A Book Review: Lost Gods by Brom

Six years ago, a book called The Child Thief introduced me to the weird and the wonderful world of Brom. Who is Brom? An established artist, Brom mostly works with materials associated with Gothic fantasy. I am not arty, but Brom's arts evoke in me a sense of wonder, mystery, and terror, and I like it. A simple look at his painting is enough to make you feel curious about the story behind it.

Indeed, there are stories behind Brom's paintings, and who is better to tell you these stories than the artist himself? So it is no surprise, Brom is also a talented storyteller. His debut, The Child Thief, was very well received by the readers. Since then, Brom has established a good publishing record.

So what sort of books does Brom write? He writes fantasy, but it is difficult to identify Brom's books with a known sub-genre in fantasy. Brom's stories are fairytale-like, but it is also dark, twisted, and violent, and he serves it on a plate of spaghetti western. Brom's latest book, titled, Lost Gods, is perhaps his best novel yet.

Synopsis:

Chet Moran, age 24, has done stupid things in the past and he paid for it by getting himself locked up in the jail. Now that his sentence is due, Chet wants nothing more than a second chance at a new life, with his pregnant wife, Trish.

On a night highway, lit by a pale moon, Chet and Trish drove a beat up car to South Carolina and starting a new chapter in their life. Their destination, the home of Chet's estranged grandmother, Lamia, whom Chet believed would offer them a safe haven until the little family can stand on their own feet again. When the couple reached the journey's end, they found themselves greeted by an eerie island, an island whose memory is looming with legends of witchcraft and ancient evils. However, if the place gave the couple any goose bump, it was quickly dispelled by Lamia's warmth and radiant smile.

“Lamia is still the kind grandmother from my childhood”, thought Chet.

So the couple settled down in Lamia's old house, and they were bathing in the joys of Trish's coming baby. The future is finally looking bright for Chet and Trish.

Or is it?

My thoughts on this book:

Over the years I realized, if you are longing for a dark and twisted story, then you can trust Brom to quench that thirst. Lost Gods is set in the purgatory, but this is not the purgatory from Catholicism. No, Brom's purgatory is a fascinating place where the gods and the demons fight to gain the souls of the dead. Here Brom teases a very interesting idea – what happened to those gods who no longer have any believers? (Hence the books' title, Lost Gods).

Ok, this idea is not new; in American Gods and Discworld novels, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett both based their stories on this idea: a god's (or a religion's) power is only as strong as the number of its believers. The world, then, is a play field where the gods (religions) compete each other for believers in order to ensure their continuous survivals. While this idea is common sense, but when a master storyteller wraps it in narratives, then it suddenly opens a gateway, inviting its reader to review the nature of belief from a very different perspective.

In Lost Gods, Chet Moran is the main protagonist. I like Chet's character. In this book, Chet is just a normal man who is fighting for a chance to make it up to his family. This is a story about his redemption. Chet may lack the martial prowess when compared to fantasy heroes such as Roland Deschain or Harry Dresden, but he makes it all up with a lot of heart, and I rooted for his character straight away. Chet is a very human hero, he has a stout heart but little prowess. This is why, when Chet steps into dangers you will hold your breath for him, but when he succeeds you will also cheer for him. This also means, Lost Gods builds tensions, it immerses a reader under a sense of real danger, and its conclusion, although bitter sweet, is very rewarding.

Brom always illustrates his own books. While there are only 6 illustrations in Lost Gods, but they are excellent. Not only do these illustrations help us envision Brom's imaginative and wonderful characters, but they also reflect the attractive qualities of Brom's arts; the mystery, the wonder, and the terror. Below are a few sample illustrations from this book.

Lost Gods is a fine tale. This is probably Brom's best book up to date. This book is Gothic, horror, fantasy, western, and fairy tale rolled into one. Once again, Brom demonstrated, he is as a talented author as he is a brilliant artist. I cannot wait to read what strange and wonderful tale he has in store for us at the next time.

P.S.

I happen to be in possession of a spare copy for this book. Therefore, I am going to do a give-away competition on my blog.

The rule:

Simply comment below and share with us, what is your favorite dark (or grimdark?) fantasy book and why. I will enter your name into a draw. In 2 months time, I will announce the winner of the draw, and I will mail the book to you free of charge. But please note, this competition is ONLY for people living in Sydney, Australia (because at this stage, I am not mailing the books internationally).

In the future, I may be doing more, occasional give-away competitions on my blog, and I may also expand the competition to my international readers. So stay tuned to my blog channel and I hope you enjoy reading my reviews as much as I enjoy writing and sharing them. Until the next time, happy reading!

