Liu Cixin is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. After reading "Taking Care of God" and Mountain I have now read The Wandering Earth and, again, I am completely amazed. Cixin's imagination is astonishing. The images in his works are absolutely striking. His ability to provoke powerful emotions in the reader, without equal.
In The Wandering Earth, our planet is in extreme danger. The Sun has become unstable and it's been predicted that, in a few years, a helium flash will completely burn all the planets of the solar system. Under the Unity Government, all the nations of Earth have been working for centuries with an only goal: transforming the planet into a giant spaceship and setting it on a thousands-years-long journey in search of a new sun.
At the beginning of this novella, we witness the first phase of this transformation. The Earth Engines, gigantic devices higher than the Everest, have stopped the planet and will soon set it in motion on its interstellar voyage. Throughout The Wandering Earth we experiment these momentous events as seen by a child who has known nothing else:
I've never seen the night, nor seen a star; I've seen neither spring, nor fall, nor winter. I was born at the end of the Reining Age, just as the Earth's rotation was coming to a final halt.
In four chapters and only 50 pages, Liu Cixin manages to tell a wonderful story of struggle and endurance. We see wonders and destruction, marvels and despair. Because these are times of hardness and dire necessity, but also of hope.
In the Pre-Solar Age nobility meant money, power or talent, but now one must only hold to hope. Hope is the gold and the jewels of this age.
I can't recommend The Wandering Earth highly enough. This is science fiction at its best. A tale full of sense of wonder, but also of deep human emotions: melancholy, grief and utter faith in the capability of humanity to overcome even the biggest obstacles.
I confess that, after finishing reading this novella, I had to restrain myself from beginning another Liu Cixin's story. Because there is just one flaw in The Wandering Earth: it is far too short! But I have only three stories by Liu Cixin left (Devourer, The Micro-Age and Sun of China) and I dread the moment when I run out of them. Here's hoping that more of his work gets translated into English. And soon, please!
另一条《流浪地球》短评：
E. Meyer "Rich and Elona Meyer"
I was very surprised at the quality of The Wandering Earth. This was a well-written, detailed and finely-plotted science fiction tale that could easily take its place along side any of the masters of the genre. And what's more, it was very believable, in that sense of geeky believability that only science fiction fans have. Highly recommended!
我非常惊讶于《流浪地球》的品质，这是一篇细节丰富，情节出色，笔力精湛的科幻故事，，可以轻易跻身于这一流派的大师之列。不仅如此，在科幻迷独有的极客向眼光中，它还非常可信，非常推荐！
3.5星
I very much enjoyed the ideas developed in this book. The writing was extremely good at times, with subtle yet beautiful descriptions, like a Chinese drawing. At other times, however, the style felt a little awkward. I know this is a translation, so it may be because of that too (especially in the dialogues where people would first speak in a quite wordy manner, then use more familiar expressions in the same passages). In some instances, I felt things were too "explained". For instance, the author describes the theme of "love" in this universe. We first see a husband and wife interact, which is good, then there is a few paragraphs of explanation about why they act like this, why love has changed etc... Not needed. We see how they are, all we need to know is that they are not an unusual couple and we will know what love has become without lengthy subtexts. There are other examples like this one in the book.
However, overall, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the story, and I would recommend it for a beautiful short story to read if you have time!
我非常欣赏故事中的各种想法，一些地方的写感觉棒极了，有着精致而华丽的描绘，如同中国国画一般，但从另一方面说，它的风格感觉有点别扭，我晓得故事是翻译来的，所以也许也是这个原因造成的(特别是人们的对话繁琐无味，而且一篇故事里用了很多相同表达)，在一些情节中，我感觉一些事情被“解释”的太过分了，比如作者解释这个宇宙中“爱”这个主题，我们开始看到一对夫妻互相来电，这很好，然后就有好几段解释为什么要这样，为什么爱会改变等等。根本不必要。我们只需知道他们是正常的夫妻，然后就能想到他们的爱会变成什么，不用借助多余的说明，书里还有很多其他这种例子
总而言之，我非常喜欢书里塑造的氛围，我会推荐这一个美丽的短篇故事。
All in all a very nice novella. It does contain at least one big surprise that added greatly to the story. I do wish it had been developed further, explaining some of what we consider impossible. It has the potential to be expanded into a decent novel.
