Blind_guardian’s review of Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3) > Likes and Comments
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I could not have voiced my problems with this book better tha the above. Death's end is an inspiring amalgamation of ideas, but it literally just strings them along with no coherent rhyme or reason but to say: "see this cool concept? I can top it!" As for the MC, I completely agree -- I was hoping AA would leave MC on the side of the road somewhere.
Yes to everything you said, and yes to everything Nick Ziegler said. I was absolutely revolted by this book, whereas I loved the first one unequivocally and thought the brutal brilliance of the second made up for its shortcomings. I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who disliked this book so thoroughly.
"The times that we did succeed get skipped over, because this book just isn't depressing enough. Not saying this isn't realistic enough, but is it necessary that we make the wrong decision EVERY time?" -YES. Read the history of The Balkans from the fall of Constantinople till now.
Gordan wrote: ""The times that we did succeed get skipped over, because this book just isn't depressing enough. Not saying this isn't realistic enough, but is it necessary that we make the wrong decision EVERY ti..."
That's one small area of the world, compared to the entirety of humanity. We don't ALWAYS screw up, regardless of what Cixin seems to think.
That's one small area of the world, compared to the entirety of humanity. We don't ALWAYS screw up, regardless of what Cixin seems to think... I prefer "postmodern reading" of a book... I always read books not agreeing with everything and even arguing with the author... and if you think about it, maybe he got the response he wanted from you. He is giving a warning not to make the same mistakes all the time... Just imagine a "Balkanised" USA, GB, Europe... it is easy if you try...
Well said, grand ideas but most annoying lead character
Ragnar wrote: "Well said, grand ideas but most annoying lead character"
Agreed, it's a book of wonderful ideas marred by a horrible lead character and Cixin's desire to make the ending as depressing and soulless as possible. It might be a cultural thing, Chinese films love their grand, tragic endings where all the heroes die.
As these reasons of your negative feeling about the main character is basically the whole point made in this book, whose sci-fi part is IMO not as convincing as the rest of the series, I'm sorry that you didn't like it.
That point, as I remember, was even stated literally by Thomas in the book (translated as "losing humanity is terrible, but losing bestiality is lethal"). The main character was a symbol of humanity and she made humanity prevailed over bestiality. This should sound righteous and satisfactory in most cases, except under the extreme condition set by the author where humanity is fundamentally against human survival.
People chose humanity. People died. While I hate the bitchy main character as much as you do, I would not call that a completely stupid wrong choice, since it was made not by Chengxin herself but by the majority of human being. To some extent, as the title (which could be directly translated to "(god of) death lives forever") hints, being a minor, vulnerable, and a bit pathetic civilization, we'll ultimately die out, and the only choice we may be proud of is to die resisting the darkness. Sounds a bit 'sakura', isn't it?
We don't always screw up, except when a Choice has to be made and we choose the good-looking and likely far-left one. Interestingly, the leftism led to the same kind of deadly stupidity, despite of its complete opposite meaning between the 1st and 3rd book, just as between the communist and the western world, no matter in the past or at now.
btw, what Chinese films gave you that ant-hero impression?
You had me until you went out of your way to blame the ills of humanity on a political side. I suppose if we had a libertarian wasteland of pollution run by corporations we'd have done better against the Trisolarans.
I just finished the book. Much of your first paragraph is wrong. Cheng Xin does get blamed, and she is attacked and hated for her decision-making. Both strangers and people who know her hold her accountable, such as immigrants in Australia and Luo Ji. After the long passage of time, people do sometimes become more forgiving of Cheng Xin, but the fickleness and volatility of human society is a recurring theme in every book, not just Death's End.
I'm not saying you have to love the book, but you have misrepresented part of it.
So write your own review. Perhaps in the moment people actually hold her accountable, but as soon as that useless git goes to sleep for awhile she's recast in the role of messiah again.
It seems like Liu is intentionally make the main character so annoying.
Agreed. I felt at times that I'd wandered into one of Steven Baxters oh-what-a-miserable-universe dirges. And the magic door at the end? No, you don't get to write your way out like that. Very annoying.