A Book Review: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Why does the thunder rumble in the sky? Where did poetry come from? What causes the tremors in the earth?

Once upon a time, an ancient people had the answers to these mysteries. These people dwelt in Northern Europe, where the light of its summer days were as long as the darkness of its winter nights. They told colorful stories about gods and monsters in a cyclic cosmos, a cosmos that began with a creation and would one day end in Ragnarok, and then resumes with a creation again. They believed this cycle is never ending, just like the sun and the moon, the summer and the winter, and the fire and the ice. To these people, the distant heaven and the dreaded hell were meaningless to them. Instead, they believed the sacred revealed itself in all living things, here and now, because the world is full of wonders as it is full of terrors. These tales are very old.

Fortunately, these ancient stories are not completely lost in the passage of time. Today, these stories are known as Norse mythology, and it has inspired a generation of fantasy literature. Indeed, Norse mythology is the tale of all tales, it is the DNA in iconic works in the genre, such as The Lord of The Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Dungeons & Dragons, and A Song of Ice and Fire. Yet, due to its age, and the style of narrations, modern readers may find Norse mythology a bit dry. Just pick up one of the Eddas and you will see what I mean.

When Neil Gaiman announced, he was going to fashion Norse Mythology into a book with a novelistic arc, the news excited many readers (including me). We know Neil Gaiman can spin ripping yarns, so what can we expect from the author of American Gods and Stardust, should he directs his talents to forging a novel about Norse mythology?

The answer arrived a few months later. Norse Mythology arrived at my doorstep with thunder and lightning. And behold, Thor's hammer dominated the book's front cover. Its look was majestic! But what about its content?

Simply putting it, I really like this book!

On the other hand, to those who are expecting an epic fantasy novel, you will be disappointed. Norse Mythology is a “retelling” of the Norse myths. When I read this book, it didn't feel like a novel. This book is similar to Kevin Crossley Holland's Norse Mythology. It consists of multiple stories about the adventures of the Norse gods, starting from the creation and ending at the Ragnarok. While there is an overarching theme that connects the stories, but its structure is far from being an epic fantasy book. Instead, Neil Gaiman retold these ancient tales using words that are easy to understand. Meanwhile, many Norse gods appeared in the stories; Odin, Thor, Loki, Tyr, Freya, etc, who, in today's world, still have the days of the week devoted to their names. Colorful and vibrant, these characters are very human, but they are also deeply flawed. In my opinion, the most interesting character is Loki. He is mischievous. In some stories Loki was the villain, yet in others he appeared as an anti-hero. I also noticed, the stories at the beginning of the book were humorous and lighthearted, but the book increased in its shade of darkness as the gods gradually moved towards the Ragnarok.

When viewed holistically, these Norse myths are conveying the theme of cycle – from birth to life to death and rebirth – like the cyclic phenomena we often observe in the nature. I found this theme particularly interesting. Why? I have a hypothesis. I think every culture and its mythology (metaphysical belief) is shaped by the natural environment it inhabited. Let me explain.

Say, for example, in the Bible, the god of Judeo-Christianity is angry at the humankind. The Bible's overarching theme is the reconciliation between the god of Abraham and his people, via the offering of sacrifices. Now, let's look at the geographical climate for the birthplace of Judeo-Christian mythology. This metaphysical belief originated in the deserts of the ancient near east, where resources were scarce and the climate (such as rainfall and drought) could heavily impact people's livelihood. So it stands to reason, in the ancient near east, due to the harsh living conditions, people would think they were punished by their god because they committed some offense. Then in the Bible, they established a system of ritualistic sacrifices to asking their god's forgiveness, not only in this world, but also hoping for the arrival of a better world through the apocalypse.

On the other hand, in the case of Norse mythology, the ancient Nordic people inhabited in Northern Europe, where the days are extremely long in summer but very short in winter. The climate in the Nordic land is polarized from one season to the next. Inevitably, this also means, the amount of available resources fluctuate, cyclically, between the different seasons in a year. I speculate, from this observation, these people extrapolated a metaphysical interpretation about the cyclic cosmos. They came to believe that sacredness is revealed by the wonders and the terrors in the world, here and now, while the concept of a distant heaven or hell were of no concern to them. This is why, when Christianity first arrived in Northern Europe, the Nordic people felt no connection with Christianity altogether.

There you have it, that is my speculations, on how climate and geography can shape a culture's view about life, its metaphysical beliefs and its associated mythology, and often leading to significant cultural differences.

