• 🍉 Albert 🍉@lemmy.world
    53·
    3 days ago

    i hate that people complain how he was not very good at writing people, so was Asimov.

    it’s hard science fiction, it’s shines in that aspect. the author obviously has a different set of skills, and at some point it’s like judging a fish for his hability to run.

    not making excuses, not going to say it’s the perfect book and peak literature. but it’s one of the best science fiction written in a long time. especially because the focus is in the universe and science fiction.

    way too many “science fiction” stories are great stories with shitty science fiction. because those are two different skill sets. theoretically, you could have an author one day that excels in boths. and I’ll be happy with him/her (originally wrote one him, might have personal biased or the excuse that I had Liu in mind). but so much of the criticism feels cruel.

    • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
      5·
      3 days ago

      Asimov is at his best when writing short stories, where ideas can shine while character and plotting take a back seat. Long form was always his weakness. Sorry to everyone who loves Foundation but those books are absolute dog-ass. Full of brilliant ideas, but still dog-ass.

      And there are plenty of writers who do good science with good fiction. Hannu Rajaniemi, Alastair Reynolds, Cory Doctorow, William Gibson, Iain McDonald, and Kim Stanley Robinson just off the top of my head. I know there are plenty more.

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
      3·
      3 days ago

      i hate that people complain how he was not very good at writing people, so was Asimov.

      I’m still waiting for my nuclear powered ashtray.

    • iegod@lemmy.zip
      21·
      3 days ago

      Just because something is (or pretends to be) hard sci-fi doesn’t make it well written even if you ignore the major character flaws. The concepts the first book explores aren’t even that amazing. This is one of the most over-hyped sci-fi books of all time.

      • blarth@thelemmy.club
        1·
        2 days ago

        I think the concepts the books present are key amazing, as an avid sci-fi reader. I went into the series expecting some rigid characters and a lot of if/then human logic given the source and the fact that it had to be translated into English.

    • ZDL@lazysoci.al
      48·
      3 days ago

      i hate that people complain how he was not very good at writing people, so was Asimov.

      Asimov was western and thus “one of us”.

      Liu Cixin is Chinese and thus “one of them”.

      This makes all the difference.

      • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
        5·
        3 days ago

        I don’t think that’s the case for most critics, but I can certainly say Chinese writing styles rarely seem to translate easily to English tastes.