Liu Cixin
| Liu Cixin | |
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| Born | 1963 Henan, China |
| Occupation | Science fiction writer |
| Period | 1999-present |
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Influences
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Liu Cixin (simplified Chinese: 刘慈欣; traditional Chinese: 劉慈欣; born 1963) is the most prolific and popular science fiction writer in the People's Republic of China.[1] Liu is an eight-time winner of the Galaxy Award for science-fiction writing and an awardee of the Nebula Award (Chinese: 星云奖; pinyin: xingyun jiang),[2] Prior to his success as a writer, he worked as an engineer in a power plant in Yangquan, Shanxi.
Liu Cixin created new themes in Chinese science fiction writing,[3] and his writing is mainly focused on China's role in a future world.[4]
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[edit] Writings
- The Era of Supernova (超新星纪元, 1999)
- The Rural Teacher (乡村教师, 2001)
- Ball Lightning (球状闪电, 2004)
- The Three Body Trilogy
- Three Body (三体, 2007)
- Dark Forest (黑暗森林, 2008)
- Dead End (死神永生, 2010)
[edit] Three Body Trilogy
In his Three Body trilogy, Liu features Chinese people's and the human race's centuries-long contacts and wars with an alien civilization. In this series Liu imagines galaxy-wide civilizations that operate on a Law of the Jungle Principle; distance between individual civilizations prevents them from trusting each other, leading to the assumption that any outsider is a threat. All civilizations hide their locations and attack any that expose their position.
In the first book, a Chinese scientist suffering from depression sends a message to a planet in a triple star system during the Cultural Revolution. Thirty years later another scientist discovers a civilization on the planet that suffers negative effects from the three suns. The civilization has also dispatched a fleet of ships to conquer the Earth, due for arrival within four centuries.
[edit] Awards
- Chinese Galaxy Award for science-fiction writing.
- World Chinese Science Fiction Association's Nebula Award for best writer.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ What lies beyond By Chitralekha Basu and Guo Shuhan, China Daily
- ^ Awards for Chinese-language science fictions announced
- ^ Liu Cixin and Neo-classical Science Fiction by YAN Wu, XIAO Qing-fang, Journal of Hunan University of Science and Engineering，2006-02
- ^ Science Fiction in China by Wu Yan with Janice Bogstad & Wang Pengfei
- ^ http://www.gov.cn/english/2010-08/09/content_1674007.htm
[edit] External Links
- Liu Cixin's blog
- Entry in Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- Ball Lightning Extract: Free English translation of the first three chapters Ball Lightning
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