Ok, enough with my rant. Back to the book. Let me just say Norse myths is my favorite mythology, and Neil Gaiman did a wonderful job at retelling it. In Norse Mythology, Mr. Gaiman made these stories fun and easy to read. It serves as an excellent introduction to the Norse myths, and I highly recommend this book to fans of the fantasy genre.

A Book Review: Death's End by Cixin Liu (Remembrance of Earth's Past #3)

Imagine a life in a bubbling lake of hot tar. Is that even possible? Surely, life cannot exist at such a place, right? Yet, scientists discovered, at Pitch Lake, the world's largest naturally occurring asphalt lake, up to 10 million microbes live in every gram of this black, sticky goo. But Pitch Lake is just one of the many unthinkable places where scientists have discovered life. On the other hand, I think we can say, life finds a way to adapt and survive in the harshest circumstances - Life IS survival, those who didn't aren't alive anymore.

There are, however, many says to survive, and not all life forms are the same, so what is the best way for the intelligent life to meet the adaptive challenges? In Death's End, the conclusion to the phenomenal sci-fi epic, Remembrance of Earth's Past, author Cixin Liu explored this question, not only for the humankind, but for the survival of the entire universe. This book's scope is breathtaking, I have never read a book as vast as Death's End. This novel brings the trilogy to a satisfying (and mind-bending) conclusion. Meanwhile, I think this trilogy is a magnum opus in the science fiction genre.

Like its 2 predecessors (The ThreeBody Problem and The Dark Forest), the plot in Death's End revolves around a mystery. I racked my brain and I am still unable to write a spoiler-free synopsis for this book, so my review will just have to go without it. I think it will suffice to say, we meet a new protagonist in Death's End. Her name is Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer. From here, we follow Cheng Xin to the end of the universe.

Author Ken Liu once again took the helm for translating the book from Chinese into English. I have not read Death's End in Chinese, but I thought the English translation is seamless, it is very smooth and well written. The book made occasional references to Chinese cultural items unfamiliar to the western readers, but Ken Liu included useful footnotes to helping English readers understanding its significance.

This trilogy is “hard” sci-fi. The first book, The Three Body Problem, was about theoretical physics. The second installment, The Dark Forest, was about evolution and sociology. In Death's End, it talks about both theoretical physics and evolution. From evolution to the string theory, Death's End covered a broad range of theories in science! Some of the sciences mentioned in this book are established theories, while others are probably speculative. There are a lot of hardcore science theories in this book. Yet, Cixin Liu has this amazing ability to graft a scientific theory from its spatial/mathematical presentation to the bone and marrow of literature, allowing his readers to envision the extent of it through literary devices.

Let me put it this way, you can read a journal paper about the string theory, or the 26 dimensions of the universe. You can read the mathematical equations that model these theories, but it is impossible to “visualize” what it actually looks like. For example, we can visualize a 2 dimensional world, something like a painting, from our 3 dimensional perspective. But can you imagine what a 4 dimensional world looks like from our dimensional perspective? It is impossible, right? But in this book, Cixin Liu transplanted these ideas into literary terms, which helped his readers to visualize what it “could” look like. His writings captured the grandeur and the vastness of the mysterious universe, it made me reflect on the reality that by comparison, humanity is so small and our history within this universe is so very, very brief.

The story in Death's End is rich as its scope is expansive. There are many characters in this book, and every one of them received a vivid and well-rounded portrayal. None of them are caricatures. Some parts of this book are outright frightening, while others are hopeful. Throughout the whole book, it depicted the characters' feelings and experiences genuinely. As readers, we accompanied these characters on their journey through despair as well as hope. By the time I turned to the last page in this book, I found it hard to part ways with some of these characters. I look forward to the day when I will be re-reading this trilogy and visiting these characters again.

Death's End is an interesting book. It is inherently thought-provoking. From my interpretation, at its core is a story that unifies science and philosophy, to exploring a question. That is, the question at the beginning of my review: What is the way to survival? In our world, we talk about survival with ideas such as altruism/love and selfishness. Some people assert, altruism/love is incompatible with survival. These people claim, if survival is the only thing that matters, then altruism/love is a mistake so in order to love we must subscribe to some mystic/religious view. They want to force us into believing it is all or nothing!

Well, I strongly disagree!

Why? This is because these people forgot to mention, survival have 2 levels; individual survival as well as group survival, and these 2 are not the same. Selfishness may benefit an individual's survival within a group, but on the other hand, we all need group survival, collectively, or our existence will cease; and group survival requires altruism/love. We can observe this tension, between love and selfishness, in humanity. To use an analogy, we are 90% chimps and 10% bees. The “chimps” part of us has allowed us to individually thrive in the society, but the “bees” part of us has improved our chance at survival by being collective as a group, as a civilization. I think the truth is, our fragile existence in this universe stands on the tension between altruism and selfishness, and we will probably die out without either one of them. In my interpretation of the book, I think this is where Death's End is pointing a direction to the answer to survival. I think this book provides a thought experiment, showing us that love doesn't come from some mystic/religious origin. In the face of survival, love is not a mistake. 