这个4星，吐槽故事太短了
Pretty Far Out.........But Good!,
To my knowledge, this is the first book I have read that has been translated from Chinese. And it appears that NOTHING was lost in the translation. Storyline aside, the writing is VERY good - descriptive, almost to a fault. And the editing is superb!
Propelling the Earth from her orbit is an interesting concept, and rather remote at this point in time. However, this IS science fiction and who knows what the future holds?!
If there are political or global warming/environmental undertones, they do not prevent this from being a fascinating read.
标题：太激进...但是给力！
这是我看过的第一本中文翻译的故事，看起来翻译没什么遗漏的地方，抛开情节不管，写作太给力了，有近乎完美的描绘，也有极好的语言组织
驱动地球离开其轨道是个有趣的概念，而且要走如此变态的遥远距离。当然，这是科幻，谁知道未来是个什么样呢？
即便里面有全球变暖或环境危机或者政治暗示，人们也不会河蟹掉这个迷人的故事的
I liked the story such as it is. The author spent most of the development on the Earth and the science behind what was happening. It was good information, I just wish the author had developed the human characters as much as the Earth and it's plight
吐槽大刘人物的
Great book, March 29, 2012
by Victoria
i was quite impressed by this book. The storyline is intriguing to say the least-main character grows up in the future where our Sun is about to enter a red giant phase and the prospect of human race surviving looks grim. The goverments comes up with a solution to save the Earth by moving it away to a nearest star system. The whole, fairly short novel, speaks from a young boy point of view who grows up in subterranian Earth to witness horrible earthquakes, tidal waves and rogue asteroids that eventually make an Earth a barren landscape. Writer's descriptions of people are lacking while he does absolutely superb job of describing future technology and landscapes. All in all, I read this book in one afternoon, it was that good. If you like Sci-fi, you need to read this.
Appears to be a global warming propaganda allegory, March 29, 2012
by BovinitySupreme
I think it's important for politically sensitive readers to know that it is almost certainly an allegory for global warming. If you are offended by an author trying to sneak his side of a modern political agenda into you in the form of fiction, being aware ahead of time will help you enjoy this work.
That disclaimer aside, it's pretty decent. The premise has a lot of potential but the story is too short to explore much of it. It could be expanded into a series of novels instead of a single 16,000 word novelette.
There is a surprise ending that's decently crafted.
Very creative, a bit rushed
by Wulfrunner
This novella allows you to take a ride with the author's imagination as it crosses the stars in a monumental and original arc. It is an extremely creative and mostly realistic story. Some sections are very well woven, with elegant and moving descriptions; unfortunately, most of it is rushed and poorly developed. The science suffers the same fate, with some concepts well grounded and others both fantastic and confusing. It feels as though the author had a bunch of great ideas and got them out as fast as possible, quickly moving from one scenario to another without taking the time to polish and intertwine each one. There are literally dozens of fascinating and complex stories summarized in single paragraphs. I am disappointed that the author, who seems imaginative and talented, did not take the time to fully develop this story. There are elements of poetry, romance, action, and drama sprinkled throughout the book; however, while the writing is technically good, editing for consistency and completeness could have improved it immensely.
Great Read
by LindaBird
The Wandering Earth caught my attention and kept it till the end. I could imagaine the end of the sun going a lot like the story explained it. The ideas were fresh and new to me. The end of the book didn't let me down. This book had ideas that will stay with me for some time to come. I am happy I bought it.
