In most of Liu's works, two themes are prominent: posthumanism and political criticism through the lens of a utopia. While Liu's use of posthumanism is more overt than his use of political criticism, both themes play an important role in some of Liu's most famous works, including
The Three-Body Problem trilogy and
China 2185.
Posthumanism As a believer in hard science-fiction, Liu thinks that human morality, and how self important it is, pales in significance when compared to science, technology, and the grander universe; even if human life were to be extinguished, it would be of little importance to the rest of the universe at large. Typically, his human characters come into contact with extraterrestrial beings from worlds unfamiliar to them, beings so intimidating and otherworldly that their mere existence makes them seem unimportant in comparison. In
The Three-Body Problem trilogy, the aliens Ye Wenjie contacted to invade earth, known as the Trisolarans, serve as a way to rebuke the ideas of anthropocentrism through the gap in strength their presence creates; the science and technology the Trisolarans wield far exceeds anything humanity could create, again reflecting Liu's advocacy of hard science fiction. Furthermore, Liu uses the Trisolarans to reflect humanity, emphasizing their "faults" – like competition and authoritarianism – in order for readers to understand what should be fixed in human society. Liu is of the opinion that science and technology are things to be used with an inherent amount of caution and respect, as giving into them completely has the potential to lead to something truly frightening. When juxtaposed with his contemporaries, Liu's work can seem cold and dark; however, this isn't always the case. Despite the fact that
The Three-Body Problem trilogy ends with the destruction of humanity's universe, it leaves things "open" to the humans by showing them there are still worlds out in the depth of space that haven't been explored yet, meaning they have the chance to find a home again. Liu's posthumans worlds, ironically, give humanity the chance to live again and appreciate the wonders of the universe instead of focusing solely on themselves.
Political criticism through the lens of a utopia While subtle political criticism can be found in most of Liu's works, it is especially prominent in his first novel,
China 2185. Using the lens of an utopia, the novel subtly critiques the at-the-time Chinese government by implicitly juxtaposing it with the government of the book; in it, China has become a democratic country, with each citizen equally obtaining the right to vote. Because the utopian, democratic government of
China 2185 is a stark contrast from the authoritarian government of China that Liu experienced in the mid-to-late 1980s, readers can therefore look at everything happening in the real world through the lens of skepticism;
China 2185 shows readers what they lack in terms of government without ever stating it outright. Using it as a comparison, readers could understand the problems facing empirical China, politically and socially, and how it might benefit China to become a democratic country like the one featured in the novel. As utopian as it may seem from a first glance, the democratic world Liu displays in
China 2185 isn't without its problems as well; however, when these problems do arise, they are mostly the fault of the resurrected brains. Because of their association with Mao, these brains reflect the more communist politics of China, and as they bring in problems from the society Liu had to live through into the democratic world of the novel, they completely disrupt it. With that in mind, the novel reflects the real world political conflicts of the time of the novel's publication, explicitly tackling the idea of the battle between "younger," democratic politics and "older", communist politics. In this utopian society, thanks to the arrival of the internet, the people are able to communicate with the democratic leaders of their country and, as an extension of that, take part in various governmental processes, like policy-making, something readers couldn't do in real life during the time of the book's publication. Twists on Utopia can also be found in Liu's
Three-Body Problem trilogy, with the near-perfect "starship civilizations", worlds in the depths of space that operate without the need for living beings, containing lingering aspects of Chinese political values like communism and Maoism, something that gives the human characters hope that they can call these places home. However, these civilizations are not hospitable for humans, instead being more dangerous than the characters originally thought. In their attempts to adapt to them, the humans find themselves eventually having to resort to cannibalism in order to survive, forcing themselves to commit heinous acts in the dim hope of claiming this place as their new home. While Liu includes other instances of political criticism in the
Three-Body Problem trilogy (e.g. the struggle session the first book opens with), the "starship civilizations" are an example of how Liu can subvert common science fiction tropes like utopia to do so. ==
The Three-Body Problem ==