It’s so incredibly difficult to summarize how I felt about finishing this trilogy. How in the world do you talk about a book that literally takes place over hundreds of years? The size and complexity of the universe shaped by Liu (our universe, imagined in the not so distant future and beyond) is so vast, and yet we focus on a handful of main characters as they move through time (and space) to the ends of the galaxy.

Where I felt disconnected in the second installment, The Dark Forest, I felt like I was on the journey alongside Cheng Xin during Death’s End: from the moments that are set in the first two books, and far into the future as she is put into hibernation and woken from this state multiple times over the course of centuries. Readers delve into the 4th and 2nd dimensions (at their own peril), witness the cyclical nature of time and humanity’s desperate need to exist, regardless of the circumstances.

Liu’s imagination never ceases to amaze me (seriously, how is one person’s brain and imagination so large??), and if you are a person who loves a HUGE, very science-y sci-fi series, I cannot recommend this trilogy enough. While my brain is not nearly in tune with scientific terminology enough to have grasped every minor detail discussed, I was still able to process the overarching series of events and grasp the themes spread throughout the book and trilogy, as a whole. The vastness of the series really reminds me of Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series, so if you like that scope and style of sci-fi, this might also appeal to you! If you do decide (or have already read the series), I gotta know…what did you think? I’m personally very eager to continue seeing the remaining books adapted for the tv series and how they choose to portray such a large project!