唯一一个差评...
i thought this would be a good book but it turned out to be like an essay on a series of events. It was also very short and not worth the money.
我还觉得我买了本好书，结果一看就是个一系列事情的描白，而且也太短了，浪费了老子的钱
Vividly excellent
by Robert Blackman "lazi-faire"
I genuinely liked this story. I cannot in any way vouch for the science, but the vivid description and pace of this story kept me reading to the end and wishing for more. I would like to see a follow up detailing the end of the journey.
Moving the Earth, one story at a time
By Angelika "Angelika
I for the most part don't read much science fiction, but this story caught my eye and I am very happy that it did. What I enjoyed most about the story was the world which the author creates, and moves! The sheer scale of the technology and imagination really made it a fun read for me.
The language is vivid and flows nicely. It does a great job at capturing the many world-shaking events that are the heart of this story.
While the story is universal enough parts of it do seem to have a unique Chinese colouring to them, especially in the characters interactions with the government and regulations of the world.
My only point of concern was the characters, for my taste there was just a bit too little space devoted to their development and interactions.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and heartily recommend it!
I bought this story for my son (age 12) to read, since I just finished reading Three Body in Chinese, and was eager to share something from Cixin Liu with my son, who cannot read Chinese at this level yet. The story is beautifully imaginative, yet believable. The translators did an excellent job bringing the flow and ambience of Liu's writing into English. Here is a review of this book written by my son:
"Have you ever thought about what humanity would do to escape the sun as it died? This is discussed in the book, Wandering Earth. The story follows a Chinese boy as he grows up in a society struggling between the choices of death or several thousand years of hardship. The government of the world has set up "Earth Engines" to get the Earth out of its orbit around the sun to avoid the imminent helium flash. What follows is a period of social unrest, which comes to a peak after the people find something shocking. Throughout all this, the boy lives, torn between government and family, order and truth.
At 99 cents, it is a good value. However, it ends on a cliffhanger, which left me a little disappointed, although this author does that often. I enjoyed this book immensely, and I would recommend this book to any of you avid readers out there."
Over the weekend I had the chance of finishing reading Mountain and I can only say that my mind was blown away. This is one of the best novellas I've read in a long time.
As in "Taking Care of God" the plot revolves around the first contact of humankind with an alien race. However, in Mountain the focus is on the mystery surrounding the aliens and the history of their civilization. In less than 50 pages, the author manages to develop a complete (and amazing) cosmology and introduces more ideas than other authors in 500 pages novels.
Cixin's Mountain is somehow similar in theme and tone to "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (one of my favorite short stories ever) with the best parts of Incadescence by Greg Egan added in for good measure. Some scenes even reminded me of Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon. Not a bad combination, is it?
Though Mountain is quite a different kind of story, closer to modern hard SF, there are some similarities with "Taking Care of God", especially in the underlying philosophy: both are recounts of the struggles that intelligent species have to face to survive in the Universe and both give a message of hope in spite of these difficulties.
Cixin's prose is fairly simple and functional and he relies maybe a bit too heavily on dialog and infodumps. However, it doesn't detract from the reading experience or from the overall enjoyment of the story.
All considered, Mountain is an excellent novella which reminds me why I love science fiction of ideas so much. If you like short fiction by authors such as Chiang and Egan I strongly recommend that you give Mountain a try. You won't regret it.
再来个3星的对《山》的评价
This story is about a man named Fan that used to love to climb mountains but decides to "punish" himself by never climbing again after an incident that kills his friends. To avoid climbing, Fan starts working as a geologist on a boat and never leaves the boat even when they are in port for long periods of time.
At this point, I found the story interesting...but from here on, I felt it went "off-track" (for me). I will explain more below in the "Story" section...
I will break down my review into sections. PLEASE keep in mind, this review is written by my "taste in books"/my opinion. You may have an opposite opinion...each section is rated 1 to 5 stars.
The Cover: I really liked the artwork on the cover. It was interesting and grabs the attention.