Instead, the instinct of survival dictates that we ARE love. 

Love may appear counter-intuitive and impossible, but to survive we have become love (and selfishness), just like the microbes at Pitch Lake has found a way to adapt and live in a sea of bubbling hot tar. It is mind-bending, rendering this naturalistic view about love equally as majestic as (if not more majestic than) the mystic/religious view about love.

I highly recommend this trilogy to the fans of the sci-fi genre, especially to those who are fond of hard sci-fi stories.

A Book Review: The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu (Remembrance of Earth's Past #2)

In 2015, Cixin Liu's The Three Body Problem won Hugo Award for Best Novel, but it was only the beginning of a sci-fi epic in three acts. The second installment in this trilogy is called The Dark Forest. Like its predecessor, The Dark Forest was originally written in Chinese, and it received an English translation. This is a “hard” sci-fi novel (think of hard sci-fi as something like Arthur C Clarke's 2001 Space Odyssey).

The Three Body Problem was great, but I like The Dark Forest even more. This book is mind bending. I am going to avoid spoilers in my book review. This is why, this review will be devoid of a synopsis. Meanwhile, I find it difficult to describe my feelings after reading this book. Fortunately, I came across a video tribute for this book, it is called “Waterdrop”. The video captured my feelings; it is free of spoilers, and it is stunning.

I will start my review this way

Take a minute and think about these 2 questions:

Question 1 – if intelligent, extra terrestrial life exists elsewhere, then what would be humanity's position within this vast, and dark, universe?

Question 2 - if there exists a technologically advanced alien civilization, then why haven't they contacted us?

Now imagine this scenario. An alien civilization, with technology more advanced than ours, is coming to earth to wipe out humanity. We have 450 years until the alien fleet arrives on earth. The clock is ticking. How will we ensure humanity's survival? How will such an event affect us? This is the premise for The Dark Forest, and it revolves around 2 axioms for cosmic civilization:

Axiom A – Survival is the primary need of civilization

Axiom B – Civilization continuously grows and expands, but the total matter in the universe remains constant.

These 2 axioms provide a key to humanity's salvation. Can you figure what it is? Halfway into the book, I figured out the solution to the problem, but it did not diminish my enjoyment of this book. Not at all. This book had me eagerly turning the pages because its plot twisted and turned unexpectedly. Meanwhile, the book's deeply flawed, but humane characters sank me right into this story, where I stood on these characters' shoulders, and witnessed the struggle for humanity's survival. This book seated me on an emotional roller coaster, some chapters landed me in a bottomless despair, while others lifted me to the crest of hope. What a remarkable journey this is!

In terms of its storytelling, The Dark Forest differs greatly to The Three Body Problem. This is a character driven story, and it thoroughly explored each character's life, thoughts, and emotions. I like what Cixin Liu has done here, it shows that he is a versatile author capable of varying his storytelling method, to establishing a different ambiance in the sequel.

The Dark Forest also differs to The Three Body Problem in terms of its themes. While The Three Body Problem was based on theoretical physics and numerical methods, The Dark Forest is mostly about evolution and sociology. This also means, some readers may find The Dark Forest more accessible than The Three Body Problem. For me, while I found the themes in both books equally attractive, but I did find the themes in The Dark Forest more thought provoking than its predecessor, it invites an exploration in philosophy.

I am going to stop my review here lest I spoil the story. Let me just say, The Dark Forest is a stunning piece of work in the sci-fi genre. This is one of the most satisfying, fun, and thought provoking book I have read. I highly recommend this trilogy.

End of book review

Below is an extra section, this is where I will share my personal reflection on this book. If you don't want spoilers, then please refrain yourself from reading this section.

WARNING: spoilers ahead:

Humanity has been asking this question: “Are we alone in this universe”?

This question has prompted numerous scientific researches into ET life, and it also inspired a generation of science fiction stories. Personally, I think it is very likely that we are alone. That is, we are most likely alone even if intelligent alien life exists elsewhere.

Huh? How can that be?

We have the tendency to anthropomorphizing the universe. We project our human morality (or, local morality) to the universe, believing that our local standard on earth, about kindness and generosity, is some sort of a cosmic standard to measure how things ought to be. The extent of this romantic notion can be seen in our popular sci-fi movies, such as Star Wars and Star Trek, where it imagines a galactic civilization in which various species of sentient creatures can peacefully co-exist. Yet, this is a scenario entirely based on the human values.

