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Comment by jdshaffer | Hacker News Reader

I enjoyed most of book 1, then it suddenly went "slapstick" with the alien engineers at the end. That really turned me off to the rest of the series.

However, for those who have read books 2 and beyond, does the writing return to serious and deep or does a slapstick element remain?

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I didn't get the slapstick element. The series is worth finishing - the scope of it is just incredible. I would say top 3 sci-fi stories of all time. I actually just read the 4th book which is a work of fan fiction that apparently was sanctioned by Cxin Liu. Love this series so much.

What are the other two in your top three sci-fi?

Book 1 felt different than the other two, yeah. Some things in 1 I found more of a stretch than in the others. Book 3 went kinda Inerstellar? My takeaways from the series: Bacteria and mosses and lichens live interesting lives; NASA's "shout" to Voyager 2 risked exposing us to other life in this dark forest; and the night sky is even more wonderful to behold. I like to imagine I'm stuck with my back against the earth, looking out instead of up.

If you thought it was "slapstick" then you probably won't enjoy the rest of the books in the series. That's just the nature of the aliens, but their behavior has been consistent from the beginning of the book.

Book 2 was my fav. Book 3 was fine but was kinda like RTJ to ESB.

Thanks for the input. I might go back and give book two a try then! :-)

I’m nearly finished book 3 and have the reverse opinion - for me book 2 was the weakest of them; books 1 and 2 my clear favourites. Wonder if this reflects our preferences for translation style as much as the quality of the sci-fi itself? Books 1 & 3 were translated by Ken Liu; book 2 by Joel Martinson.

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