3/5 stars
The "Idea": Very unique ideas dealing with the alien race's history/planet. Well thought out.
4/5 stars
The story: I found the beginning of the short story to be interesting but once the "space ship" arrived, I felt the events (while maybe possible) not very probably AT ALL. I understand this is SCI-FI/fiction, but how many supposedly invading alien armies do you know that hold a 30-page conversation with a man that climbs a mountain made of water? Then, the alien's portion of the conversation is not even in spoken words, they display their words on a large screen under the ship while the man is standing on the mountain of water reading them. During this conversation the "we are here to destroy your planet" aliens (that is what the other characters in the story believed) proceed to describe their race's and planet's ENTIRE history. Fan even tries to make "witty banter" with them (while still believing they arrived to destroy the Earth). Then finally Fan actually asks the aliens why they came to earth. Their answer..."we just wanted to chat". REALLY?
2/5 stars
The writing: The authors writing style read more like a history book or an essay on the history and evolution of an alien race/planet. One of the main things I learned in my quest to become a better writer is that one should usually (granted, not always) "show" not "tell" the story/action. After Fan starts having this conversation with the aliens, very little actually happens in the present. I found this style (at least with this story) to be very slow and tiring. The story was around 40-pages or so (I have a Kindle so I am not 100% positive) but it took me forever (not literally) to finish reading this.
2/5 stars
The Author: The author, Lui Cixin, apparently is very famous in China and has won multiple awards. Someone even compared him to Asimov (don't recall where I read that) but I can tell you, this is NOT TRUE. So, he seems to be popular in some places: he is an award winner (in China), supposedly well liked (in China) and has multiple short stories in print. That should warrant him 3-stars here.
3/5 stars
FINAL WORD: If you like well thought out SCI-FI and don't mind the "show" style of delivery, pick this one up. It's a cheap read at .99 cents on Amazon (as of June 2012).
I personally could not get into this book. It seemed like the author came up with an idea for an alien race/planet/history but couldn't or didn't want to take the time to write a story around the idea so he just threw together something on the beginning and end of a long conversation about history--more like an essay than a story. I WILL be reading/reviewing all the Lui Cixin short stories available in English since I already bought them all.
Fun, but too short.
By T.J.Tenholder
This is an interesting book. It's a little dark and gloomy but it makes you stay until the finish which is all to soon.
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《白垩纪往事》
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评价者评分4星。
原文：
Neat idea
By M.Willis
This little book had such a neat idea; I really enjoyed it. It did read a bit analytical at many points which gave it a slightly detached feel, but that may have come from the translation to English. Overall, a pretty good read.
原文：
Tiny things and the death of the dinosaurs
By Angelika
I very much enjoyed "Of Ants and Dinosaurs". It is a thoroughly fun story about tiny underdogs versus brutish goliaths; And the ends that ignorance, vengeance and failure to communicate bring about - Hint: The story is set at the end of the Cretaceous :o)
My favourite narrative element was hands down the interplay between the giant T-Rex's and the microscopic ants. There are many well-written and described moments of hilarity, bizarreness and even brutal violence that arise from the conflict between these two species. The ants in particular are shown with loving creativity and detail.
In closing I do want to note that the story inhabits a rather peculiar in-between space between science-fiction and allegory - The ants, dinosaurs and their interactions are all strongly anthropomorphized, while the main plot-arc is very science-fictiony. This is not a knock against the story, in fact I thought that it made it more charming.
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《吞食者》
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Mixed bag
By BovinitySupreme
The concept is AWESOME. The writing is great. The technology, great. The cultural examination and speculation, great. The plot is great. The action is exciting. I can't heap on enough raves for these and other qualities.
And then there's the dialogue. You know when you're watching a comedy show (say, Futurama) and they lampoon antique or foreign dialogue? All dialogue with aliens fits the pattern perfectly. A big scary alien says "Ha! Ha! You white and tender worms, you fascinating little worms." I'm not kidding, that's exactly his first line. Other lines are similar. If this was a movie we would have seen it on one of the early episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, back when Joel hosted.
