#deathsend

[mineofilms]

Non-Spoiler Review of Remembrance of Earth's Past

Remembrance of Earth's Past or known as (The Three-Body Trilogy) by Liu Cixin • Book 1: The Three-Body Problem • Book 2: The Dark Forest • Book 3: Death's End • Book 4: The Redemption of Time (written by Baoshu) (Optional)

The opinion by many out in the world is that the “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” is the greatest science fiction series every written. Written by Liu Cixin, a Chinese computer engineer and science fiction writer. Liu Cixin is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award. In 2015 Liu Cixin won the Hugo Award for his novel “The Three-Body Problem” as well as the 2017 Locus Award for “Death's End.” Liu Cixin also won the Chinese Nebula Award. In English translations of his works, his name is given as Cixin Liu. He is a member of China Science Writers Association and the vice president of Shanxi Writers Association. He is sometimes called "Da Liu" (Big Liu) by his fellow science fiction writers in China.

The “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” is the first Science Fiction series to hit the national spotlight in China’s history. It is so popular China holds the series in high regard as a National Treasure. The book series was published from 2006-2011 and translated into English by Ken Liu starting in 2014 to 2019. American audiences are only now discovering this masterpiece of Science Fiction and Existential Horror. Netflix has a show planned for 2024 for “The Three-Body Problem,” the first book. It is uncertain if all the books will be converted for the show or if they are only doing the first book. The main trilogy take place over a few hundred years starting in and around the aftermath of World War 2 and go up to the year 2400+ to another 18 million years into humanity’s future. The optional 4th book which isn’t officially part of the canon but has the permission from Liu Cixin. I personally count the fourth book as part of the canon, but it is also ignored by other readers of the series. It is totally optional and to me does not hurt the story, plot or characters. It just gives the series a proper end rather than the ambiguous ending left at the end of “Death’s End.”

This BLOG serves as a NON-Spoiler introduction to the series. Here we are just going to describe the basic plots of the four books and some thoughts about them. The hope is I grab your interest enough so that you all go and either read these books or listen to them on audiobook. The audiobooks were very well produced and have that radio/theater quality and style to them. Very few science fiction novels actually change how I think. This series absolutely did that with its concepts of first contact, the dark forest theory, game theory, nihilism, time, relativity, relativistic time, reality possibly being an infinitely long loop, love, death, infinity, multiple-dimensional realities, macro and micro quantum reality, religion not being real and existentialism.

The Three-Body Problem (Book 1):

“Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, the greatest scientists around the world start to commit suicide, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-problem#?ref=nav_brws

The Dark Forest (Book 2):

“Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion — four centuries in the future. The aliens' human collaborators have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, supercomputers printed on protons. These subatomic particles allow the Trisolarans instant access to all human information in real time. They have the ability to disrupt Earth’s ability to create technologies greater than the Trisolarans. This all means that Earth's defense plans are exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23168817-the-dark-forest

Death's End (Book 3):

“Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay. Earth enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge. With human science advancing daily and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations will soon be able to co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation. But the peace has also made humanity complacent. Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer from the early 21st century, awakens from hibernation in this new age. She brings with her knowledge of a long-forgotten program, “yhe Staircase Program,” dating from the beginning of the Trisolar Crisis, and her very presence may upset the delicate balance between two worlds. Will humanity reach for the stars or die in its cradle?” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25451264-death-s-end

The Redemption of Time (written by Baoshu, Book 4):

“Set in the universe of “Three-Body Problem trilogy,” “The Redemption of Time” continues the events from the end of “Death’s End.” This original story by Baoshu―published with Liu’s support―envisions the aftermath of the conflict between humanity and the extraterrestrial Trisolarans. In the midst of an interstellar war, Yun Tianming found himself on the front lines. Riddled with cancer, he chose to end his life by entering “the Staircase Program,” only to find himself flash frozen and launched into space where the Trisolaran First Fleet awaited. Captured and tortured beyond endurance for decades, Yun eventually succumbed to helping the aliens subjugate humanity in order to save Earth from complete destruction. Granted a healthy clone body by the Trisolarans, Yun has spent his very long life in exile as a traitor to the human race. Nearing the end of his existence at last, he suddenly receives another reprieve―and another regeneration. A consciousness calling itself “The Spirit,” later, “The Master,” has recruited him to wage war against an entity that threatens the existence of the entire universe, “the Lurker.” However, Yun refuses to be a pawn again and makes his own plans to save humanity’s future…” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36262251-the-redemption-of-time

