Liu Cixin

Liu Cixin (, , ; born 23 June 1963) is a prominent Chinese science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award and has also received the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel "The Three-Body Problem" as well as the 2017 Locus Award for "Death's End". He has also been nominated for the Nebula Award. In English translations of his works, his name is given as Cixin Liu.
Life and career.
Liu Cixin was born on 23 June 1963 in Yangquan, Shanxi. Liu's parents worked in a mine in Shanxi. Due to the violence of the Cultural Revolution he was sent to live in his ancestral home in Luoshan County, Henan.
Liu graduated from the North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power in 1988. He then worked as a computer engineer at a power plant in Shanxi province.
Writing.
Liu cites British authors George Orwell and Arthur C. Clarke as important literary influences. He was labeled the first cyberpunk Chinese author after his novel, "China 2185," was published in 1989.
Liu's most famous work, "The Three-Body Problem", was published in 2007 (it is the first novel in the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy). American author Ken Liu's 2014 translation (published by Tor Books) won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Liu Cixin thus became the first author from Asia to win Best Novel. The German translation (which included some portions of the original text not included in the English translation) followed in 2016. Ken Liu also translated the third volume of the "The Three-Body Problem" series, "Death's End," in 2016. Death's End was a 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel finalist and won a 2017 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Adaptations.
A cinematic adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem" has been filmed, but its release has been indefinitely postponed. In March 2018, Amazon was rumored to be negotiating for the rights to the project. However, YooZoo Pictures released a statement in response stating that it was the "sole owner of the rights for film and TV series adaptations." Although it "was originally scheduled to be released in 2017," the project "was postponed indefinitely due to the company's internal shuffling and the rumored 'bad quality' of the film's first cut." In June 2019, it was reported that work had begun on an animated adaptation, and in 2020, October Media announced another adaptation in the works.
The cinematic adaptation of his short story "The Wandering Earth" was released in China on February 5, 2019, which became the second highest-grossing film in the Chinese box office within 2 weeks.
Personal life.
Liu is married and has a daughter.
Political views.
According to a June 2019 interview and profile article by "The New Yorker", Liu avoids talking about politics. In the same article, Liu argued that democracy was not appropriate for modern China, and individual liberty and freedom of governance is "not what Chinese people care about", adding "If you were to loosen up the country a bit, the consequences would be terrifying." He expressed support for policies such as the one-child policy and the Xinjiang re-education camps, saying "the government is helping their economy and trying to lift them out of poverty". The article reported that Liu had "become wary of touting the geopolitical underpinnings of his work".
Liu's remarks in the "New Yorker" interview were questioned by five Republican U.S. senators in a letter to Netflix in September 2020. The letter asks whether Netflix was aware of Liu's remarks and demands a justification for proceeding with the adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem". Netflix responded that Liu was not the creator of the show, and that Liu's comments "are not reflective of the views of Netflix or of the show's creators, nor are they part of the plot or themes of the show".
Bibliography.
Works of short fiction.
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2010
2011
2014
2016
2018
2020