The Harrowing Fate of Death's End by Cixin Liu 

Spoiler-y topic that I forgot to mention: If lower dimensional foils continue indefinitely to consume the entire universe and reduce it to a lower dimension, how is this a viable solution for civilizations looking to survive in the universe? Yes, they are destroying other civilizations that could potentially destroy them, but they are also dooming their own civilization in the process. If two civilizations were sufficiently advanced enough to produce their own foils, would it not be like the nuclear arms race between the U.S.A. and Russia where they are effectively gridlocked. Foils seem like bombing an enemy knowing you are also destroyed in their explosion.

Hi there, I have seen multiple western readers brought up the topic of gender in the third book. And I would like to point out that the cultural differences can make the feeling and reception quite different. From a Chinese reader’s perspective,the masculinity/femininity thing is the same thing as the bestial side/human side wade talks about in his last conversation with cheng xin. In this masculinity represents animalistic aggression, ruthlessness, doing whatever is necessary, while femininity represents kindness, compassion, mildness, peace. Wade is on the masculine side, cheng xin is on the feminine side. We see both fail in different ways. “Masculinity” fails humanity in the doomsday battle, in the great ravine, and causes the whole thing because of all the terrible things that happened to ye wenjie that made her reveal earth to trisolaris in the first place. And more deeply, the entire dark forest and stupid dimensional reduction warfare exists because of it. “Femininity” doesn’t so much fail humanity as it exists in a predatory dark forest universe. The world it created was too good to last in the setting. It was what humanity strived for. People became very refined, life was utopian and without any real struggle. But those were military weaknesses trisolaris exploited to gain an advantage So the book pushes for a balance. The human side of us makes great things, but we need the bestial side to defend us and those great things from hostile forces. Failure happens when there is an inbalance. Too much of the bestial side or too much of the human side.This is a very Chinese/eastern take on the philosophy, sociology, and politics where we strive balance as represented in a lot of other symbolism such as Taichi and Chinese medicine which sometimes can be overlooked by the western audiences. I have seen so many debates and arguments on how Wade is a much better leader compared to Cheng xin when in my opinion only Luo ji was truly suitable as a leader because he strives for the balance and did it decent enough.

As a woman, I didn’t get offended by this book at all. If I read it when I was younger and felt like I had to prove myself somehow I might have thought this book to be a bit sexist. Now that I’m older I realized that women and men ARE in fact different based on hormones and physicality. There’s no need to force ourselves to believe we are equal in all aspects. Of course both sexes deserve the same human rights but masculinity and femininity is not good or bad, it balances each other out. I believe the people that get upset by it are either projecting, in denial, too prideful, or has a personal agenda.

Technically, human race survived all the way toward the end of the universe. It's just solar system got wiped out. So those humans who escape the solar system, they managed to keep the human race going. Whether they stayed human or became beasts... well...

Great book, and inspired me to get back into physics. The concepts contained within that book are, IMHO, very close to how I think it truly is in the universe at large.

Glad to see another video Eric!

Great video man!

That intro had me shivering, bro. Super well done.

Nice job!

So who really is responsible for the end of human civilization? How far do we follow the chain of responsibility? Was it Cheng Xin ordering Wade to disarm Halo? Humanity itself for electing Cheng Xin to Swordholder? Ye Winjie for sending the message? Or the person who killed her father during the Struggle Session? No matter who ultimately is to blame is irrelevant.

Great analysis

You said it perfectly. He wrote himself in a corner MANY times. I got frustrated with the lazy writing. There was a pattern of despair and then some coincidence or some person would come up with the answer on the spot. It got so bad at the end, that I just couldn’t stomach the end. Just pure lazy writing bs. That said, the theoretical ideas and sci fi elements are worth the read.

I don't think it's about them knowing whether Cheng Xin is going to press the button or not... It's more about Trisolarans ultimately learning the concept of deception, a concept they took a while to understand and execute, convincing humans that they can co-exist together which Cheng Xin fell for... Trisolarans would eventually destroy all the broadcasters using droplet even before she could do anything. They knew she would hesitate to make the decision that would finally be the beginning of the end of the human race... In either case there would still be half of humans that would despise Cheng Xin for her action or in-action... Isn't that the argument the author was trying to make... There is no way all humans could come to common consensus whether it's related to escapism or anything else there will always be someone who would disagree...😂😂

finally an update!