My Opinion:

I will do a bigger BLOG-breakdown of the series with heavy spoilers at some point in the future. This BLOG is for people who have not read or listened to the series and have seen my posts using quotes from all four novels for the past three months. I tend to post quotes from the book I am listening to when I do my workouts, nature walks or treadmill atmospheres. This book series is nothing but brilliant. It’s no wonder China has been trying to adapt this to visual media. As of the writing of this BLOG there are five listings for this on IMDB.com for different kinds of visual media for this property. The only one I think I will have access to, that I can actually watch, will be the 2024 Netflix show on the “Three-Body Problem.” Depending on if you read the optional fourth book, “The Redemption of Time,” the meaning of these novels take on their own meaning.

• What Is Real? • Is Reality Real? • Do We Even Know The Difference If Any of “This” Is Real? • Does Anything At All Have Actual Meaning? • Does Anything Actually “Matter?”

The phrase "This has all happened before, and it will all happen again" is a line from the reimagined science fiction series "Battlestar Galactica." In the context of the show, it reflects the idea of cyclical history and the recurrence of events. The idea is that history repeats itself, and the same patterns and conflicts reoccur throughout time. This is a theme over the course of the four novels that is heavily explored.

This series is sometimes referred to as “existential horror.” This isn’t to imply horror in the traditional sense. Like, say, the existential horror of aliens invading Earth, like in, “Independence Day,” a monster on the ship “Alien,” or the everyday reality we live in not being real at all, “the Matrix.” It is more existentially terrifying from concepts it raises and how those concepts are dealt from the different perspective of these ideas coming from the different cultural perspective of a computer engineer in China rather than our standard Western way of telling a story, dealing with characters and the existential themes of the nature of our Universe. How this series deals with these questions in our everyday society. An example I will pull from, that really isn’t a spoiler, but how love between two people is dealt with here. China handles these things much differently, culturally and artistically, than say, how American writers tend to write about love in a fictional story. Once you get used to how the information is being displayed in the confines of the story and characters; the easier you get lost in the existential terror of the events as they unfold. To me, listening to these books was like how I saw “The Matrix” for the first time or “Alien” for the first time. That it was more than just a monster movie or insane visual action. You get lost in the concept of “what if” this could all be at play in some point in Humanity’s near or perhaps distant future. That “what if” this is all some sort of simulation or video game where the plot is so fixed that any choice you make has no impact, imprint or evidence on the outcome of the game. That no matter what you do in the game; you end up at the same boss fight at the end, with the same life, the same weapons, the same everything. It's these types of environments where the lack of realism is felt and where we eventually realize that something is not right with said reality. Human beings possess a kind of intuitive alarm in our minds. We hear a voice that isn’t a voice. It is a thought, but we describe to others as a voice. Others do not hear what you heard. They only know of it because you described it to them. However, they do not actually know for themselves. An example would be; we trust when we look up at the Moon that it is there, but you, I, most, have never been there to touch, see, step foot on it to know it if is actually there or not. Granted, we do know that it is there. We see it from Earth, we see its impact on the tides. We feel its gravity. Our mind alerts us when something doesn't feel real. That is usually how we know we are in a dream. Some things seem real, some seem normal and then you see a giant spider in the sky where the Sun should be. Eventually the brain will tell you what is real and what is not real. It is when our realities are flipped upside down and inside out, like a tesseract, that feelings on reality become existential horror. If we were in a simulation of reality and everything was so perfect that we’d began to perceive the artificiality of our surroundings.

Reality is never perfect in the concept of what we humans think of as perfection. In reality perfection and infinity are one-in-the-same. That; “on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything. You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You are not a unique snowflake. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world...” ― Chuck Palahniuk, “FIGHT CLUB.” Granted this is not the Universe of “Fight Club.” However, it could be. Some of the quotes in Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” and “Choke” speak to me in a way that his characters tend to live in a reality-bubble where the main character is always questioning whether or not the reality they are in is a real one. “The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide. Self-improvement is masturbation. Maybe self-destruction is the answer.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, “FIGHT CLUB”

If reality seems too good to be true or too erratic to be natural it can lead to dissatisfaction and rejection of that reality. That is why I say if you do not want your reality shattered. If you do not want to think of humanity, you, us, everything, every moment, every lover, every taste, touch, smell, sight seen or idea in your mind as just another grain of sand on an infinite beach and that grain having no effect whatsoever, no impact, imprint or evidence on the outcome of the collective sand on that infinite beach. That no matter what you do as a grain of sand on the beach you end up with the same life, the same job, the same woes, the same loves, tastes, fixations, disappointments, depressions, disappointments; the same everything. Then do not read these books. If you believe in God. You might not anymore at the end of these books. If you believe all life is precious you also may not believe that anymore. That is how impactful this series can be. However, if you are just a science fiction junky, like myself, and want your mind blown by an amazing story, I implore you to read or listen to these.

