What I've learned about Cixin Liu's books: there comes a point, usually around the 40% mark, where the writing feels so dazzling and so clever that I can't help but be completely lost in it.

In book 1, it was the video game and the timestamps. In book 2, it was the wall facers and wall breakers. And here? It was fairytales and the end of the human race. How I love those fairytales.

The series has some shortcomings, and the greatest one for me is the characterization. As in previous books, characters feel more like one dimensional chess pieces rather than like people. This isn't a book or a series written with the intent to make us remember characters, but instead to look at human dynamics as a whole and how different archetypes respond to these surreal situations.

If you'd told me that my big summer reads this year would be a hard sci fi series about humans interacting with alien races featuring astrophysics, military tactics, social engineering, political mutinies, all written like as a sweeping alt-history saga... I would've assured you that that's not my thing. And yet.

The writing is so delicious and accessible, and is delivered beautifully on audiobook. When acquaintances find out I read and ask for sci fi recommendations, I now send them to this series.

Recommended if you liked the others, especially in their exploration of philosophy, physics, and the future of the human race. Many stars.