Cixin Liu's Science Fiction 7-book Collection Set

by Liu Cixin, Cixin Liu

Soon to be a Netflix Original Series!

An NPR Best Book of the Decade

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel

“War of the Worlds for the 21st century.” – Wall Street Journal

The Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience the Hugo Award-winning phenomenon from China's most beloved science fiction author, Liu Cixin.

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

The Three-Body Problem
The Three-Body Problem
The Dark Forest
Death's End

Other
Ball Lightning
Supernova Era
To Hold Up The Sky
Wandering Earth

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Horror

2800 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Science Fiction fan and writer.

Author also writes under Cixin Liu

Reviews

[Jonathan Yigzaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certified banger

[Dana Bentzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - impressive in scale, bat shit crazy and so imaginative. Characters a bit more full than the 1st instalment. The reveal of the dark forest metaphor was dark and chilling. Interested to see where the finale goes as this felt like an ending.

[Kenneth Munson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My brother highly recommended this series and I'm going to see my way to the end. I started this book twice, because the first 200 pages are a snoozefest. Tough to get through. This book similarly suffers from issues from the first book, wooden characters and dry writing. The biggest difference between this book and the first is the lack of cool science fiction things happens until the final third of the book.

There was one thing that never made sense to me and maybe someone can help me with it. The trees in the underground city that stretched to the ceiling/sky. I reread it a couple of times to make sure I didn't miss something. Luo Ji leaves the hospital and he's looking at the sky and how exactly does he not notice these trees stretching to the ceiling? And if the tree turn from trees to sky elements on some sort of display system, how is it not noticeable? How do the branches and leaf/rooms work? I picture it, but I picture something really stupid. It was never really explained and I don't think it was meant to be well thought out. I dunno.

The ending came on a little quick and it leaves me with some questions, but overall the last 100 or so pages were a solid B or B+.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Calling The Dark Forest the "book of the decade" feels like an understatement. The first third is intriguing, but I couldn’t see how it would surpass The Three-Body Problem. Then the last two-thirds hit—and I realized the early chapters were setting the tone for what was to come. Cixin Liu masterfully blends science fiction with such vivid realism that I had to keep reminding myself, this is fiction.

What sets this book apart isn’t just the complexity of its world-building or the brilliance of its central conflict—it’s the depth of its characters. Liu crafts individuals whose actions, even when they seem extreme or confusing at first, make perfect sense as their stories unfold. You find yourself rooting for people on completely different paths, each driven by motives that feel authentic and compelling. The way humanity and culture respond to existential threats is both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant. And Liu’s descriptions of physics-defying events were a pleasure to experience.

[Rob Goldstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. Almost a complete history of the universe where Da Liu relentlessly comes up with extremely well thought out new ramifications of the effects of civilizations, time, and physics on the universe. Every time you think the book is over he adds another layer. Hard Science Fiction, Space Opera, good story, it's all of those things. And it really makes you think... Much respect for this author's intelligence and drive to tell a complete and detailed story. He had to have put in extraordinary effort to first think of so many ideas, then research them thoroughly, then think through them in exquisite detail...oh and then write about them in an entertaining way as well.

[Speculative Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 out of 5 Starless Vasts
The Cixin Liu 7-book set is a monolith of ideas, an intimidating tower of cosmic philosophy and physics masquerading as fiction. You’ll get world-shattering concepts, centuries-long gambits, and enough existential horror to make you want to unplug your telescope. But for all the imagination, these books often feel more like thought experiments than stories about people you care for—cold, brilliant, and sometimes exhausting in their scale. It’s a box set for readers who want their science fiction as boundless (and as emotionally remote) as deep space itself.

[Blame Game · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty dope. space aliens killed by better space aliens. Dark Forest as a concept has a number of implications that drive the remainder of the storyline. Once departed from the original alien threat, the conflict becomes much more internal to humanity, and what choices mankind is willing to make to preserve itself as a species. Interesting questions of morality, and what level of authority one person can be given.