This review highlights my issues with the series perfectly as well. I enjoyed parts of three body problem...but it was just too morose. Too calamitous. ...and too many loose ends left flailing about.
Exactly my thoughts. The humans in this universe are too stupid to even care about.
I guess this is one of those "there are two types of people..." I read throu your review and agreed with all of it and that is why I loved it. Self interest caused people to fight against their own good which lead to their death time and time again.
Idk how much of a population gets to hybernate as that would change its social significance drastically, but with a limited amount of hybernators, I can see anyone pulled from the past with historical significance being reveared today (think pirates, vikings, named people who did unspeakable things "for the greater good"). The past will always have a glow
I don't think you should find the end sad and confusing. It's likely the fate of the universe. If you think about it that way, then the good resolution of any novel is confusing because all the characters will die anyways. The only difference between this book is that it mentions the death. It's about leaving a legacy (in this book the goldfish bowl for the next universe).
I couldn't find a way to describe the displeasure that the protagonist generated in me until I saw your review, she's a full-fledged Mary Sue, the worst characters for me are the Mary Sue and the Gary Stu, and in this book we have them both as protagonist, Cheng Xi and Yun Tianming
In contrast to the main character, Luo Ji gets hated on by humanity, although he is really the MVP in the series, up to the last moment when he sees AA and Cheng Xin off the solar system
You have voiced my feelings, the MC was the most annoying thing in the entire book and that ending!!! I am so frustrated as I invested a lot of time in this series.
The women in these books have been written as such incompetent, calamity inducing, selfish, doe eyed morons that I just *can’t* with them. Every bad thing happens because a woman either directly caused it or had a hand in specifically preventing that disaster. Are these meant to make me feel such rage with so many imaginary characters that I start yelling at the book in public, cause that’s what happened. I don’t need everything to be hunky dory, however, I would like to imagine that humanity doesn’t fumble their way to the end like monkeys smashing keys to write Shakespeare with a typewriter.
Interesting. I didn’t think of this series as character-driven at all. It was pretty clear early on that these were more plot driven books. I absolutely loved them.
I think the main character is fine and that we are not really supposed to like her per se. I agree though that the author seems to relish the act of not paying off his set ups. Why not let the two lovers meet at the end? In my view it is a misunderstanding of what constitutes a tragic story as opposed to just a bad ending.
The MC is horrible. The story is depressing for depressions sake, and the technobabble is incessant. You hit it on the head.
This review seems most agreeable to my experience so far. I'm not impressed with how it's going at only about a fifth of the way through. I am not certain I want to DNF this one, but I might be looking for something else sooner than I thought to read alongside this one and only work on Death's End when I'm ready for the depressive technobabble. The sexism is terrible, none of the characters or "humanity" are realistic (especially in a future that's supposed to be better), and the Christianity elements are so bizarre coming from someone in the People's Republic of China (aka, an atheistic country).
God, these are my feelings exactly! I want to wipe Cheng Xin from the surface of the earth.
I cound not agree more and I'm only half through.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I came here to read the lower star reviews of this last book and to know I wasn’t alone about this infuriating main character that’s treated like she’s the most intelligent person on earth get caused a genocide once and given a second chance to finish the job.
I felt similarly to you at first, frustrated every time the MC seemed to make the “wrong” decision and doom the fate of humanity. However, thinking back, each time she made the choice she did, I was secretly rooting for her in the back of my mind, because she embodies the humanity that stands out so starkly from Trisolarans and the cold, calculating decision-making of other extraterrestrials that were mentioned. The MC was only reflecting the wishes of broader human civilization, and she was placed in positions of power as a direct result of humanity’s decisions. At the end of the day, I think this is a book about hope in the face of despair, and her refusal to give up her own morality in the face of insurmountable pressure made her a compelling character that represents the ideals of human society.
I had the same feeling. And the events felt very forced.
Cheng Xin - the moron! But it was deliberate to create her on the part of Cixin Liu. He wanted to portray her as the classic representation of things that Humans do and celebrate that will lead us to disaster :-)
Fells like Cixin Liu don't know how to write a female character. When I finish the dark forest feels like it was a very good end for the story. Third part looks unnecessary.
