The Redemption of Time

I wanted to give this book at least 3 stars. I really did.

Liu Cixin's “The Three Body Problem” trilogy was amazing. I literally had an out-of-body experience just from reading it. Descriptions about aliens, the failing nature of humans, and our mind-boggling insignificance in the universe had made me ugly cry by the end of the series. Heck, even Barack Obama used these books to escape from his day-to-day politics. But like many other expansive stories, some plot points are left unaddressed and untold. This is where Baoshu came in with this fan fiction sequel to try to fill in the gaps

The ideas presented on “The Redemption of Time” are intriguing, just like on the trilogy. Being relatively untrained on hardcore philosophy and/or science, maybe a lot of the explanations in this novel just went above my head. However, I like the discussion about the concept of time, especially the idea that “time is freedom.” I am also drawn to the battle of ideology between The Master and The Lurker, whether we should prioritize space or we have to preserve time. This all makes little sense to you readers, but once you get the hang of it I bet you'll be interested too.

Also, the translation is just perfect and feels as if it's not fan fiction but a canonical work from Cixin himself. I suspect that this is thanks to Ken Liu, who had also done a great job delivering the English version of the first and third books in the trilogy.

So why did I give it only 2 stars? Here are some defects that ruined my experience reading it:

1. There's this kinda sexist attitude throughout the book. Actually, even the original trilogy made questionable characterizations of its female cast, e.g. big emphasis about femininity, their tendency as care-givers, their disposition towards feelings rather than thoughts. Baoshu seems to have taken the clue and dials it up to eleven. He described Sophon (a recurring humanoid character from the trilogy) as being inspired by a certain porn star (which I first thought was fictional but actually exists in real life). Many of the female characters act just like they do in male-oriented romance, which is a trashy move coming from the author. This should be pure hard science fiction that can be read by anyone of any background, but sadly these sexist overtones will make the novel inaccessible for half of the population. I myself couldn't recommend this book for my female friends because of this problem.
2. The latter parts of the novel (which are more about creating a new story as opposed to fill in some information gaps in the original novels) deliver the juicy bits about speculations and theories related to life, the universe, and everything. But the way it is delivered feels like just a power fantasy fiction. Yun Tianming suddenly receives powers that make him somehow invincible and look younger. From this point on, he's nothing more than an empty character. At some moment in the novel I began to wonder, “Am I reading a science fiction novel, or am I reading Sword Art Online?”
3. This might not be a big deal for others, but it is to me. This author just randomly dropped a reference to Suzumiya Haruhi and then went on to slander it as “stupid cartoon.” No, sir, “Endless Eight” is one of the best arcs in the Suzumiya Haruhi light novels. In fact, it is my favorite after “The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi.” I know it has some relevance to your story, but this juvenile remark about anime has really made me doubt your seriousness about the ideas you're trying to present through your book here.

So, should you readers try it? I'll say you might want to judge for yourself whether you like it or not, but only if 1) you're not a female (I think you'll be disgusted by its portrayal of women characters), 2) you really, really, really like “The Three Body Problem” trilogy and is thirsty for more content, and 3) you can discern between the serious sci-fi concepts and the silly tropes that are the stuff of trashy fiction.