A View from the Stars

by Liu Cixin

Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book A View from the Stars ABISBOOK Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

258 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2025

About the author

Science Fiction fan and writer.

Author also writes under Cixin Liu

Reviews

[ManuBdl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the short essays as nice food for thought that revealed some behind the scenes of the writing mind of an author I love. Not so much into the short stories selected in this collection. But! I love The Messenger hehe C:

[Ninvella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este libro me ha recordado el motivo por el que prefiero leer fantasía y no ciencia ficción.

Mezcla de ensayos, entrevistas e historias cortas, este libro tiene lo que nunca habrías imaginado (y lo que nunca nadie en su sano juicio habría pedido a este autor). No es mi primera aventura literaria con Cixin Liu, y debo decir que "Of Ants & Dinosaurs" me pareció ingenioso y básico, complejos y simple a la vez. Creía que era simplemente ese libro, pero creo que al parecer es el estilo de este autor: y no me encanta.

Pero vayamos por partes.

Si en una antología de historias cortas de autores diferentes es complicado dar una puntuación (por la diferente calidad de los textos), en un libro como este en el que se mezclan diferentes escritos (aunque pertenezcan al mismo autor) es cien veces más difícil. En general, puedo decir que las historias cortas me han gustado bastante más que los ensayos o entrevistas.

Pero todas sin excepción me han parecido muy frías, calculadoras; conseguían llamar mi atención y captar mi interés solamente el minuto en el que tardaba en averiguar el "secreto" de la historia (el plot twist, digamos.

Los protagonistas me han parecido muy simples y caricaturescos. Los científicos (hombres todos, cómo no) eran muy planos, fríos desprovistos de sentimientos. Las mujeres (si es que había alguna en el relato) no tenían sustancia alguna en sí, eran simplemente un elemento (ni siquiera vagamente humanoide en su caracterización) para lanzar un mensaje secundario en la historia.

Los relatos que han conseguido despertar algo de interés han sido "End of the Microcosmos" y muy vagamente "Heard It in the Morning", pero la caracterización de personajes femeninos me ha resultado tan chirriante y frustrante que le ha hecho perder muchos puntos.

En general, se ve muy claramente la influencia cultural del autor. Bastante decepcionante.

[Debi · Rating 4 out of 5]

this got me out of my reading slump. it's both entertaining and informational, and i really like how the short stories and essays alternate. the stories explore a lot of big, crazy ideas, from the use of marine animals to transport illegal drugs, to time travel, to questioning the meaning of humanity and the universe. Liu persuades his readers to think about the beauty of the cosmos more deeply, and i think he achieves that best through his essays. his stories about the biggest questions of the universe fall a bit short because the plot lines boil down to a series of contemplative comments instead of an actual exploration. however, i appreciated the biting irony of "Whale Song" and "Destiny" because they reminded me of Bradbury's stories, and reading "Butterfly" during the Israel-Hamas conflict brought up tragic parallels. the essays also gave me a nice glimpse into the atmosphere of Chinese science fiction and what its fans are like. the Chinese approach to the genre seems very different from America, and i'm excited to read more.

[Katerina Zhecheva · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have heard that when you finish a good book, you wish you could sit down and have a chat with the author. After reading this collection, I can confidently say I have no such desire with Cixin Liu. His outlook on literature feels narrow, and he seems dismissive of works that don’t fit neatly into his tiny box.

As for the book itself—it was hugely disappointing. Some of the stories worked for me, others didn’t, which is fair enough and largely a matter of taste. But the so-called essays were the real letdown. They read like a random assortment of texts: a few introductions to other books (one not even by him), an interview and a bunch of articles not even ordered by date for structure.

Altogether, the collection gives the impression of being rushed out to capitalize on the Netflix adaptation of the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, rather than thoughtfully curated.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of the non-fiction pieces like "One and One Hundred Thousand Earths", "Civilization's Expansion in Reverse", and "The World in Fifty Years" exhibited the Cixin I know from the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, and I enjoyed the stories "Destiny" and "Heard It in the Morning", but the rest of the collection felt a bit like the publishers pandering to fans of the great trilogy with mediocre leftovers from the author's career. That is a little harsh because there are several other pieces in the collection with worthwhile ideas, but overall the collection can be skipped by anyone but the most diehard Cixin fans.

[Niklas Fredstam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Samling av noveller och andra texter. De flesta kapitel tyckte jag var ganska ointressanta men novellen ”heard it in the morning” va riktigt bra och de kapitel som spånade om nya idéer till sci-fi var intressanta

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few OK short stories, but really only of interest for Liu fans and completionists.

[Ane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and light collection of short stories