Think of it this way. Morality and cultures are products of adaptive challenges, for survival. It is a product of nature as well as nurture. Most human cultures share similar moral values, because we have similar biological makeup; we all live on earth, where the geological environments are similar and our distances from each other aren't so great. But if there exists some intelligent alien life on some planet thousands of light years away, then there is no guarantee they would be similar to us in anyway, both biologically and culturally.

This means, who knows what moral value may exist in an alien civilization, whose biological makeup and planetary environment are utterly “alien” to ours?

This is why, even if alien civilizations exist, then their values may not align with ours, leaving us "alone" in this universe.

Now, given those 2 axioms for cosmic civilization, is it really wise to persist in our romantic notion about the universe? Or perhaps such a romantic notion could invite our extinction?

The universe is 13 billion years old. If intelligent alien life exists elsewhere, and their civilization is older than ours, then there is no telling how technologically advanced they are. For the last 50 years we have made tremendous progress, reaching the information age. Yet, according to Kardashev Scale, for all of our progress in computers, energy generation and space flight, we haven't even reached type 1 civilization! So imagine, what would a type 2 or type 3 civilization look like? The depth of their technological prowess may be beyond our wildest imaginations!

In fact, if there exists an older, and more technologically advanced alien civilization than ours, then could it be that they are hunters stalking the dark forest that is the universe, scourging for its limited supplies and resources? Meanwhile, humanity, whose progress is comparable to a young child, lit a bonfire for the hunters and shouting naively: “hey I am here and I am nice, come to me and let's be friend!”.

Is that really wise?

This is why, I think we should discard our romantic notion about the universe. Just because our value is X doesn't mean others' value is X too. Instead of naively extending our invitation and generosity to the sky above, we ought to extend our standard, that of kindness and generosity, chiefly to our fellow human beings. Meanwhile, we should forever stay vigilant against the vast universe, to safeguard our fragile civilization therein.

A Book Review: The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Remembrance of Earth's Past #1)

There is a sci-fi novel called The Three Body Problem. It is written by Cixin Liu, and translated by Ken Liu. In 2015, Barrack Obama picked this book for his winter reading list. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg named it, the book of the year. In what followed, The Three Body Problem won Hugo Award for Best Novel, making Cixin Liu the first Asian author to have won this award.

The Three Body Problem has established an impressive record in the US. This phenomenon is even more impressive, considering the book was originally written in Chinese and translated into English - How did a Chinese sci-fi novel gain such overwhelming popularity and support in the US?

The simple answer to the above question: The Three Body Problem is a great book!

I am not a fan of sci-fi novels, but I really like this one. This book sets your brain in motion, it makes you think. Even as I am sitting down and writing this review, my mind is still unpacking this book. There is so much to say about this novel, but I cannot discuss too much of its content lest I spoil the story. As a start to this review, let me provide a (spoiler free) synopsis.

Synopsis:

1967, China

The spirit of the revolution soared high across the Middle Kingdom. In Tsinghua highschool, a mob of young Red Guards, chanting a song about the infallible Chairman Mao, brought a middle aged man onto a stage to be trialed. The man had a look of academia about him, and despite being surrounded by a circle of feverish mob, he stood tall and proud, unwavering. The mob announced the man's name, Ye Zhetai, an astrophysics at Tsinghua University.

Ye Zhetai's crime; he was an intellectual, an elite, an enemy to the “people”. In the true spirit of the revolution, Ye Zhetai's wife stood up and denounced him too.

Nearby the mob stood Ye Zhetai's daughter, Ye Wenjie. She too, was an astrophysicist. Ye Wenjie watched helplessly at her father, while he defended himself against the mob with nothing but reason and rationality. Before long, four Red Guards, girls who could not be more than 16 years of age, beat her father to death with a whip.

As Wenjie fled the school, she cast a final glance at her father's lifeless body, and sorrow consumed her soul. She made a narrow escape to the rural regions of China. As an exile, Wenjie found some safety until she entangled herself in deep trouble again. She wrote a comment for an American book, a book banned by the people's revolution. Fortunately for Wenjie, she was spared of her father's fate when she was recruited by The Red Coast Base, a top military establishment commissioned by the communist government for carrying out a secretive operation.

Wenjie arrived at the Red Coast Base on a wintry day. The piercing cold was assaulting the facility, transforming it into a palace of snow. Little did the rest of the world know, as Wenjie stepped into the base, she would also write the future of mankind...

