Ball Lightning

Incredible- a must read for those that love intelligent and gripping stories

Liuci Xin is an absolute legend when it comes to Sci-Fi writing, and this book is no exception. I first read about half of the book in Chinese because I couldn't wait for it to be released in the UK (It was originally released in 2005 in China).That said, for me personally this book does not rank with the Three Body Problem or some of the stories in The Wandering Earth, still it is an enthralling read. Liu does really well to keep away from East vs West in this story and focus on character development.Some of the ideas are great, the only thing that let it down for me was (what I think) to be a significant miss interpretation of quantum physics assuming an observer to be macroscopic, I hold a physics degree but other than that feature everything else is fantastic especially the idea of macro atoms.

I enjoyed the book immensely. Having one experience of actual ball lightning enhanced my interest and its development as a military weapon seemed to be in accordance with current scientific theory. A word of warning: you need a more than basic understanding of physics to understand the plot. There's virtually no human interest and the text is that of a resume of scientific research. But if you read it as a science tract, its really exciting.

If you liked the three body problem, then you may be a bit underwhelmed by Ball Lightning. In the Three-Body trilogy the quantity and scope of real scientific principles taken to the extremes of science fiction were, to me, quite staggering. In Ball Lightning Cixin posits an interesting and unexpected fictional theory for what ball lightning is, but beyond that single revelation the book's scientific scope and wow-factor is relatively limited. And if you know anything about certain principles of quantum physics, even accounting for its bizarre nature, some of the effects described in the book quite frankly got a bit too implausible for me. I felt the laws of science were bent a bit too much in order to emphasise the underpinning human story.This is more of a book about why one of the characters is the way they are rather than being the wild and surprising science fiction adventure which I would have preferred. This was a problem because the impact of this book's description of personal relationships and the emotions surrounding them were somewhat lost on me - whether that's because its written from a Chinese cultural perspective which is so very different from a Western reader's point of view, or whether because something was literally lost in translation, I'm not so sure.A lot of the larger scene setting was also strangely vague. For example, the book deals with weaponising Ball Lightning and eventually war breaks out. What war this is, who the enemy might be and what it might be about are never mentioned. You'd probably assume that it's the USA but it’s never actually confirmed; perhaps from a Chinese perspective that would be more apparent?With the three body problem, especially the third book Death's End, I was blown away. With Ball Lightning it wasn't a chore to read through to the end, but I wasn't disappointed it had finished either.

I hadn't realised when I read this that it was an early work of Cixin Liu. Part 1 lacked some of his fluency and perception in places and I began to wonder if he was the sole author, but stick with it. He shakes that off in the rest of the book and it's well worth the read. A tricky subject to make the centre of a whole novel but he does well.

"Ball Lightening" is an excellent place to start towards Cixin Liu's stunning "Three Body Problem" series. This his high quality sci-fi writing of the highest order. In my personal top rank of writers, Liu has displaced the long standing leader - Isaac Asimov. I'm sure not everyone will agree.Aside from subjective preferences, Liu's writing is superb, his characters are excellent and his blend of science and fiction is enchanting and inspiring. For me, this book and the ones that follow it deserve every point of the five five-pointed stars on offer.Not to be missed by any sci-fi readers.

I decided to give this a go after hearing about it on a podcast. I have read the Three Body Problem trilogy. If you liked those, I think you will enjoy this. It's fairly science-heavy, but it is very well explained and I was able to keep up. I found it easy to follow and very engaging. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Compelling story, which is as much about people as it is technology, or in fact physics. But you do need to have a limited basic grasp of quantum physics to retain ones interest and follow the story. A quick lookup of terms on Wikipedia will be enough knowledge if you've not got it already. It's worth it.

I loved this book. Riveting science fiction with a strong focus on science and physics. I love this author.

It was refreshing to read a SF story that was not about space and/or aliens. Entertaining, educative and at times very touching with subtle beauty. The ending left a very special unforgettable impression on me... like a fragrance you can't forget ;)I love this author. The 3 body problem series is the best SF I've ever read. I felt sad when I finished it cause I knew it will be long until I find another story that great, if ever...

Nice book . Puts actual science in the fiction ! Read this after the Three Body Problem series . Did not disappoint . Liked it !

Cixin Liu no defrauda. Esta novela es más accesible que la de Los Tres Cuerpos.

Das Phänomen der Kugelblitze - soweit ich weiß kann man die im Labor immer noch nicht gezielt reproduzieren - ist an sich schon mysteriös, auch wenn man dabei ausgehen kann, dass diese wohl so etwas wie Plasmabälle sein dürften.Der Autor spinnt zu diesem Thema eine originelle Handlung bei der die Kugelblitze eine neue Art Physik darstellen. Auch spannend erzählt ist das Jagdfieber nach den Kugelblitzen.