REVIEW: Death's End

 Death's End
Author: Cixin Liu

I have spent the last 4 months reading and listening my way through Cixin Liu's The Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy. I read physical copies of the first two books while listening to the audiobook versions so that the Chinese names, places and words would be pronounced correctly (or at least better than the attempts I would have made!). The third book I only listened to the audiobook. The wait list at the library was long and I didn't want to wait, and I didn't want to buy another paperback copy. After 40 plus hours listening time for the first two books, I didn't really need to read and listen together to keep the characters straight and get the correct pronunciation for the Chinese names and words. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this series! Wow -- so much happens!! So many twists, betrayals, mistakes, unexpected good and bad! I loved every word!

The audiobook for Death's End is just shy of 29 hours long. I made a rule when I started this trilogy that I could only read/listen when I had time to completely focus on the story. No listening while driving, doing chores, etc. Only when I had time to just stop and focus on the book. So, it took me months to get through the entire trilogy. This was a story that I knew deserved time and careful attention. I'm glad I took as much time as I needed to complete reading. If I had hurried or only given the story part of my attention, I would have missed some of the complexities. I'm also glad I avoided spoilers. The ending of the series was still a surprise, and that made it much more satisfying.

When I only had 10 hours left in the final book I decided to go ahead and watch the series on Netflix. Because they announced that the series has been renewed for for a 2nd and 3rd season, I knew they wouldn't be revealing the end in season 1. Over two sessions, I binge watched the series. I mostly enjoyed the Netflix series, even though I had some disappointments with changes that were made to Cixin Liu's story. I did feel better when I found out he approved at least some of the changes and that other changes were made to allow the story to flow better for multiple seasons. I'm hoping the parts that were left out of the series will show up in subsequent seasons. 

There is another book set in this world written by another author. I'm going to take a break and come back at a later date to read this final book. I'm so curious how the story will continue! Because I have spent months reading the trilogy, I want to read some other things that have been waiting at the top of my TBR. After I get caught up on other reading, I will return and see how the last book compares to the trilogy.

I definitely want to read more by Cixin Liu. This trilogy is amazing!