Other issues:
At one point the alien compares the devouring of Earth and destruction of humans to something that humans do regularly, but fails to address the most important basic questions that one would have for that comparison.
After the climax there is a twist, a sort of reveal; at this point everything else that I raved about above, turns to crap. The secondary plot here is cheesy. The explanation of a prehistoric event doesn't add up. The embodiment displayed here of the livestock idea is a tough sell. At the end there is a new problem and a solution for it - but the solution completely falls flat.
For most of the length of the story I really enjoyed it despite the dialogue. It's absolutely well worth reading in spite of its faults.
When is a sequel not a sequel?
By Bruce Barker "Risingsnow" (NC)
I have been working through the short stories by Liu Cixin ever since I stumbled across one of them as a free offering. That first story, "Of Ants and Dinosaurs" was far better than most of the assorted "kindling" offered gratis from sources like Pixel of Ink. Since I like to support good independent authors (I also recommend checking out Hugh Howey's "Wool" series)I've been padding Liu Cixin's wallet a little by buying his other works one at a time. "Devourer" is the most recent of my purchases.
The others that have reviewed this story to date were less than thrilled with the seemingly unresolved nature of the ending. I can certainly see why. One really needs to have read a certain other title of his to fully appreciate the ending of this story. I'm not sure why the publisher didn't include a tagline of some sort that says, "Set in the Thrilling Universe of _____" or something.
Perhaps they felt it would give away too much of the plot. Nevertheless, I do have a choice of solutions. Either read the next paragraph, which I will separate with a spoiler alert for those that don't wish to know, or read the author's other stories ahead of this one.
*SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT******THIS IS A SPOILER ALERT******HAD THIS BEEN AN ACTUAL EMERGENCY YOU WOULD ALREADY BE DEAD* SPOILER ALERT*****
The title of the other short story that ties into "Devourer" is the one I alread mentioned in the beginning of this review.
*END OF SPOILER ALERT*****END OF SPOILER ALERT*****WE NOT RETURN YOU TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED REVIEW ALREADY IN PROGRESS*****
Was that alert truly necessary? I don't know. Either it was critically relevant or I have scored a particularly potent batch of my meds this month. Either way, it was definitely worth gnawing through the bed restraints this morning to write this.
On the surface, this is a story about an overly consumptive alien race that travels through the known galaxies and consumes the resources of planets while scouting for other suitable solar systems to exploit. It takes roughly an earth century for these creatures to consume/destroy a given planet, so the aliens have ample time to "get to know" the indigenous "people" they discover. This allows them to decide whether said creatures are worthy of saving, raising as food, or should simply be erased along with the planet itself. This by itself isn't the most original of concepts. Environmental exploitation has been the motivator for aliens in several movies in recent years alone, "Independence Day," and "Avatar," just to name an obvious pair. Oddly enough, what made this story stand out for me is the exact same thing that turned off another reviewer. There is a scene, roughly in the middle of the story, where the human race attempts to plead its worthiness to the lead scout for the aliens. Where the other reviewer felt this was a poorly realized section of the tale, I felt it was ironic and thought provoking. Your own opinion may fall somewhere in between.
I felt that having read the previous story greatly enhanced my enjoyment of "Devourer." So greatly in fact, that this has become my favorite of Liu Cixin's stories to date. Although I still have several I haven't yet read, no sooner did I finish it than I started telling my wife about it. She enjoys sci-fi movies almost to "geek" levels, but doesn't care for reading them. Forgive the heinous pun here, but she DEVOURED the story. She also completely enjoyed the scene I mentioned and felt it was the pivotal moment of the story. Since then we have both recommended it to friends and other family members.