[Drippy The Mac Booky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein richtig spannender zweiter Band der Trilogie, welcher sich weiterhin mit der Frage beschäftigt, wie die Menschheit auf eine riesige Bedrohung aus dem All reagieren würde. Obwohl die Sprache manchmal etwas trocken rüberkommt, sind die Ideen einfach so gigantisch und faszinierend, dass man trotzdem voll in die Handlung reingezogen wird. Das Konzept vom „dunklen Wald“ bleibt lange im Kopf hängen und regt sehr zum Nachdenken an.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. The first 1/3 of the book is just not good. In general I think this book struggles with being a "book". It's a strange narrative in general. But the back half of the book was really interesting and compelling. I didn't realize I would be so interested in the politics and social engineering that comes along with the changes the world goes through in the crisis era. Seeing how different characters tackle the problems and how humanity reacts to them was really compelling.

[Osman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating story of humans reacting to a malevolent alien force, and a really cool conclusion. No wonder this book is the namesake for the Dark Forest hypothesis. I found the ideas from this book even more fascinating than the first in the series. Excited to someday get off the waitlist for the final book in the trilogy!

[Imara Speek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I found the book very hard to follow at times, man did I love the philosophical aspects of the book. What I good and bad when times get like these? How should humanity react? How would it probably react. Perfect book for bookclub readings. Did think the ending was a quite sudden turn of events, but am not mad.

[Javier Orbis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Posiblemente el mejor libro que he leído hasta el momento. Éste hace un análisis del amor, la sociedad y la física en una Tierra condenada por una sociedad superior. Esta novela ha conseguido emocionarme y aterrárme hasta el punto de plantearme el sentido de la existencia. Recomendadísimo

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this even more than the first book - again some of the characters and dialogue was a bit cringe but the ideas and the strategic way in which the plot develops and the concepts which it deals with are first class. I read through it in a few days in places.

[fidrygalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the best books I’ve read in my lifetime. Triggers a lot of thinking about our political and sociological state of the world, as well as what do we mean as having a community. Phenomenal execution of the ending, the whole book was even better than the first part.

[Tiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the action of this book is set in the future, some of the historical commentary that was so good in the first book is missing. Furthermore, the narrative felt to me more convoluted - however it is an amazing piece of science fiction - loved it

[Archistic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batshit insane. The way that the author tells us the creative ideas of his mind mashed together makes a wonderful book. The characters can be flat, and there were issues with the portrayal of women here, but I'm willing to ignore all that for the author's imaginative framework of ideas.

[Lukas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting themes like always.
Especially The wall facers and especially Luo Ji's final play.
Also the idea of falling in love with an Imaginary person.
Finally the image of a technologically stagnating society maturing technology to impressive standards.

[Ariane Edelweiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read if you like
- Crazy Scif-fi ideas
- Sagas that spawn decades, or even centuries
- A different cultural context than the one us westerners are used too

Don't read
- If you like interesting characters
- Reading about an author's creepy sexual fantasies

[Jacob S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, not great. The plot got a bit convoluted, it could've done well with a bit of editing. I also had a feeling that the authors imagination was running thin after the hybernation into the future. It lacked the enticing ecotericism that was present in the first part

[Asana Kusnadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb storytelling and ideas, would like to more if those technical reference indeed possible IRL.

[Thang · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea of dark forest shocked me. The storytelling is still bad.

[Mark Thurston · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great follow-up to Three-Body Problem. I'm looking forward to the 3rd installment.

[Evan Qu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ayo he made up a woman in his head and told the government to go find her

He MADE UP A WOMAN IN HIS HEAD

and TOLD THE GOVERMENT TO FIND HER

4.5/5

[Frank Sabina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing suspense and imaginative world.

[Rifki Akbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute cinema.

[Ian Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book, really picked up after a little bit into it.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the series. Absolutely loved where this story goes and how it gets us there.

[Michael Walz · Rating 5 out of 5]

best of an amazing trilogy. nothing else quite like it. one of the craziest endings of a book I have ever read. probably my favorite scifi i've ever read

[Robert Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always liked sci-fi but this book made me kind of nerd out!

[Areeb Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me think about what the mind is for and how to use your head space effectively.