My thoughts on this book:

The Three Body Problem intrigued me with its scope and suspense. But the first thing I wish to mention, this is a “hard” sci-fi novel. This book is not a space opera. What does this mean? While this is a sci-fi story, but The Three Body Problem talks about real science. The author, Cixin Liu, believed that nature/science itself tells a wonderful story. Following this belief, Cixin Liu built the story on theoretical physics, which also led to the discussions on numerical methods and computational modelling. In other words, The Three Body Problem is not like Dune or Star Wars. It is also unlike Andy Weir's The Martian. While this book talks about science and history, but at its core is a political thriller. Think of The Three Body Problem as a combination of: Contact, The Manchurian Candidate, A Brief History of Time, and a history of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

If you are unsure about this book because theoretical physics and numerical methods are not your forte, then I wish to provide you with a reassurance. For all of its talk on theoretical physics, The Three Body Problem IS a novel, it tells a thrilling story and it is surprisingly easy to follow. The author had a talent at depicting the sciences in a vivid and captivating manner. Furthermore, at the core of this book lies a thriller. The author did an excellent job at mounting the suspense and veiling the plot with layers of mysteries. It suffices to say, the story took many unexpected twists and turns. It surprised me and it gripped me. This is an intriguing book with fascinating ideas, and I found this book hard to put down.

I mentioned earlier, The Three Body Problem was originally written in Chinese, and then translated into English. Here I want to applaud Ken Liu's excellent work at translating this book. I am bilingual, I know Chinese too. Anyone who can speak two or more languages knows, when a book is translated into another language, some its meanings, the culture, and the nuances of the story, are often lost. But this is not the case for The Three Body Problem. I think the English translation successfully preserved the richness of the story.

Throughout the book, the translator provided footnotes at the bottom of some pages. This is to explaining the significance of certain Chinese historical characters, sayings, or culture that are foreign to a western reader. I think those footnotes are great! I am also very happy that this book received a quality English translation and it became popular in the English speaking world. It is a cultural exchange, I think it helps to building bridges and connecting different cultures. I mean, while many famous works of Western literature are well known in the Asian culture, but not many famous works of Asian literature are well known in the Western culture. For example, my parents, who are not fluent in English and living in Asia, have both read famous Western literature such as Jane Eyre and Gone with the Wind. But how many people living in the Western world have read The Romance of Three Kingdoms, or Dream of the Red Chamber? I can only hope, more Asian literature will receive quality translations in the future. This is not only for cultural exchange, but more importantly because I like good stories, I believe good stories are worth telling and knowing, good stories should be shared among people despite language and cultural differences.

The most surprising aspect of this book is its portrayal of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (hint: It was not a positive portrayal). Apparently Cixin Liu is regarded as China's Arthur C. Clarke, and I was really surprised to a Chinese sci-fi novel becoming so successful in the mainland despite its negative portrayal of the Cultural Revolution. Perhaps this is a sign of progress. Meanwhile, reading about the Cultural Revolution was terrifying! I have always lived in an environment that encourages science, independent thought, and free speech. This is why I found the story of cultural revolution horrifying, where the mass just collectively decided to kill science and reason, then replaced it with anti-intellectualism and systematic indoctrination, in favor of a centralized thought control governance. And reading about this history is even more alarming today, considering in the recent years, we are seeing a resurgence of superstitions, where people turn away from science; the anti vaccine movement, global warming denialist, believing in prayer healings, angels, so on and so forth. I think this is why, this kind of book is important, and I wish more people would read books and think critically.

Some readers expressed their dislikes about the characterization in this book. Some have said, the characters in this book are flat, two dimensional, and they appear to exist for the purpose of telling the story. I can understand where these readers are coming from. The Three Body Problem does use an unusual storytelling method. In my opinion, this is a matter of cultural difference. Let me explain.

Chinese literature often favor “plot-driven” storytelling; a Chinese novel often focuses on narrating a string of events, where the characters are parts of the story and not the story itself. For example, a book may describe Bob Cheng doing X and Y, but it rarely describes Bob's thoughts and emotions. Western literature, on the other hand, are more “character-driven”; the stories often explore individual characters in great details, it focuses on how the events shaped the characters' thoughts and emotions. Let me put it this way - In the Western literature, a book may spend 80 pages on how Frodo felt about the ring without him even leaving the Shire; you get to know Frodo really well in those 80 pages but he hasn't done much. Meanwhile, in the Chinese literature, within a space of 30 pages, the story already talked about how General Guan Yu slain 5 generals in bouts of single combats, then led an army and conquered 10 cities in 6 months; you get a sense of big scope at a fast-paced storytelling, but you don't know much about Guan Yu's emotions and feelings. Which method of storytelling method is better? I don't have a preference. I think both methods have merits. For me, these differences don't bother me as much as I just try to enjoy a good story.

