Death's End by Liu CixinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
“The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.”
Scifi fans everywhere, this is our year. We just had DUNE Part Two in the IMAX theaters, and now we have Netflix’s THREE-BODY PROBLEM based on the incredible Liu Cixin’s trilogy. Somewhere in our youth or childhood, we must have done something good, guys!
My first attempt to read Book 1 of the series (prophetically entitled REMEMBRANCE OF EARTH’S PAST) ended with me sheepishly returning the book to the generous friend who had lent it to me. “I’m not smart enough,” I said. The English translation from the original Mandarin skews to the dry side, and back then, I was deterred by the extremely detailed depiction of the actual physics (with all that talk about Lagrange points and curvature propulsion) involved in attempting to communicate with intelligent civilizations outside our planet.
But then Fate intervened, and after my stint as a substitute Science teacher for a couple of years (read as: after reanimating the mummies known as basic Physics and Chemistry in my brain), and after I found the boxed sale on sale at Fully Booked SM Baguio during the Christmas break, I thought, who am I to question Destiny?
Reading Books 1 and 2 brought the same joy as reading the other classics of the genre. Liu is indeed worthy of being included in the ranks of Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. Life intervened when I was only a few chapters in Book 3, but then I watched the Netflix adaptation (absolutely fantastic!) and had to know what came next.
Book 1 asks, What do we do when we send a message to the stars, and one answers back? Book 2 responds with, What makes you think there’s only one intelligent civilization out there listening to us?
Book 3 is the longest, at more than 600 pages. It was also the most heart-breaking and shocking, with me startling a lady sitting next to my table at a coffee shop when I muttered a heartfelt curse under my breath at one point (a hazard when one reads in public, boo). That’s how skilfully Liu involves the reader in the interstellar struggle for human survival. This is not a book that one can read in absolute silence.
Having finished all three books and the first season on Netflix, I’m struck by the thought that this is the definitive scifi classic of our generation, capturing our milieu’s exhausted cynicism so accurately, yet without falling into the easy trap of despair. It’s a marvel to me how Liu avoids stereotypes in any of his characters. All are capable of deception and pettiness, and yet, all are heroic and admirable in their own way. I couldn’t tell you who is good or bad, because it depends on the cultural norms of each epoch. This is a series that spans millenia, and goes far beyond our tiny Milky Way Galaxy. Others have done it before Liu Cixin, but none have done it with his level of technical prowess (he was, after all, a computer engineer) and observant eye for what are the best (and worst) things about humans in the 20th and 21st century.
Liu brings such an Asian sensitivity to cultural and social norms as well, the yin and yang of masculine pride and aggression described alongside feminine nurturing and caring, the importance of the group as important as each individual’s quest for meaning. With a scientist’s logic, he explains what happens when laws of physics don’t act the way we’re accustomed to on earth. With a humanist’s eye, he shows us the consequences of the breaking of these laws on fragile humans and our equally fragile societies. And despite the little bit of language that is lost in translation, the result is a powerful third novel that had me literally weeping close to midnight, at its close (sorry, roommate!).
Such books are rare gifts, because they speak to the very essence of what is worth saving in our fallen world. And by its end you’re no longer thinking of the Science (although the foundation is solid and makes for a very realistic experience), but of the moral and philosophical implications of these new frontiers that Liu brings, narrated in a story so breathtakingly exciting, one might as well purchase the entire set so you don’t have to wait to buy the next book.
It is, surprisingly, a fitting read for Holy Week, when we consider the impact of one man on the rest of humanity.
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