From science fiction legend Cixin Liu, the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of The Three-Body Problem, comes a vision of the future that reads like Lord of the Flies on a global scale in Supernova Era.In those days, Earth was a planet in space.In those days, Beijing was a city on Earth.On this night, history as known to humanity came to an end.Eight light years away, a star has … history as known to humanity came to an end.
Eight light years away, a star has died, creating a supernova event that showers Earth in deadly levels of radiation. Within a year, everyone over the age of thirteen will die.
And so the countdown begins. Parents apprentice their children and try to pass on the knowledge needed to keep the world running.
But when the world is theirs, the last generation may not want to continue the legacy left to them. And in shaping the future however they want, will the children usher in an era of bright beginnings or final mistakes?
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A breakthrough book… A unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation, politics and history, conspiracy theory and cosmology.
Wildly imaginative.
So radiation now cards it’s victims? Why would the age of the humans on the planet matter. Radiation is radiation – it’s lethal at the CELLULAR level, not at some arbitrary age limit.
3.5 STARS- Humanity’s darkest hour…its future in the hands of children!
Cixin Liu’s newest novel Supernova Era was entertaining and unique! I was immediately pulled into this story and completely captivated by the unfolding events as the author described the Dead Star and its journey through space and time. The introductory statement- “In those days, the earth was a planet in space. In those days, Beijing was a city on Earth.” sent chills down my spine as the author sets the stage for this amazing, emotionally charged, and spectacularly imaginative science fiction journey.
Supernova Era was originally written in Chinese in 2004 and was wonderfully translated into English by Joel Martinsen. I totally enjoyed this book and the author’s descriptive, often poetic, writing style. His many philosophical statements and ideas were very thought provoking and brilliant. The characters in this story were all really well developed and the plot was extremely well thought out and detailed. I appreciated how the author not only told the story but also incorporated the science behind the Dead Star, historical events, interviews, communications and witness statements to take the reader on a unique journey to the Supernova Era.
Supernova Era begins in Beijing, China. On this night Ms. Zheng and her forty-three students are having a middle school graduation party. As they look into the night’s sky the Dead Star appears suddenly and showers the Earth with deadly levels of radiation. Soon it is determined that within one year everyone over the age of thirteen will die from the fallout. China quickly comes up with a plan to establish new leaders and to pass on as much knowledge as possible to the children with the hopes that the children will succeed in keeping the world running. Three children from Ms. Zheng’s class are tasked with running the government but is it possible to properly prepare the children to run the world? Can children learn the many important jobs from their parents in under a year? Will the children be able to work all day and still be able to continue their studies? Despite all the best efforts to prepare the children, is it possible to predict what their world will be like?
The three students tasked with running the government take their responsibilities seriously. Initially, chaos takes over but using the resources left to them (Big Quantum) they quickly calm down the distraught children. For the first couple of months things seem to be running smoothly. However, having to work at adult jobs all day and then taking classes at night soon becomes overwhelming. The children become tired, bored and decide to stop going to work. The children desire to create a more fun based world than the one left to them by their parents. This desire to play is a worldwide one which leads the children to come up with a global war game that takes place in Antarctica. These games become the most violent and bizarre games the world has ever experienced. “In the children’s world, play and national politics were inseparable, two sides of the same coin.”
I really enjoyed reading this book. The children’s response to their new responsibilities was authentic and believable. The idea that the children’s mindset could be very different from what the adults anticipated was realistic. I appreciated how the author continued to follow Ms. Zheng’s students throughout the story and although the story primarily focuses on the Chinese children, it also incorporated children from other major world powers, in particular the American leaders. The first half of this book was outstanding and I devoured it! However, the second half was overly detailed and bizarre. The second global game was somewhat disturbing and confusing and then the book abruptly ended. Although I enjoyed the overall experience, the ending and the Epilogue left a lot of unanswered and frustrating questions. Despite the ending, I found myself thoroughly pulled into this story and completely invested in the outcome. The feelings and emotions it stirred up in me stayed with me for days. If you enjoy a well crafted, futuristic science fiction book then this is definitely a must read!
I would like to thank Tor books, Macmillan Publishing and BookishFirst for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. Much appreciated!
Supernova Era has a really interesting premise – what would happen if only those 13 years and under survived an apocalyptic event, in this case a supernova star showering earth with deadly radiation. It is well written and engaging. It is an idea and concept based book rather plot based, as many of the things that happen are completely unrealistic, e.g., 13 year olds learning to fly fighter and commercial planes in six months. There is also no discussion about what must be the inevitable high infant and early childhood mortality that would occur. It is a difficult book for parents to read as there are large numbers of children who die as a result of their own society’s bad decisions. However, this is the kind of book that will be fodder for long and interesting discussions. How would you prepare children for a world without adults?
I don’t even know where to begin with this. It started out harshly for the first like 75 pages as a 1 Star read, then the next 150 pages were easily a 4-5 star, and then the last 100 pages was a 1 Star. So I’m giving it a 2 star rating. The beginning was slow. A lot of buildup for very little happening. The parts at the beginning of the supernova era were super interesting, to know how the kids took on becoming the government, and saved them. The candytown and slumbertown sections were super interesting, and real sounding, and then I was super hyped for the Olympic Games, and then I wanted them to be over. And then the was the section on switching countries, I’m still confused by that. 1.) why was that necessary? 2.) a country that already killed 500,000 kids comes to you with an idea that doesn’t make sense, and they admit it’s because they think they can get their territory back in 5 years, also they nuclear bombed you during the games despite that heavily being against the rules, why would you agree???
Wins:
– I loved the characters. They were all very complex and very different, despite being 13 or younger. They had good storylines, and even their teacher was a really good character, until she wasn’t in the story anymore.
-unique. Honestly part of me sat here thinking “another book where adults die and kids take over, here we go again!” But it was really different from every book with the same synopsis. I really enjoyed the idea of it, and that were just getting a brief history look.
-written like a futuristic history book. That was honestly a really cool way to do it, it reminded me of World War Z, which is an all time favorite of mine.
Opportunities:
-I know they’re children, but the juvenile ness about their attitudes, and how not a single one of them cared about their existence, didn’t want to work, didn’t store up food. There was 100 pages of the adults handing over the reigns slowly, and apparently they didn’t mention how crucial them working was to them living, I doubt that.
-the Olympic Games. I don’t think in any situation, a kid is going to run forward after all of his friends have died in the same activity and want to do the same thing. It was 82 pages (ONE CHAPTER WAS 82 PAGES!) of death that didn’t make sense, there was an attempt to justify it saying kids didn’t care about living, that I strongly disagree with. If I got blown up in a tank and survived, no ones reaction would be “let’s do it again”. I thought I was going to love the Olympic Games, and they were obnoxious and dragged for almost 90 pages.
-everything, and I mean EVERYTHING was over explained. Paragraphs and paragraphs of senseless writing that you could skip and wouldn’t miss any plot lines. It got super tedious towards the end, against during the Olympic Games, that i was seconds away from DNFing this book, until skimming it for vital info saved it.
So recap, this wasn’t my favorite, nor was it my least favorite book ever read. The writing grew super tedious, the main plot just kinda wasted into a pointless section of the book, that followed through to another pointless exchange that just made me roll my eyes and cringe. And that’s how the book ends, with an event happening that was very unnecessary. There were good elements. I really liked the Chinese government, pages 100-200 were pretty good, lots of good plot going there until it genuinely went nowhere that mattered. 2/5 stars is my final verdict.