Cixin Liu

Also known as Liu Cixin, 刘慈欣, Da Liu, Big Liu

Speculative fiction exploring first contact with alien civilizations and cosmic-scale engineering achieved global prominence through the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, beginning with the novel The Three-Body Problem. Written by Cixin Liu, these works introduced hard scientific concepts and sweeping galactic timelines to an international audience.

Career & Background

Born in Beijing on June 23, 1963, Cixin Liu graduated from North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power before working as a computer engineer at a power plant. His engineering background provided a technical foundation that informed his rigorous approach to scientific principles and mechanical structures in his fiction.

Over his literary career, Liu became the most widely published science fiction writer in the People's Republic of China, earning China's Galaxy Award multiple times as well as the Chinese Nebula Award. The 2014 English translation of The Three-Body Problem by Ken Liu expanded his readership globally, leading to the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel—making it the first translated novel from an Asian author to receive the award.

Writing Style & Themes

Liu's writing combines hard science fiction with grand philosophical questions regarding human survival in an indifferent cosmos. His narratives frequently feature complex physics, orbital mechanics, macroscopic technological constructs, and detailed theoretical science.

Rather than focusing strictly on individual protagonists, his stories analyze macro-historical developments, social order under existential stress, and the long-term choices required of civilizations spanning centuries and millennia.

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem — First published in China in 2006 and translated into English in 2014, this novel examines humanity's response to an impending alien invasion from a triple-star system. It won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Death's End — The final installment of the trilogy expands the story across vast cosmic timescales and multi-dimensional spaces. The book received the 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset — This sequential art adaptation translates the intricate scientific theories, expansive timelines, and narrative arc of the original novel into a graphic format.

Cixin Liu

Also known as Liu Cixin, 刘慈欣, Da Liu, Big Liu

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem — First published in China in 2006 and translated into English in 2014, this novel examines humanity's response to an impending alien invasion from a triple-star system. It won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Death's End — The final installment of the trilogy expands the story across vast cosmic timescales and multi-dimensional spaces. The book received the 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset — This sequential art adaptation translates the intricate scientific theories, expansive timelines, and narrative arc of the original novel into a graphic format.

Cixin Liu

Also known as Liu Cixin, 刘慈欣, Da Liu, Big Liu

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem — First published in China in 2006 and translated into English in 2014, this novel examines humanity's response to an impending alien invasion from a triple-star system. It won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Death's End — The final installment of the trilogy expands the story across vast cosmic timescales and multi-dimensional spaces. The book received the 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset — This sequential art adaptation translates the intricate scientific theories, expansive timelines, and narrative arc of the original novel into a graphic format.

Cixin Liu

Also known as Liu Cixin, 刘慈欣, Da Liu, Big Liu

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem — First published in China in 2006 and translated into English in 2014, this novel examines humanity's response to an impending alien invasion from a triple-star system. It won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Death's End — The final installment of the trilogy expands the story across vast cosmic timescales and multi-dimensional spaces. The book received the 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset — This sequential art adaptation translates the intricate scientific theories, expansive timelines, and narrative arc of the original novel into a graphic format.

Cixin Liu

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem

Death's End

The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset

Cixin Liu

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem

Death's End

The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset

For authors

Elsewhere

Cixin Liu

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem

Death's End

The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset

Cixin Liu

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

The Three-Body Problem

Death's End

The Three-Body Problem: the epic 10-volume graphic novel boxset