Words&Dirt

Cixin’s Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past is a perfect and peerless narrative achievement. Not only is it the best piece of science fiction I’ve ever read, but it would also be a strong contender for my favorite story of all time. I think that giving away any major plot points or world-building features would do a disservice to anyone who might read the trilogy (which everyone should), so for this review I’ll stick to commenting only on its broad thematic implications.

I do not think it’s hyperbolic to assert that Remembrance constitutes an apotheosis in humanity’s long journey toward unlocking the scientific worldview’s vast aesthetic potential. Since storytelling has been around much longer than modern physics, we’ve had lots of time to explore the aesthetics of unscientific thinking, and spent comparatively little time applying those aesthetics to contemporary discoveries about the workings of the natural world. Every great piece of science fiction has contributed to or at least gestured toward this project, but Remembrance is in a class all its own. Somehow, Liu seems to have soaked up all the lessons from the history of this nascent genre, channeling them into a seamless blend of humanity’s ancient narrative fundamentals and the most terrifying truths of empirical reality.

Liu possesses a powerful literary voice that syncs beautifully with his deep understanding of science. These books are packed with poignant, deft descriptions of scientific phenomena and human psychology. The story often flirts with becoming overly-abstruse, but time and again Liu rolls out poetic summaries of whatever theoretical or technical ideas he is exploring, rendering them both intellectually accessible and emotionally impactful. The imaginative breadth and linguistic mastery on display here seem entirely beyond the capacity of a single writer. This is even more impressive given that the English versions of these books have all been translated from the original Chinese.

Remarkably, Liu proves capable of generating thematic and emotional continuity while flouting many aspects of traditional character development. Since the master story arc spans a mind-boggling amount of time and a huge cast of characters, it would be easy for readers to become unmoored had Liu not managed to artfully weave so many expansive ideas and personalized moments together throughout the trilogy’s 1,500+ pagecount. I’m not sure how Liu accomplished this, but can attest that the characters in Remembrance felt as flesh and blood to me as any I’ve encountered in other books.

Remembrance confronts the difficult relationship between time and survival in a way that feels both familiar and entirely innovative. It is an ironclad law of nature that every living system must organize itself to stave off the onslaught of entropy. Doing so buys the time to perpetuate the circumstances necessary for survival. In a best case scenario, perpetuation develops into proliferation and survival blossoms into flourishing, but the bedrock physical dynamics remain the same; each little victory, no matter how sweet, remains suffused with the promise of inexorable defeat.

At the human level, valuations of life and love can begin to feel insignificant when matched up against the epic insouciance of the cosmos, but the characters in Remembrance reveal an existential attitude that is neither shamefully denialist nor naively romantic. Gritty acceptance carries the day, combined with healthy doses of courageous problem-solving and raw determination. And through it all, Liu never loses sight of the fact that, even when faced with ultimate failure, the physical structure of the universe is the most magnificent piece of art humanity could hope to encounter. To understand oneself as part of that supreme architecture––even as a mere “mote of dust in a grand wind” (loc. 25353)––is to bear witness to the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth.

Rating: 10/10