So there you have it, my thoughts on The Three Body problem. I like this book and I believe it is worth reading even if you are not into science fiction. While I have discussed the many intriguing aspects in this book, but I don't think my review has any spoiler. A word of caution, I would avoid reading the book blurb on Goodreads and Amazon. This is because they revealed too much of the plot and it spoils the story. Otherwise, I highly recommend The Three Body Problem to you, and I hope you would like it as much as I did.

A Book Review: Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman - The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why

I was an evangelical Christian for 7 years, then I left my religious faith to become an agnostic atheist. There are five defining doctrines for evangelical Christianity, AKA, the five “solas”. One of them, is called, Sola Scriptura. What is this? In English, it means “scripture alone”. A few definitions are being included in Sola Scriptura, but one of its definition clearly separates evangelical Christianity from its Catholic parents. What is it? It is the view, the Bible is sufficient to itself to be the final authority of the Christian doctrine. This can explain, why the evangelical Christians do not subscribe to apostolic tradition.

Where am I going with this? Feel free to read on, let me continue and explain why this is related to my book review.

After I left the evangelical church, I did not become an agnostic atheist straight away. No, I took some time and explored the more ancient churches, such as Catholicism and its Eastern brother. During that time I discovered, without apostolic tradition, the evangelical doctrine of Sola Scriptura is unsustainable and unfounded. I realized, subscribing to Sola Scriptura can lead to inconsistencies in Christianity, landing the Christian faith on a shaky ground. (Here I will refer to a book called, “Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic”, authored by David Currie). 

However, my intention here is not to expounding the merit and the demerit in apostolic tradition and Sola Scriptura. No, I am here to review a book, written by Professor Bart Ehrman, and it is called “Misquoting Jesus – The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why”.

What is the connection between Professor Ehrman's book and the contents of the above paragraphs? Well, evangelical Christianity claims, the Bible is sufficient to itself to be the final authority of Christian doctrine. Meanwhile, all Christians claim the Bible is “without fault”. But what if the Bible we have today has deviated from its “originals”, because in the thousand years of its transmission, it was changed, modified, and have some verses/words added and removed from it, by the people who copied it? If this is true, then which copied manuscripts are self sufficient and without fault? All of them? But what if some copies of the manuscripts show remarkable differences to other copies, in terms of its theology and historical descriptions? If this is true, then what do descriptions such as,"without fault' and "self sufficient", even mean for the Bible?

Ok, one may argue, even if the scribes made some unintentional/intentional changes here and there in the manuscripts, it still wouldn't affect the general thrust of Christianity. If this is what you think, then you NEED to read Misquoting Jesus. You see, scholars have closely examined the surviving Bible manuscripts. The manuscripts are usually dated to centuries after the time of Jesus, and scholars found ten thousands of variations in them. While it is true that most of these changes are insignificant, but others do affect Christianity remarkably; sometimes the changes set Christian theology on a very different course, while other times the changes lead to contradictions in narrated events. This book talks about all these changes in details. Yet, the best thing about Misquoting Jesus is that Professor Ehrman digs deeply under the surface. He doesn't just show you the changes that were made to the Bible. No, Professor Ehrman employed textual criticism and reconstructed what the “originals” probably looked like, then he examined the changes in its historical context, and finally showing us “who” changed the Bible and "why" they changed it. 

I enjoyed reading Misquoting Jesus, it is like a piece of detective work. On a deeper level, I think this book also reminded us, just like the human scribes who physically changed the Bible, every generation of Christians are also changing the Bible every time they read it; they are re-interpreting the words in the Bible, to see how those words might make sense to their own situations in life, 

A personal note, I found this book valuable because I realized, without all these changes, the Bible probably wouldn't sound as good as the preachers made it out to be. 

Postscript 1:

Here I will provide an example to demonstrate the problem of Sola Scriptura: 

The doctrine of trinity, where does the Bible say God is EXACTLY three? 

Let me put it this way; suppose I tell you, there is a TV, a bookcase, and a bed in my home. Without adding or removing information, how can you conclude that I ONLY have those 3 items in my home and nothing more?  

If Sola Scriptura is to be employed with integrity, then the logical conclusion should produce the doctrine of AT LEAST TRINITY. So where did the doctrine of trinity come from? From the ancient church tradition! The scripture alone is "not sufficient" to justify this core Christian doctrine. I have no vested interest at debating which church tradition should be included, but I think there are other reasons to take an interest in the doctrine of trinity. What sort reasons? It will become more apparent, if you read Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus and his other book, How Jesus Became God, where you will find the fascinating history behind the conception for trinity.

