In Mourning for Remembrance of Earth’s Past
A couple of months ago I came across a WebXR scene based on the novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I had never heard of the book but I was fascinated by the scene and added it to my reading list. Due to some physical issues with my hands I’m not reading much these days, but I do listen to quite a few audiobooks. After waiting a few weeks the first book in this series became available on Libby (one of the apps that my public library partners with) and I dove in.
I’m not going to go into any detail about the plot here. If you haven’t read this yet and you like sci-fi at all, then I suggest you check it out.
It took me about halfway through book one before I started to appreciate the scope of the story being told. Once that first realization hit me I could not get enough. I spent the next few weeks listening to the whole series in whatever downtime I had. During that time I didn’t play any games, didn’t watch anything on TV, and didn’t even keep up with podcasts and my rss feeds. All that I wanted was more of this immense story.
This was the only time in my life that I’ll get to read these books for the first time.
Then I finished it and now it’s over.
For the last week or so I’ve been in mourning. Not because of anything in the books, but because that was the only time in my life that I’ll get to read these books for the first time. I may read it all again someday, but I know from past experience that it will never be the same as the first time. Ever tried to reread Lord of the Rings? Yeah, it’s kind of like that. They are great books every time, but the first time–when the world is unfolding itself if your mind–is the best.