Remembrance of Earth’s Past – Cixin Liu

Remembrance of Earth’s Past is a Chinese science fiction trilogy written by Cixin Liu and translated by Ken Liu and Joel Martinsen. Comprised of The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest and Death’s End, the trilogy spans millenia, starting in 1967, during China’s Cultural Revolution. Most of the story is set in the contemporary world with a video game: the Three-Body Problem. Inside the game Wang Miao, a nanotech engineer, and thousands of other players are trying to figure out the solution for life in a planet surrounded by three suns. The relationships between these suns are unpredictable and repeatedly throw the planet into uninhabitable seasons, called Chaos Eras, puncutated by short Stable Eras which allow civilisation to flourish. The inhabitants of this world have learned to dehydrate, effectively pressing pause and bunkering in statis until a Stable Era comes and allows development to continue. In the real world outside the game scientists are commiting suicide, leaving inexplicable notes, a mystery that Wang Miao is trying to solve through his attempts to understand the forces at play inside the Three-Body Problem.

The three books focus on three main characters and span various key points in the events that began in that Cultural Revolution, when Ye Wenjie sees her father beaten to death. Remembrance of Earth’s Past is incredibly imaginative, pushing the ideas of what we as a society are capable of, both now and in the future. Rewriting society, technology and even fundamental physics Liu tells us much about what humans are capable of in anger, greed, fear, desperation and hope.

In The Dark Forest we follow Luo Ji, who is selected as a member of the Wallfacer project, a desperate attempt by mankind to survive by giving four individuals immense power and resources. A prime example of Liu’s imagination, the descriptions of futuristic human-scapes are enthralling and left me wishing this was an illustrated book. There is however a slight fault to the book: in spite of all the outside the box thinking done in the fields of science and world order, Cixin Liu’s futuristic world is still stuck in what are starting to feel like outdated stereotypes for men and women, i.e. men are strong and angular, men like women, women are soft and delicate and women like men. These stereotypes are likely born of a variety of factors such as the typical conservatism of China or the publishing year for The Dark Forest (2008). Nonetheless, in a world that is starting to openly discuss gender identity and sexual orientation this was a bit jarring.

Lastly, Death’s End. While the first two books of the trilogy felt like a steady climb to a confrontation teased and which we expect to take place in this installment, the final book in the trilogy is a veritable rollercoaster. Split into 6 parts, the book is constantly changing direction, subverting the reader’s expectations and taking this frightful and endless universe to new, unexpected places. In spite of this, Liu manages to stick to his own rules, ensuring that we aren’t taken out of the experience due to a sudden inexplicable change. Death’s End was then, for me, the most exciting of all the books to read, as every page has the potential to take my by surprise. I have rated all three books 5 stars on Goodreads.

tl,dr:

Remembrance of Earth’s Past is a vast, ingenious ride, that takes us to the pits of human greed and pettiness and to the highest highs of our ingenuity and compassion. It is a testament to human endurance, and a proud addition to any bookshelf. 15/15 stars.

the Author:

刘慈欣, or Liu Cixin is a Chinese Hard Science Fiction author. Nine-time winner of the Galaxy Award (China’s literary sci-fi award) as well as a winner of the Hugo and Locus awards. Ball Lightning and The Wandering Earth (short stories), have also been translated into English, and are available in English through Head of Zeus.

Translators:

Remembrance of Earth’s Past was translated by Ken Liu who translated books 1 and 3, and Joel Martinsen, who translated book 2 as well as Ball Lightning. Ken Liu is also an author, and his book of short stories, The Paper Menagerie, has previosuly been reviews by Two In a Teacup, here. Joel Martinsen is a Beijing-based translator.