Recently, I had the pleasure of reading two science fiction trilogies from very different authors. Those are the Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Liu Cixin and The Fear Saga by Stephen Moss. Liu Cixin’s trilogy is most commonly recognized by its first book, The Three Body Problem. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these works. While they have similarities and differences, I felt the key distinction between the two is how they balance depth vs accessibility. After reading several dozen sci-fi novels, I often find that authors will pursue one over the detriment of the other. Treating them as a trade off, science fiction fails to captivate the larger public, or fails to explore the deeper ideas that pioneered the genre in the first place. I believe science fiction authors can study both these trilogies in order to produce more accessible and thought provoking fiction.
Be warned, there are spoilers ahead for both series
Similarities
Both series are science fiction trilogies that follow alien invasions. In Moss’s novels, the aliens are called Mobilie, while Cixin’s novels have the Trisolarans. Both send a fleet of invasion ships that humanity must stop. Each trilogy follows the basic storyline of discovering the aliens, resisting the aliens, and then fighting the aliens. Humanity rapidly progresses down the scientific and engineering tech trees, while the alien invaders start out more advanced, but are unable to outpace humanity. We build space ships and space elevators. The aliens try and steal earth from the humans.
The authors also both emphasize the power of the human mind. Moss’s characters identify early on the need to develop brain-computer interfaces as a key technology. Using the direct connection between man and machine to pilot space-based warships known as Skalms to great effect. Likewise, Cixin’s humans are burdened with Sophons, atom sized computers sent by the Trisolarans that are able to both invisibly spy on humans and interfere with their scientific progress. With the key incite that Sophons are unable to read minds, the UN appoints Wallfacers with near unlimited resources whose only mandate is to implement their secret strategies against the invaders. Both novels also feature traitors and spies among the humans and alien invaders alike. In Fear The Sky, the Alien agents have landed on earth ahead of the invasion, while the Nomadi faction of their forces covertly support the humans. Similarly, the human ETO aid the Trisolarans, while the Pacifist, a Trisolaran technician, represents a portion of that alien race that does not desire to harm humanity.
Key Differences
The books, however, also contain differences that greatly affect the direction of the stories. The Trisolarans are going to take 300 years to get to Earth, while the Mobiliei armada will only take 11 years. The accelerated timeline bypasses many of the questions and conflict that make The Three Body Problem interesting. Cixin’s characters often asks why they should care about an apocalypse that not even their great grand children will live to see. Additionally, because the Agents in Moss’s books are already here, the enemy is already at the gates. While these aliens actively infiltrate our militaries and governments, we have no time for deep thoughts and conflict. Like a Tom Clancy novel, we are more worried about the here and now.
In contrast, Cixin develops his world much slower and deeper. He creates perhaps the most hated woman in all of science fiction: Cheng Xin. The clear foil to another character, Thomas Wade, she represents the love and virtue of humanity. However, readers are often very frustrated by the choices she makes. For example, when humanity was able to enforce a state of mutually assured destruction (MAD) with the Trisolarans, Cheng Xin was elected to the position of Swordholder. The Swordholder alone has the power to decide whether or not to enact MAD. When the Trisolarans begin their attack within minutes of her taking over the position, she hesitates and then ultimately decides to not fulfill her duty. Readers of the series know that this directly leads to much suffering and death for humanity. However, if you are able to make it to the end, it’s clear that she represents the antithesis to the dark forest. She does not wish to hurt or kill anyone, in contrast to Thomas Wade who would not have hesitated to pull the trigger as Wallfacer. While we may agree with Wade’s “advance at all costs” on a first reading, it’s the Wades of the universe that produced the very conflict between Earth and Trisolaras.
Accessibility and Depth
Cixin’s deep and thought provoking ideas in The Dark Forest, Three Body Problem, etc elevate his alien invasion story over the thousands of attempts at the concept. However, those same ideas are packaged in a way that makes it hard for me to share them. After watching the Netflix Adaptation, A friend of mine attempted to read the series. However, they had to stop when they got to the chapter on the Human Computer. While I, a computer science major, was able to quickly grasp the concepts. I can understand why an outsider might not be able to get through 10 paragraphs describing how they used flags and simple instructions to replicate all the different logic gates one might find in a computer.
Even if my friend had finished the first book, I doubt they would have gotten through the second. After reading all three books, I am fairly confident that Cixin has traditional views of women. Even ignoring one of the characters, Lou Ji, basically kidnapping a young college girl to be his idyllic wife, there are other choices that Cixin makes that may not be acceptable for the female reader. I challenge the reader to find a single woman that isn’t described as “slender” or “elegant”. Women in his novel are pure and innocent, underrepresented in decision making and often lacking agency. In the third book, Cixin points to the feminization of men as the root cause for humanities failure to deter Trisolaran aggression. This is a common trope used to show humanity has grown weak. Cixin openly wants the reader to wish that one of those strong men, like Thomas Wade, were appointed Swordholder. I find it very uncomfortable to recommend this book to women that want to read science fiction.
At the other end, Moss’s work is way more accessible. Like Tom Clancy before him, his novels are much more focused on personal conflict, war and spy-craft. Moss’s books, while entertaining, unfortunately lacks the depth of of Cixin’s trilogy. Still, it’s a very fun read. He sets up these tense, movie worthy moments that any reader can enjoy. One moment that stuck out for me was when Cuavos, a Mobiliei, had to finally choose whether or not the betray his people, or defend the humans. In a worthy movie moment, he declares his love for his adopted human daughter and prevents the genocide of humanity. I nearly fell out of my seat. Even so, Moss’s trilogy just didn’t have that “it” factor. The Mobiliei came to earth because of the evil princess and greed. There is no three body problem in his book that motivates the Mobiliei. There is no fear of shining a light into the dark forest.
We don’t get characters like Cheng Xin in The Fear Saga. Moss’s characters are all painted in different shades of Wade-ness. They are all motivated to defeat the enemy, the only question is at what cost. In an alternate universe, perhaps Moss could have made changes to the story. What if the many factions of the Mobiliei had each came to earth independently for their own purposes. Different factions might want to exterminate humanity, help us, subjugate, or exploit us for profit. Humanity, meanwhile, might not agree which faction they should support. Maybe the friendliest of the Mobiliei are weak and unable to properly help us resist? Maybe we should side with the greedy merchants that might exploit us, but still leave us mostly independent. Can we even trust any of them? I believe some new element or conflict would have greatly elevated the 2nd and 3rd novels of Moss’s series.
Conclusion
I love the eldritch horror of The Dark Forest and the horrifying weapon that is the dual vector foil. I loved trying to decipher Yun’s fairy tail. I loved watching Lou Ji’s character growth. There are so many memorable and mind blowing ideas in Remembrance of Earth’s Past. However, I also know that Cixin did not write an accessible book. The sexist undertones in his novels have proven to be a hinderence to mainstream adaptations. Even still, his trilogy is still a masterpiece without equal in Science Fiction. At the same time, Moss wrote a book that could easily be adapted to a block buster movie. I would rather watch that movie than any of the last few cookie-cutter Marvel flops. Unfortunately, I just didn’t get the same deep feelings from Moss that Cixin imbued. Will Moss’s three novels have the same long lasting legacy that Cixin has already achieved?
I hope that more science fiction novels can replicate the magic of The Three Body Problem, while also keeping it simple for the outsider. If we keep putting great pieces of fiction in these walled gardens, how can we expect to maximize the impact of these works of art?