As The Three-Body Problem and The Dark Forest, first two books of the triology Remembrance of Earth's Past, this Cixin Liu's novel was a great success. The action of the novel takes place in a universe full of other extraterrestrial civilizations that distrust each other.

The author's imagination is particularly prolific and credible in light of the latest advances in physics. He has a great sensitivity for art as a heritage that we must try to value and preserve forever. The love between man and woman is treated with great delicacy and respect. The author is not Christian and he has no religious or anti-religious feelings. The novel contains values, even if the action takes place in an environment alien to a Christian vision of the world.