Ball Lightning

"This one goes out to all the nerds (like me) who swooned over the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. Thanks to the quirks of translation, Chinese writer Cixin Liu actually wrote this before his landmark sci-fi series, but English-language readers are finally getting a glimpse now. Either way, this one bears familiar characteristics – even a familiar character – that Liu devotees will recognize quickly: uneven plot, stilted dialogue … and a boundless, mind-bending creativity that makes it all worthwhile. Ultimately, it fulfills my one major criterion for a good book: You’ll leave it seeing the world just a little bit differently."