My favorite series, right next to the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. Both explore similar dark and existential themes. It all kinda “connects”: as a reasonably logical man I find myself intrigued by both of the series endings and conclusions are very similar in an archetypal sense. Both mind blowing still.

I've often asked people who think the characters in all three books are incredibly shallow to explain why and give me examples of good characters in other science fiction books, and no one has ever given me an objective answer. I could say that they are very accustomed to only overly character-focused literature, but I prefer to state that they have failed to grasp that the Universe is the true protagonist of the trilogy. However, I must admit that Cheng Xin made me frustrated enough that I put the book down for a few days. I read the first and second book in five days, it took me four days to read the third one, not counting the days I didn't even touch the book. She's an interesting character at the beginning of the book, but I think having the third book so focused on her was a mistake. The parts in Deep-Blue and Gravity were the best for me. As far as I know, the publisher forced Liu Cixin to create her as the protagonist. I wonder how much more in the third book had to be changed to please the publishers and western readers. The social criticism and hard sci-fi parts were still by far the strongest points of the book. I see the trilogy as being a flawed masterpiece.

Highly recommend to read now the inofficial 4th book of the series, "The redemption of time" by Baoshu

When I hear phrases like "survival of the human race" posited as a moral good in a cosmological context, I'm confused. In the end, everything dies. In the end even 'unliving' things change form. So in that larger context, humanity's continued survival isn't a moral question: that humanity will end both on an individual and collective level is a key point of these books. And the decisions made by these characters are sort of beyond moral judgement anyway. It's akin to calling a caveman immoral if they pressed the button on a nuclear device. They're just ignorant, which isn't necessarily immoral. Concurrently, there's an interesting question. Let's say humans reach a point technologically where we can prolong our existence 'forever'. Wouldn't we would be changed into something inhuman as we know it, w a whole different morality and ideology? On another note, that concept of quantum physicists (that consciousness shapes the universe) begs another question: if aliens exist does it matter to the universe whose eyes it uses to navel gaze at itself with? Or is it the conceit of every sentient species that it brings something special to that act? I think our current mortality (not to be confused with morality), and ideology surrounding that mortality, blinds us to a lot of other understanding. But I suppose the conundrum is that 'we' have to live long enough to get to that understanding lol.

Honestly idk why people go to that argument - I’ve always said the same thing you bring up about Ye Wenjie and Cheng Xin. Ye Wenjie was heavy AF - had she had a second chance and been in Cheng Xin’s position she probably would have hit the button.

Later on Yun Tianming is an artificial human like Sophon?

The books are certainly not perfect. The whole launch a brain into space so you can spy on aliens idea is idiotic and backfires on humanity. But even the wall breaker idea is dumb. Why would you only assign one person to figure out what a wall facer’s plan is? Any cop show would tell you that using a group of people is a better idea to figure out what one person is trying to do.

Completely out of topic. Just wanted to say you're one fine looking man. Gorgeous eyes

Death's end has really had a profound effect on my life. Nobody asks me to make them a cup of tea anymore 🥷🍵 Joking aside, I love how the whole tale plays out, the way the themes are woven in. The one issue that does pull me out (especially 3 body, Death's end) is the use of Devil in the translation. It's used so frequently for everything remotely Evil or devious. I'm quite surprised repeating descriptors like that aren't picked up and naturalised a little. The whole work is a solid 9/10 👌 I think deaths end is the weakest for me in terms of technical story telling, but the big ideas, and set piece moments work for me. It does feel like a story written to hit those predefined moments. I don't think Cheng Zing or AAIAAaaiiii pass for PHD scientists in the way they're written. This wasn't an issue with the female characters in 3 body.

background music too distracting

the book is useful when u start bring it down to lower and lower levels from universe to earth, country, family and individuals.