fleet of 2,000 ships (Trisolarians have 'only' 1,000) which posses planet-shattering weapons and can reach 15% the speed of light (Trisolarian ships can reach 'only' 10% of the speed of light). The Wallfacer project has been forgotten, since the new fleet is believed to be a sure winner in any space battle and Luo Ji becomes an ordinary citizen. Da Shi is serendipitously awoken at the same time and saves Luo Ji's life several times.
However, the Trisolarian forward probe, one teardrop shaped space-vessel, 1/10,000th of the mass of a Trisolarian warship, arrives first to the Solar system and the entire Earth Space Fleet goes to await it. This is when the book becomes one of the best science fiction books ever written and the next pages to the end are dense, suspenseful and full of revelations.
Of the four Wallfacers, only Luo Ji, is completely unknown on a world scale, and initially he uses the Wallfacer project to get himself a dream property and find the girl from his dreams, who he has loved ever since he attempted to write a novel about her. He is stunned when Da Shi finds exactly the girl from his imagination and he takes her to a private, night tour of the Louvre, where they fall in love in front of the Mona Lisa. However, after five years she is taken from him, together with their daughter, in order to force him to work on saving the Earth.
Luo Ji is important because Ye Wenjie, one upon a time, tells him about "Cosmic Sociology" from which he extrapolates his "Dark Forest" theory of the universe. Which is the one thing Trisolarians fear most. Basically, the "Dark Forest" theory says that all intelligent species of the universe are akin to stealthy hunters in a dark forest, where the discovery of the position of each hunter causes any other hunters to immideatly kill him, less their own positions are discovered and they themselves murdered. The "Chain of Suspicion" theory logically concludes that any other action, except outright destruction of another technological race, is inferior in game-theory concepts, and does not lead to an optimal solution (unlimited survival).
Luo Ji uses the sun to project a spatial map chunk which can be used to identify a star 50 billion years away, with the intent that some intelligent species will receive the transmission and destroy that star system, according to the cosmic sociology and the "Dark Forest" theory. Then he goes into hybernation and sleeps for 2 centuries, when humanity, after going through the "Great Ravine" when half of the Earth's 7 billion population has died, has developed underground cities (the surface is almost destroyed by ecological disasters), space cities and space fleet of 2,000 ships (Trisolarians have 'only' 1,000) which posses planet-shattering weapons and can reach 15% the speed of light (Trisolarian ships can reach 'only' 10% of the speed of light). The Wallfacer project has been forgotten, since the new fleet is believed to be a sure winner in any space battle and Luo Ji becomes an ordinary citizen. Da Shi is serendipitously awoken at the same time and saves Luo Ji's life several times.
However, the Trisolarian forward probe, one teardrop shaped space-vessel, 1/10,000th of the mass of a Trisolarian warship, arrives first to the Solar system and the entire Earth Space Fleet goes to await it. This is when the book becomes one of the best science fiction books ever written and the next pages to the end are dense, suspenseful and full of revelations.
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