In 2015, Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem (translated into English by Ken Liu), earned science fiction’s highest honor: the Hugo Award for Best Novel. The award was the first for a Chinese author, and put Liu in the global spotlight. Sequels to that novel, The Dark Forest and Death’s End, also received widespread acclaim, and now, Liu has a new book out in English: Ball Lightning, translated by Joel Martinsen. Like The Three-Body Problem, it’s a gripping tale of technology and physics, one that explores the nature of obsession and the dark places it can lead.
Spoilers for the novel ahead.
As a story, Ball Lightning is a bit more of a grounded read than The Three-Body Problem. There are no aliens in this story, which follows the life…
https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/15/17855138/liu-cixin-ball-lightning-chinese-science-fiction-translation-book-review
