"Death's End" by Liu Cixin

"Death's End" is the concluding volume of the 'A Remembrance of Earth's Past' Trilogy. This story is the definition of a satisfying end to a tale. It was cinematic beyond belief; I hope that someone creates epic movies for this trilogy.

It begins by introducing a new character, Yun Tianming, a dying man who's actions unknowing are crucial to the very preservation of the universe. At first, it is confusing what Tianming has to do with the story, but I loved the way that Liu brought Tianming back at the perfect time, and gave him an interesting and complex role. This book is great in part because of the new characters. Aside from Yun Tianming, Cheng Xin is a brilliant protagonist. It is a refreshing new main character - something that the second book in the trilogy, "The Dark Forest", lacked. In comparison with Luo Ji, Cheng Xin is much more compelling. She is a humanitarian scientist who gets caught up in decision making processes that are overwhelming for her and we see her mixed failures and success. Her best friend, AA, is also a layered and deep personality who stands loyally by her side.

Another character that I loved was Sophon, the powerful AI robot created by the Trisolarans to act as an ambassador between the two civilizations. I could not get enough of the scenes containing Sophon. Her hyper intelligence mixed with her skill in human interactions, and the detached nature of her being a robot made for great reading. I was never sure exactly how to think of her. Was she just a cold, heartless robot manipulating people, or was she really not dissimilar to humans, simply running on a different material for her hardware? Anyways, it was great that the two civilizations finally had a more effective way to communicate with one another.

The cosmology in this book gets even crazier. If after reading "The Dark Forest" you thought that things couldn't get any more far out, think again. This go deeper into space and time. The introduction of other dimensions, and the complexity of the interactions of all civilizations of life goes beyond the dark forest theory. Liu takes us to a scale of immense heights of wonder. I simple cannot spoil this for you but I can say that my view of the possibilities of the universe are more expanded by this trilogy than by anything I had ever learned in science class. In this sense, Liu has offered readers a great mind-expanding experience. I genuinely believe that if and when we do make first contact with an alien civilization in the future, this trilogy should be seriously consulted. That's how good Liu's analysis of the universal cosmology's potential is. This is more than just a science fiction book; this is philosophically valuable.

For fear of revealing too much of the books fascinating world, I'll simply leave you to it. Make this trilogy a priority in your life; you won't be disappointed.