The Three-Body Series explores the grandeur and mysteries of the universe. It underscores the contrast between human mythologies and the scientific understanding of the cosmos. The vastness of space, the insignificance of humanity in the face of cosmic forces, and the pursuit of knowledge and scientific truth. The series invites readers to contemplate the Universe's enormity and complexity, highlighting the importance of scientific exploration. Liu Cixin's work combines science, philosophy, and storytelling to convey a sense of wonder about the Universe, which forced me to question our place in the cosmos. This series will intersect with science, philosophy, and human existence, making it a compelling read for those who appreciate profound intellectual exploration in science fiction literature.This series not only offers a riveting science fiction story, but also encourages readers to contemplate the nature of knowledge, the mysteries of the universe, time, and the implications of our place within it. It's a compelling invitation to embrace the wonders of science and the unknown, making it a must-read for those who appreciate both intellectual depth and an engaging narrative.

“The creation myths of the various peoples and religions of the world pale when compared to the glory of the big bang.” Liu Cixin, “The Three-Body Problem”

Non-Spoiler Review of Remembrance of Earth's Past Also known as "The Three-Body Trilogy" by David-Angelo Mineo 10/25/2023 2,514 Words

[tsukuyomii45]

Hello tsukuyomii45, I’m a huge fan of your stories and artwork.

I have this idea for an Obito AU. It’s based off of you and deathsend’s post about your guy’s headcanons of Rin surviving and Obito still becoming the masked man. But in my AU, instead of Obito continuing Madara’s plan, he abandons the plan after finding out Rin is still alive.

My AU is called The Uchiha Ghost.

Basically Rin survives Kakashi’s Chidori, and Obito thinks she’s dead. On the night of Naruto’s birth, Obito plans on taking the three tails and nine tails, and destroying the leaf. Thing didn’t go according to plan. That’s when Obito finds out that Rin is still alive. Obito escapes to kamui dimension and has a mental breakdown. Obito abandons Madera’s plan and goes AWOL.

He doesn’t return to the Village out of shame and guilt for what he almost did. Fear of getting attached to his friends again, and a little resentment towards the members of Team Minato.

For the next 2 years, Obito, now under the alias Tobi, would hunt down rouge shinobi. Tobi would basically become a ghost story in the ninja world. Some say the grimm reaper of the Uchiha who takes you to hell. Others say he’s the ghost of Madara who wants revenge from beyond the grave.

Eventually Tobi is discovered by Kakashi, Minato, and Rin. They have a fight where Tobi has the upper hand on them. But Tobi surrenders to prove to that he is not a threat to them or the hidden leaf village. Tobi is brought back to the village with his only condition being that his mask stays on.

After days in a cell with constant supervision from the anbu. Minato decides that they should have Tobi as an ally to the village because of his special skills of passing through stuff and teleporting. Tobi would gather information from other villages for the leaf, meanwhile being constantly watched by Rin and Kakashi just in case if Tobi tries to attack the leaf again.

That is what I got so far. What do you think?

Hello! Thank you so much! :3

Also, I love your idea a lot. I like the mystery and curiosity this version adds when Obito demands that he keeps the mask on and would rather not be known that he is still alive.

I enjoy the image of him suppressing his overwhelming emotions as he roams around the village, or when Rin gets near him.

I imagine that in your version, he'd be found nostalgically looking at his old house in the Uchiha District, recalling the times Kakashi would find him kissing the team photo.

Safe to say that I approve of this. :)

[seventeenlovesthree]

@deathsend How old do imagine them being in the reboot sequel?

