‘This audacious and ultimately optimistic early work will give Liu's English-reading fans a glimpse at his evolution as a writer and give any speculative fiction reader food for deep thought.’

 — Shelf Awareness

'Stunning concepts and a contemplative tone that provides vital insight into the formative years of one of the genre's masters. In Liu's hands, ‘the children are our future’ becomes far more than a cozy cliché; it's a springboard for the kind of agile and relevant thought experiment that science fiction, at its best, manifests.'

―NPR

Editor's Note

This is a unique, fascinating, and contemplative work of science fiction. Liu Cixin first conceived of this book in the 1980s; after penning multiple drafts over the next two decades, he finally completed it in 2003. This is a fairy tale, one that is naive, pure, and absurd. This is a fable, one that is cold and grim. This is a gift from fifteen years ago. With an unrestrained and rebellious imagination, the author also carries out bold inferences of the future that are indelibly marked and flavored by the era of their conception.

Before finishing The Three-Body Problem, Liu Cixin believed that The Supernova Era would stand as the pinnacle of his career. What made him so certain? Open this book, and you will find the reasons behind his confidence: the book’s strong writing, the enchanting adventure of its plot, as well as the soaring imagination and contemplation holding it all together.

Synopsis

An exploding supernova sweeps the Grim Reaper’s scythe across Earth. The planet’s citizens, numbering in the billions, are all subjected to the radiation from the supernova’s rays. People who are thirteen years old or younger remain alive, due to their abilities for cellular growth and recovery. No one over the age of thirteen survives.

These surviving children are left with massive quantities of goods and resources, vast expanses of land, an immense and unprecedented political vacuum, and scientific technology that is difficult for these young people to grasp and use. How do children keep the world turning, so to speak, while also inheriting the mantle of human civilization?  Children possess unimaginable capacities for adaptation and survival. They keep themselves alive, master the techniques behind industrial production, and even assume political power. A country of children is nothing like the adult-led nations of days past. They create entertainment facilities like none that have ever existed before. Once they have tired of this source of happiness, the children turn the page. They begin the final chapter: war. The ultimate entertainment!

War stems from their desire to be entertained, but it ends in blood, fire, and terror. However, the children’s quest for entertainment has not yet finished. Their political leaders invent an all-new form of entertainment: trading territory...