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Oct 12, 2016 08:10PM
I could not have voiced my problems with this book better tha the above. Death's end is an inspiring amalgamation of ideas, but it literally just strings them along with no coherent rhyme or reason but to say: "see this cool concept? I can top it!" As for the MC, I completely agree -- I was hoping AA would leave MC on the side of the road somewhere.
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Yes to everything you said, and yes to everything Nick Ziegler said. I was absolutely revolted by this book, whereas I loved the first one unequivocally and thought the brutal brilliance of the second made up for its shortcomings. I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who disliked this book so thoroughly.
"The times that we did succeed get skipped over, because this book just isn't depressing enough. Not saying this isn't realistic enough, but is it necessary that we make the wrong decision EVERY time?" -YES. Read the history of The Balkans from the fall of Constantinople till now.
Gordan wrote: ""The times that we did succeed get skipped over, because this book just isn't depressing enough. Not saying this isn't realistic enough, but is it necessary that we make the wrong decision EVERY ti..."That's one small area of the world, compared to the entirety of humanity. We don't ALWAYS screw up, regardless of what Cixin seems to think.
That's one small area of the world, compared to the entirety of humanity. We don't ALWAYS screw up, regardless of what Cixin seems to think... I prefer "postmodern reading" of a book... I always read books not agreeing with everything and even arguing with the author... and if you think about it, maybe he got the response he wanted from you. He is giving a warning not to make the same mistakes all the time... Just imagine a "Balkanised" USA, GB, Europe... it is easy if you try...
Well said, grand ideas but most annoying lead character
Ragnar wrote: "Well said, grand ideas but most annoying lead character"Agreed, it's a book of wonderful ideas marred by a horrible lead character and Cixin's desire to make the ending as depressing and soulless as possible. It might be a cultural thing, Chinese films love their grand, tragic endings where all the heroes die.
As these reasons of your negative feeling about the main character is basically the whole point made in this book, whose sci-fi part is IMO not as convincing as the rest of the series, I'm sorry that you didn't like it. That point, as I remember, was even stated literally by Thomas in the book (translated as "losing humanity is terrible, but losing bestiality is lethal"). The main character was a symbol of humanity and she made humanity prevailed over bestiality. This should sound righteous and satisfactory in most cases, except under the extreme condition set by the author where humanity is fundamentally against human survival.
People chose humanity. People died. While I hate the bitchy main character as much as you do, I would not call that a completely stupid wrong choice, since it was made not by Chengxin herself but by the majority of human being. To some extent, as the title (which could be directly translated to "(god of) death lives forever") hints, being a minor, vulnerable, and a bit pathetic civilization, we'll ultimately die out, and the only choice we may be proud of is to die resisting the darkness. Sounds a bit 'sakura', isn't it?
We don't always screw up, except when a Choice has to be made and we choose the good-looking and likely far-left one. Interestingly, the leftism led to the same kind of deadly stupidity, despite of its complete opposite meaning between the 1st and 3rd book, just as between the communist and the western world, no matter in the past or at now.
btw, what Chinese films gave you that ant-hero impression?
You had me until you went out of your way to blame the ills of humanity on a political side. I suppose if we had a libertarian wasteland of pollution run by corporations we'd have done better against the Trisolarans.
I just finished the book. Much of your first paragraph is wrong. Cheng Xin does get blamed, and she is attacked and hated for her decision-making. Both strangers and people who know her hold her accountable, such as immigrants in Australia and Luo Ji. After the long passage of time, people do sometimes become more forgiving of Cheng Xin, but the fickleness and volatility of human society is a recurring theme in every book, not just Death's End. I'm not saying you have to love the book, but you have misrepresented part of it.
So write your own review. Perhaps in the moment people actually hold her accountable, but as soon as that useless git goes to sleep for awhile she's recast in the role of messiah again.
It seems like Liu is intentionally make the main character so annoying.
Agreed. I felt at times that I'd wandered into one of Steven Baxters oh-what-a-miserable-universe dirges. And the magic door at the end? No, you don't get to write your way out like that. Very annoying.
