In the near future, a Chinese nanotechnologist is drawn into an investigation to uncover the mysterious deaths of a series of prominent scientists. Going undercover, he also goes down the rabbit hole of a perplexing computer game and learns about a 40-year-old top secret project involving transmitting radio messages to outer space.
Cixin creates a complex world in this book (the first of an epic trilogy), a world based in theoretical physics, philosophy, history, and math but reaching far beyond. He also creates intriguing situations and moral dilemmas, both in the computer game and out. While at times I felt a bit in-over-my-head with the technical information, Cixin (and his translator, Ken Liu) did a good job of explaining things simply enough for a decidedly non-techie like me to keep up. This won those scandal-filled Hugo Awards this year, and given the thought-provoking nature of the book, it's easy to see why. I'd recommend this for fans of Michael Crichton's novels and for those who liked Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow series.
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