Well, initially, I was thinking about doing it "the usual way" by letting it take the usual "3 years later", but I am kiiiinda torn on that: On one hand, I feel like there shouldn't be too much time passing between the reboot and its sequel, since they would have the Digimon with them the entire time. On the other hand, making them older makes things more interesting for plot reasons (for me personally at least), which is why I like their Tri ages. So I would probably still put the majority of the characters in late middle school or early high school:

Taichi, Sora, Yamato (15, last year of middle school)

Koushirou, Mimi (14, second year of middle school)

Jyou (16, first year of high school)

Takeru, Hikari (12, elementary school)

Digimon Adventure 2023 - the sequel nobody we’ve been asking for

Ever since watching the very last episode of the 2020 reboot and witnessing the TON of nudges hinting at a sequel… I’ve been thinking about what such a continuation could look like. First of all, this is just one of MANY possibilities, but based on my very first impression, I had a lot of fun thinking about it:

First of all, I think we all agree that another season of 60+ episodes might not necessarily lead to more/better content, so… Let’s break it down to some kind of seasonal 12-24 episode season, shall we? 24 seems about right, since we still have a lot of characters to focus on…

… So let’s break that aspect down too, alright? We’ve had the original 8 characters and their 8 partners - but if we take a look at the implications the “epilogue” gave us, not every character may be equally invested in further Digital - or other - World shenanigans, so we gotta make some choices here: Round about 3 years have passed and Taichi will obviously still be relevant, as he’s actually the one seen spending the last scene in the Digital World; if we take the idea of “world hopping” seriously, he’ll be the “guinea pig” that does all the jumping while still trying to deal with everyday life issues and the occasional appearance of Digimon in the real world. Koushirou is the one we see building a Tri-esque hacker room in the club room provided and sponsored by Mimi - so we can assume that these two will be on board as well. If “Ghost Game” tells us anything about narrowing down a cast, three main characters seem to be a solid number here - which Tamers has already proven once before. But I would still like to put Sora in the mix as well - we don’t exactly know if she was on her way to the club room as well in the epilogue, but seeing how ride or die she was throughout the season, it’s hard to believe she won’t be around some more.

“What about the rest”, you’ll ask? Oh, they will still be part of the series and they’re gonna be relevant, but not in the front and center, because this time, we will actually spend a bit of time with the characters and have some “conflict”. The possibilities are endless and we shall focus on some character development in the first 12 episodes, before developing the plot throughout the other 12; Taichi finally realizing that he can’t solve every problem and that it’s okay for him to show weakness around others; Sora actually coming to terms with what she wants and making choices early, learning how important communication is or you’ll clash and grow apart from your best friend(s); Koushirou and Mimi clashing in terms of view points, but actually settling things this time; Koushirou actually getting the arc we’ve all been waiting for, opening up to the others about his “secrets”; Mimi going on a journey of self-discovery… Hikari will still be a bridge between the worlds, maybe even being the key to their “final” opponent this time, as they finally figure out what their crests mean and why they were chosen. Yamato/Takeru/Jyou will have a minor story in the back of course.

Also, there will of course be shipping fuel, but more about that later.

Maybe I will actually draw/write this one day if Toei doesn’t give us anything further.

[drcisko]

Cixin Liu - Death's End (2010, translation 2016 by Ken Liu) The final volume in the monumental trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past, this concludes the series which manages to be both intimate and cosmic in scale leading us from the Trisolaran invasion all the way to the end of the universe as we know it... It's really hard to describe the series, each book works kind of independently as the central characters shift, but they are intimately related and you wouldn't be able to understand one volume without reading the previous one. The particular talent of Cixin Liu is his ability to make these grand scale stories full of physics problems and spanning centuries of speculative science while at the same time keeping the reader personally invested in the story. It all feels very strange at the start, but eventually it starts making sense as it starts getting into focus. This is probably the best of the three volumes, each better than the one before, it is also the longest at over 700 pages, but it is a fantastic ride, with a great woman protagonist. A definite recommend. (5/5) #cixinliu #scifi #sciencefiction #book #books #bookish #bibliophile #bookgram #bookstagram #bookporn #bookworm #booklover #kenliu #chinese #chinesebook #deathsend (at Lisbon, Portugal) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6PBY7iFmgB/?igshid=1hhtubv49c960

[betterbbooks]

It’s time for the #fight of your life. Deep within you will find a struggle. A #manga that will define your strength. books2read.com/b/DEYE #manga #mangabooks #comics #graphicnovels #ebook #doujinshi #action #adventure #deathsend #mangaartist #artwork #authorwilliamschumpert#betterbrainsbookshorror https://www.instagram.com/p/ChK4HTvr8uR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[yasudai]

