Head of Zeus Limited Editions of Remembrance of Earth's Past (The Three Body Problem, The Dark Forest and Death's End) all Lightning, The Redemption of Time, Supernova Era, Hold Up the Sky, and Of Ants and Dinosaurs
Bill's Stuff - Cixin Liu
Ball Lightning
Serving as a very loose prequel to The Three Body Problem, Ball Lightning has a far smaller scope: Here, Liu’s focus is almost entirely on Chen, an awkward, obsessive researcher who, at age 14, at the worst birthday party ever, witnessed both of his parents get obliterated by a mysterious, fiery orb. Chen, understandably, is just a bit affected by the incident, and devotes himself to studying the mysterious phenomenon of ball lightning. “Ball lightning had molded me into this form: from that night of terror in my youth, the shape of my psyche had been determined,” Chen explains. “I was destined to live my whole life with a terror no one else could feel.”
The Supernova Era
Just as he did in the Three-Body Problem novels, Liu rests his narrative on a premise so striking that it will forever alter the nature and direction of the human project. Lethal radiation from a long dead star has entered Earth’s atmosphere, with apocalyptic results. Within a year, all adults on the planet will be dead. Only children under the age of thirteen will have the physical capacity to survive. With the advent of this cataclysmic event, the Supernova Era—also known as the Children’s Era—begins.
The bulk of the narrative takes place in the two years following the end of adult life on Earth, and it is a fascinating journey into a violent, unpredictable future. That journey will lead from China to New York to the rapidly melting continent of Antarctica, and will climax in a series of “war games” that will prove to be as destructive as war itself. Combining cutting edge science and acute social and psychological observation – along with a pointed tip of the hat to Lord of the Flies—Supernova Era is an early SF masterwork by one of the field’s most significant figures. The result, in Joel Martinsen’s admirable translation, is both a gift to English-speaking readers and an affirmation of Cixin Liu’s extraordinary—and inimitable—gifts.
The Redemption of Time by Baoshu
The Redemption of Time by Baoshu is an authorized addition to the original series that takes place in the aftermath of Death’s End, the final volume in the trilogy. The protagonist is the now familiar figure of Yun Tianming, an unwilling participant in the Trisolaran’s plans. Yun has lived for several hundred years, in and out of hibernation. He has been sent into space as a disembodied brain, been made to serve as a spy and traitor to humanity and has been systematically tortured by his Trisolaran captors. As the new book begins, he and his wife are living solitary lives on a private world known only as the Blue Planet. Following the death of his wife, Yun himself prepares to die, but is thwarted by a mysterious entity known only as the Spirit. This Spirit has one last task for Yun: to find and destroy a malignant, omnipotent force called the Lurker, a force capable of completing the destruction of all human—and non-human—life.
Yun agrees to take on this task, but is determined to do so in his own fashion. What follows is a brilliantly conceived excursion into the mysteries and miracles of “the grand universe” that surrounds us. No mere piece of fan fiction, Baoshu’s novel is both an independent creation and a unique act of collaboration that expands our understanding of Cixin Liu’s incredible achievement. This is science fiction for the true connoisseur: fearless, visionary and endlessly inventive. For the many admirers of Cixin Liu’s masterpiece, The Redemption of Time is an unexpected—and most welcome—gift.
Limited: each are signed and numbered editions of 250 copies
Remembrance of Earth's Pastby Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu, translated by Joel Martinsen
By turns sombre, despairing, lyrical, and hopeful, the trilogy comprises the award-winning The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest and Death's End. Across the series, Cixin Liu asks the desperate, melancholic question of our time: will humanity reach for the stars or die in its cradle?
To celebrate the conclusion of the series, Head of Zeus are printing a numbered and signed one-volume edition of the books that have captured the imagination of readers all over the world.
Of Ants and Dinosaurs
In a sunlit clearing in central Gondwana, on an otherwise ordinary day in the late Cretaceous, the seeds of Earth's first and greatest civilization were sown in the grisly aftermath of a Tyrannosaurus' lunch.
Throughout the universe, intelligence is a rare and fragile commodity – a fleeting glimmer in the long night of cosmic history. That Earth should harbour not just one but two intelligent species at the same time, defies the odds. That these species, so unalike – and yet so complementary – should forge an alliance that kindled a civilization defies logic. But time is endless and everything comes to pass eventually...
The alliance between ants and dinosaurs, was of course, based on dentistry. Yet from such humble beginnings came writing, mathematics, computers, fusion, antimatter and even space travel – a veritable Age of Wonder! But such magnificent industry comes at a price – a price paid first by Earth's biosphere, and then by all those dependent on it.
And yet the Dinosaurs refused to heed the Ants' warning of impending ecological collapse, leaving the Ant Federation facing a single dilemma: destroy the dinosaurs, destroy a civilization... or perish alongside them?
Hold Up the Sky
The twelve stories gathered here are tightly constructed narratives that address the largest possible subjects. In his introduction, Liu notes that his work concerns “the direct, tangible relationship” between humanity and the vast, unknowable universe beyond. In Liu’s hands, that disparate relationship fuels some of the most extravagant, high-concept science fiction you will ever encounter.
The earliest story, “Contraction,” examines the moment when the universe that has been expanding for billions of years begins to contract, with stunning —and unpredictable —results. “The Time Migration” is a unique time travel story that follows a mass of displaced humans moving through a succession of possible futures toward a viable new home for the human race. “2018-04-01” posits a world in which increased longevity is possible and genuine immortality within reach – all at a very steep price. In “Ode to Joy,” the universe itself conducts a concert which leads to an unexpected moment of hope. “The Thinker” imagines a vast, universal consciousness that mirrors the consciousness of the human species. To Hold up the Sky offers all of this – and a great deal more.
Finally, the Subterranean Press edition contains a bonus short story that cannot be found anywhere else. “Moonlight” is the account of a man tasked with altering and preserving the human future three times in the course of a single night. Like the eleven other stories in this remarkable volume, it is the clear product of a master craftsman with a wild, unfettered imagination. To Hold Up the Sky is a gift to Cixin Liu’s many readers, a gift they can return to repeatedly in the years to come.
| Publisher | Head of Zeus |
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