Postscript 2:

This is a tangent to Misquoting Jesus. While apostolic tradition stabilizes the Catholic and Eastern churches from the shakiness produced by Sola Scriptura, but these ancient churches face a different challenge - they need to demonstrate that apostolic tradition, passed down orally, has never changed in 2000 years. Personally, I think it is very difficult to justify this claim. 

Until the next time, happy reading!

A Book Review: Make Me by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #20)

In the past 5 weeks, I read 5 Jack Reacher books; one week one Reacher. I am not reading this series in the sequential order. My local library has these books, but they are being loaned out all the time, so I can only borrow these books as they become available. That is fine, because every Jack Reacher novel tells a stand alone story. This means you can start from anywhere you like. This week I read Make Me. This is the 20^th installment in the series. Admittedly, this book is sharing a similar structure with its predecessors. Formulaic? Maybe, but Make Me is still a very fine thrill machine.

Synopsis:

Jack Reacher stepped off a train in the middle of nowhere. What was Jack doing? He just wanted to find out, why on earth would anyone name a town, Mother's Rest?

All was quiet when Jack set his foot on the ground. On his side stood a steel post, marking the train stop. Meanwhile, straight ahead, the shape of a little town loomed silently in the distance. Jack was making his way into the town when a woman approached him.

She seemed distressed.

The woman introduced herself as Michelle Chang. She had mistaken Jack as her missing partner from a private investigation. She suspected, their small investigation must have dug out something big and deadly. The woman was worried about her partner's life. Jack decided to help her out. After all, it was not like Jack had anywhere to go.

The duo drove a car into Mother's Rest. They followed the clue to a motel, where they met a strange and watchful clerk. From there, Jack would unravel a dark secret spanning from a little Midwest town all the way to Chicago, LA, Phoenix, San Francisco and then back.

Some people wanted Jack to back off from the case. No chance in hell! Jack Reacher's way is this – If you want me to stop, then you gotta make me.

My thoughts on this book:

Lee Child has written more than 20 Jack Reacher novels, and this series fetched a crazy sales figure exceeding 125 million copies. While some have flagged these books with a description such as guilty pleasure reads, but the staggering sales figure alone testifies the endurance, and the appeal, of these books. Make Me showcased all the fine qualities that earned a lasting fondness from the reading community.

Upon the first glance, Make Me has a similar setting to previous books; Jack Reacher visited a small town at whim, he discovered a criminal activity untouchable by the legal authority, so he decided to dispense some justice. The setting in this book might be giving its reader a deja vu, but to Lee Child's credit, this book still surprised me all the way.

How? Well, the crimes in this book is unique.

In fact, what sets every Jack Reacher novel apart from each other, is the crimes. I have no idea where Lee Child is getting his ideas from, but the crimes in each Jack Reacher book is always distinctive and intriguing, Make Me is no exception. The plot in this book is multi-layered, the story twisted and turned as it unfolded in front of a reader's eyes. Lee Child is a master at mounting the suspense. He keeps the secret very close to the heart. He keeps a reader guessing at the answer, and he only unveils the solution, very close to the book's end. This is why, reading a Jack Reacher novel is always a rewarding experience. In this book, Jack Reacher overcame obstacles and gradually solved puzzles. Ultimately, Reacher did expose the villain's machination in full, but it was disbursing! In my opinion, the criminal activity in Make Me is the darkest in this series. Thankfully, the sort of things that were mentioned in this book are fictitious (I hope).

While Jack Reacher books are not exactly “action-packed”, but these book never run short on the action side of things either. Throughout Make Me, there are some fighting scenes here and there to spice things up. Especially at the end of the book, where a concentrated dose of fighting scenes provided an excitable conclusion to Reacher's quest for justice. While the ending is pretty good, but in my opinion, it is somewhat falling flat in comparison to the previous novels, such as Gone Tomorrow, where the action scenes in the end was so thrilling it sent me to the edge of my seat. Despite its slightly flat ending, Make Me is still a thrilling and entertaining read. The plot, the characters, and the suspense, worked their charms in this book and gripped me right from the first chapter.

I returned this book to the library and searched for more Jack Reacher books. To my disappointment, I was told by the librarian, all of their Jack Reacher novels are being loaned out. So I guess I will just have to bide my time for Jack Reacher's next thrilling adventure. Meanwhile, if you are fond of crime thrillers, then don't waste anymore time. Acquaint yourself with Jack Reacher. Make a trip to your library or the local bookstore, and get a book called Killing Floor. I think you will like it.