As always, reviews are subjective in nature. You may not find this story to your liking. All I can say is that this particular author has a rather unique vision in most of his stories. I've been reading for a very long time and am almost voracious in my consumption of the written word. It isn't very often that I find and author worth getting excited about and so far Liu Cixin has been very exciting indeed. Not all of his stories work as well as I felt this one did, but overall even the worst of what I've read thus far has been better than just about anything else I've come across of late. For me, "Devourer" is the best of a very good batch. I hope if you choose to pick it up you enjoy it as much as my wife and I have. Hopefully this man's other works will become available to Western audiences soon. I'd love to read a full novel instead of stories that end soon after I develop a real liking for the characters involved.
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《地球大炮》也翻译过去了，译名很有信达雅的味道——The Longest Fall——最漫长的坠落
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4星
Pure Science....Fiction, Tight Well Written Story
By 4Nbahu "Free Book Hunter" (New Delhi, India)
It's starts with a family seeing the production of a brand new substance. Continues with the creation of a tunnel that goes through the Earth's core connecting China to Antartica. And ends ...well I don't believe in spoilers. Basically, it is a simple story of a man who has the chance to observe how people perceive something at different times in history. Entwined with his story is some science. Now I am not a true geek so I have no idea how sound the science is, but personally I don't care because the explanation is good enough to keep the story going.
I found the writing to be clean and crisp, giving only the information needed to keep the story going at a good pace, without straying all over the place. Just in case you won't find anyone streaking through space with lasers and saving Princesses. It is more like the old fashioned Science Fiction stories that show something about the human spirit, by putting it in a future setting.
相当纯正的科……幻，结构紧凑的故事
来自4Nbahu "Free Book Hunter"(印度，新德里)
五星
Nice one
By Freddy Fly
I found this to be a great little book. It told a nice story that had original ideas - at least to me. It also was easy to read and kept with the story line without getting lost in unnecessary details. A true breath of fresh air - for me as reader :)
I have fallen for this author
By Concerned Reader "Jim" (Los Angeles, CA)
Cixin Liu writes very touchingly about humanity, with a bow to science. Having now read several of the stories penned by him I have to now say I am a fan. The aspects of science that he incorporates into this story are initially far fetched, but then as the book progresses and the main character is developed, both are married into a wonderful, very compelling story of mankinds' future. Great stuff!
The Essence of Science Fiction
By WD
This is a short story; however, it covers past, present and future events in the life of a man and his family. And, while I am technologically dysfunctional, the writer explains all of the "processes" involved in a way that - if, in fact, not true - makes sense to me.
One thing that consistently affects the ratings I apply to a book is the editing - more specifically, the lack thereof. This story has been gone over with a "fine-toothed comb!" Errors (of any kind) are almost non-existent.
"The Longest Fall" was a pleasure to read, and is evidence of a man who REALLY cares about his craft. I highly recommend it!
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《中国太阳》
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A fascinating look at China
By Angelika "Angelika"
Easily my favourite of Liu Cixin's stories that seem to be popping up around here! The "Sun of China" is a very contemporary story, apparently as much about Chinese society as it is science fiction. In a series of interesting encounters we get a glimpse at a rapidly developing country and its people. A genuine optimism about the future shines through all of it, providing an interesting contrast to the current Western mantra of crisis and decline.
Overall it is a very smooth read that covers quite a bit of ground (both figuratively and literally). The science in the story, while certainly not the focus, sounds very plausible to me .
The one part I do not really know what to make of the teased "guest appearance" toward the end of the story. It is not to say that it is bad or even problematic, I just would never have expected it!
"Sun of China" offers a unique (to Western readers) Chinese perspective well worth the read.
Very well done SciFi
By Concerned Reader "Jim" (Los Angeles, CA)
This is my second book to read from this author, and I am impressed! There is a very humanist element in the storytelling, coupled with very plausible science that just sucks you in. All that, and it's a translation from the Chinese original! Hen hao! I am certainly going to read more from this author.
