Review by Booklist Review
The final volume in Liu's Three-Body trilogy picks up where the last left off, with Earth and the nearby three-body or triple sun system of Trisolaris in an interstellar cold war, both civilizations afraid of broadcasting their location to the dark forest of paranoid intergalactic civilizations. Through the story of Cheng Xin, a woman whose life spans multiple crises and transformations in Earth and Trisolaran society, the reader is exposed to Liu's expansive and breathtaking speculation about the possibilities of civilization not only in the universe, but in multiple dimensions. Liu's work is hard sf that, rather than focusing on the near future of the Earth, takes the entire future history of the universe as its subject. The strong characterization and evocative language anchor what in the hands of a lesser author could have turned into dry speculation and helps realize Liu's vision of a simultaneously exciting and uncertain future. This novel and the trilogy as a whole is recommended for general readers and committed genre fans alike.--Keep, Alan Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Liu's conclusion to his Three-Body trilogy (following 2015's The Dark Forest) is an ambitious millennia-spanning space opera with enough ideas for a dozen books, but those well-thought-out concepts are more memorable than his characters. Despite the complex events of the prior two books, Liu makes the gloomy framework of his imagined future, in which humans have "finally learned that the universe was a dark forest in which everyone hunted everyone else," accessible. The bulk of the plot focuses on humankind's efforts to survive after first contact with the alien TriSolarans in the 21st century. The author makes suspension of disbelief easy with his nuanced and plausible portrayals of people's reactions to apocalyptic threats, including efforts by the military-industrial complex to make the global crisis a business opportunity. The time scale is an obstacle to emotional engagement, but there are emotionally moving moments that ground the intriguing speculations about science and human nature. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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