This series was something I could not stop reading. It constantly blew my mind with it high concepts of physics while taking liberties into hypotheticals. I highly recommend this series to anyone wanting to be taken on a journey through what it means to exist in our universe!

Perhaps the only significant book I’ve ever read. Any review that paints this series to be an insight into Chinese culture is grossly understating these books. This is a story of humanity that transcends all others.

I almost didn’t finish the trilogy, having lost interest halfway thru the first book due to the side characters and their extensive conversations. Turns out I put it down just before the story really picked up. I couldn’t put it down after that and that hasn’t happened to me in decades. Is the trilogy worth reading? Absolutely. Will I read it a second time? Probably not.

I adored the first two books in the series. I can’t overstate my praise for them. However, the final book was unbearable. The story was *literally* just: woman in charge causes all bad things to happen because she is a woman (weak-willed and feminine). I’m not exaggerating, that’s it. The first two books may have contained sexist characters, but the third book was sexist itself. Not to mention that the ending of the third book is so awful in terms of character consistency, set up and payoff, etc, that it was hard to stomach. The concepts of the ending: brilliant. The character conclusions of the ending: abysmally bad.

Fantasy is cool - theoretical physics is cooler. Never has a book series made me think more about the very nature of the universe we live in. If you are existentially minded, these books will open you up to a way of thinking that you never thought possible. At times it feels like you are being given a glimpse at what the future of humanity could truly look like. The way that Cixin Liu is able to combine theoretical physics with masterful world building and Earth shattering thought experiments. The way he captures the essence of the human spirit - the good, the bad, and the evil. The way he is able to build suspense, wonder, and attachment in the reader. This book series is a work of art and I truly don’t know if I’ll ever read a work of fiction that will impact me in the way that this one has. Cixin Liu, thank you for this masterclass in storytelling and world building. The way it slowly and thoroughly builds and expands in ways you will never see coming is pure magic. I don’t usually read books twice - I will be periodically rereading this series for the rest of my life. Amazing!!!

Compelling and visceral… You will not be able to predict its scope and major plot twists. The characters and their intertwined pathways are so beautifully rendered that this series of books is hard to put down.

The scale of the author's world-building is limitless. He's in the company of Arthur C. Clarke's most imaginative works about deep time, but goes beyond even the reach of the Rendezvous with Rama series. The story's ambition is cosmic in scope, starting with humanity's first contact with a bizarre extraterrestrial civilization on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, ensuing centuries of intersteller war, and Earth and other intelligences at the end of time struggling to survive beyond the final heat death of the universe. A masterpiece!

At times it sucked me in, at others I struggled. In the end I feel that I will read it at least one more time and look for more books by this author. The things that I like about this book: There are a variety of writing styles within the series, sometimes poetic and thoughtful, other times intellectual thrilling, sometimes just posing technical riddles about life and the universe. I felt like the overall scope of the book was intended to be absolutely massive. I also feel that this was well achieved by creation of so many believable but small and simple moving parts, that were woven together with care and attention. I really enjoyed that all of the writing style was so different from anything I have seen in the sci-fi books that i enjoyed before. This novelty above the norm gave it a variety of new and stimulating flavors for me to savor. What was less than great: I got bogged down at times. What this author did exceptionally well for me, is to make the struggles of human kind within the fictional universe believable from what I know of my life in current day. These same questions that I and many others wrestle with can be very heavy and difficult to navigate. I do not feel that it was too much of that however and would not remove or alter one word of these books in any way. It does however make me very curious how the original Chinese versions read. I am grateful to the Authors and Translators for sharing this wonderful work.

Imagine the past colliding with a future where another race of beings, coming from an impossible solar system, fought for a meager existence in what ultimately is for naught. This is a murder mystery novel, but replace the murderer with the best of good intentions and the victim is our understanding of science. Oh how I wish I could live long enough to see this tragedy through.

Takes you to new sci-fi social and physics challenges - first book that captured my attention in years and devoured the 3 book series in a couple months. Must read if you want more beyond classic Asimov Foundation and meatier than Clarke stories.