This review highlights my issues with the series perfectly as well. I enjoyed parts of three body problem...but it was just too morose. Too calamitous. ...and too many loose ends left flailing about.
Exactly my thoughts. The humans in this universe are too stupid to even care about.
I guess this is one of those "there are two types of people..." I read throu your review and agreed with all of it and that is why I loved it. Self interest caused people to fight against their own good which lead to their death time and time again.Idk how much of a population gets to hybernate as that would change its social significance drastically, but with a limited amount of hybernators, I can see anyone pulled from the past with historical significance being reveared today (think pirates, vikings, named people who did unspeakable things "for the greater good"). The past will always have a glow
I don't think you should find the end sad and confusing. It's likely the fate of the universe. If you think about it that way, then the good resolution of any novel is confusing because all the characters will die anyways. The only difference between this book is that it mentions the death. It's about leaving a legacy (in this book the goldfish bowl for the next universe).
I couldn't find a way to describe the displeasure that the protagonist generated in me until I saw your review, she's a full-fledged Mary Sue, the worst characters for me are the Mary Sue and the Gary Stu, and in this book we have them both as protagonist, Cheng Xi and Yun Tianming
In contrast to the main character, Luo Ji gets hated on by humanity, although he is really the MVP in the series, up to the last moment when he sees AA and Cheng Xin off the solar system
You have voiced my feelings, the MC was the most annoying thing in the entire book and that ending!!! I am so frustrated as I invested a lot of time in this series.
The women in these books have been written as such incompetent, calamity inducing, selfish, doe eyed morons that I just *can’t* with them. Every bad thing happens because a woman either directly caused it or had a hand in specifically preventing that disaster. Are these meant to make me feel such rage with so many imaginary characters that I start yelling at the book in public, cause that’s what happened. I don’t need everything to be hunky dory, however, I would like to imagine that humanity doesn’t fumble their way to the end like monkeys smashing keys to write Shakespeare with a typewriter.
Interesting. I didn’t think of this series as character-driven at all. It was pretty clear early on that these were more plot driven books. I absolutely loved them.
I think the main character is fine and that we are not really supposed to like her per se. I agree though that the author seems to relish the act of not paying off his set ups. Why not let the two lovers meet at the end? In my view it is a misunderstanding of what constitutes a tragic story as opposed to just a bad ending.
The MC is horrible. The story is depressing for depressions sake, and the technobabble is incessant. You hit it on the head.
This review seems most agreeable to my experience so far. I'm not impressed with how it's going at only about a fifth of the way through. I am not certain I want to DNF this one, but I might be looking for something else sooner than I thought to read alongside this one and only work on Death's End when I'm ready for the depressive technobabble. The sexism is terrible, none of the characters or "humanity" are realistic (especially in a future that's supposed to be better), and the Christianity elements are so bizarre coming from someone in the People's Republic of China (aka, an atheistic country).
God, these are my feelings exactly! I want to wipe Cheng Xin from the surface of the earth.
I cound not agree more and I'm only half through.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I came here to read the lower star reviews of this last book and to know I wasn’t alone about this infuriating main character that’s treated like she’s the most intelligent person on earth get caused a genocide once and given a second chance to finish the job.
I felt similarly to you at first, frustrated every time the MC seemed to make the “wrong” decision and doom the fate of humanity. However, thinking back, each time she made the choice she did, I was secretly rooting for her in the back of my mind, because she embodies the humanity that stands out so starkly from Trisolarans and the cold, calculating decision-making of other extraterrestrials that were mentioned. The MC was only reflecting the wishes of broader human civilization, and she was placed in positions of power as a direct result of humanity’s decisions. At the end of the day, I think this is a book about hope in the face of despair, and her refusal to give up her own morality in the face of insurmountable pressure made her a compelling character that represents the ideals of human society.
I had the same feeling. And the events felt very forced.
Cheng Xin - the moron! But it was deliberate to create her on the part of Cixin Liu. He wanted to portray her as the classic representation of things that Humans do and celebrate that will lead us to disaster :-)
Fells like Cixin Liu don't know how to write a female character. When I finish the dark forest feels like it was a very good end for the story. Third part looks unnecessary.