#劉慈欣 #三体ⅲ #死神永生 読了。 下巻読了後、上巻冒頭を読み返すと、この小説が円環を成すメタフィクションを構成していることが確認できる。またコンスタンチノープル陥落のエピソードには次元の話が隠されていて、それが後の太陽系潰滅のストーリーに繋がっていることがわかる。 雲天明の話す三つの物語など、物語それ自体としての完成度が非常に高く、それらをメインのストーリーに接続させる手際には舌を巻きました。 この小説にはSF的アイデアが、これでもかと言うぐらいに詰め込まれていて、読んでいて久し振りに興奮しました。 #しゅごい 小説です。😉👍 #liucixin #deathsend #threebodyproblem #三体 https://www.instagram.com/p/CQsid1hDjGJ/?utm_medium=tumblr

[traineddamsel-a]

winks at

[deathsender]

Thanks to CNA for the news write up. It’s a joy to share the passion and love for watches #gshockerssg #deathsender #passion #CNA #channelnewsasia # CNAlifestyle https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/trending/singapore-watch-collectors-470-gshock-rolex-luxury-timepiece-11347874 (at Singapore) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvMCNpnBW1y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18hazgz0y28ea

[theobsessedbibliophile]

Got me a new #series It's the #bestselling #chinese #scifi #novels #thethreebodyproblem #thedarkforest #deathsend by #cixinliu #bookstagram #tbrpile #colors #pretty (at Beachwood Canyon)

[newlyvulcan]

The traditional gift for the first wedding anniversary is paper. My husband and I had the same idea. He bought me two Harry Potter books I needed to complete my collection of hardcovers. And I bought him a trilogy of books that he originally read, and loved, in Chinese that have been translated into English. #books #weddinganniversary #paper #anniversary #harrypotter #chamberofsecrets #gobletoffire #jkrowling #thethreebodyproblem #thedarkforest #deathsend #cixinliu #geek https://www.instagram.com/p/BpLoviOg5x9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kek33ed5wgez

[rchnid-blog]

hey hot stuff ;)

[putrisalat-blog]

Broke down into tears near the end of this book. What a way to end the trilogy! Having read this, I really do prefer Ken Liu translation. Much easier to follow, for me. Spoilers below . . . I came to appreciate the universe a lot more after reading this. Sometimes I'm too caught up in my life I forget that I'm but a tiny negligible bug in the larger scheme of things. I'm still conflicted over his treatment of the female protagonist. On the one hand he puts her in this extremely important God-like positions of power then he totally guilt trips her for making the choices she did. Which he did justify on the end but still. Would still recommended fans and non fans of science fiction this trilogy! #bookstagram #scifi #books #cixinliu #deathsend

[monmuses]

How did you die? Ashton

Ask My Muse About Death

Send my muse one or a few of these questions (all of them related to death, life after death, etc. so please read with that warning in mind)

“The first time I died in a match was... barely a few years ago. I first died to a Spy that had me cornered. I couldn’t do anything and had no ammo... was too scared to fight back because it was my first real fight.”

[tinuwel]

¿Qué estáis leyendo esta semana? Yo estoy con El fin de la muerte de Cixin Liu, la tercera y última parte de El problema de los tres cuerpos. Igual que los dos anteriores está siendo fascinante y además es el más gordito de los tres, 734 páginas de disfrute 🤗🤗☺️ • #死神永生 #instalibro #instabook #instagramers #igreads #instadaily #bookstagram #books #bookblogger #bookstagrammer #bookphotography #libros #booklover #bookish #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookworm #booknerd #bookishfeature #bookaddiction #booknookstagram #bookstagramespaña #elfindelamuerte #deathsend #cixinliu #amreading

[betterbbooks]

A prepared for the unknown. A #manga that dares to discover beyond limits. The #adventure of Ayama’s life- hanging in the balance. A fight to the end. A struggle unlike any other.. ウサギの穴の奥深くで https://books2read.com/u/31RPQ6 #manga #mangabooks #comics #graphicnovels #ebook #doujinshi #action #adventure #deathsend #mangaartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CejUN6OL8I-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[yasudai]

#劉慈欣 #三体ⅲ #死神永生 #上巻 読了。 いや〜、おもろいわ〜！ 時を忘れて読書に没入してしまった。 劉慈欣は小松左京を高度にバージョンアップした作家だと思う。 夜が明けたら下巻を買いに行こう。 #deathsend #luicixin https://www.instagram.com/p/CPlRoJ2j7MZ/?utm_medium=tumblr