Ball Lightning (novel)

''Ball Lightning'' () is a hard science fiction novel by Chinese author Liu Cixin, also considered a prequel to ''The Three-Body Problem''. The original Chinese language version was published in 2004. In 2018 the English language version, translated by Joel Martinsen, was published in the US by Tor Books.

Plot

The novel follows the experiences of a first-person protagonist, Chen, whose family was killed by ball lightning while he was in high school. Both traumatized and inspired by that experience, he makes the investigation of ball lightning his life's work, first getting his PhD in the subject, then exploring the phenomenon through both applied and theoretical research. During his research, military technology researcher Lin Yun recruits him into a weapons development team.

With the help of a theoretical physicist, Ding Yi, they discover that ball lightning is not formed by lightning conditions, but rather when lightning encounters "macro-electrons" hypercharging the electrons until they express their energy. They learn how to capture these macro-electrons and turn them into a weapon that can destroy targeted types of matter; wood, stone, or even microprocessors. After building the weapon and forming a specialized military unit to use the device, they successfully deploy the weapon against anti-technology eco-terrorists who try to blow up a nuclear plant, but also kill a group of schoolchildren that had been held hostage. Chen was distressed that his research had been used to kill people. Disillusioned, Chen leaves the military research group. Ding Yi explains to Chen that those killed by macro-electrons, including his parents, exist in a quantum state that can occasionally influence the world when not observed.

Using a technology developed over the course of his ball lightning research, Chen develops a strategy for tracking tornado formation. American scientists combine that technology with missiles to suppress tornado formation in the American Midwest. When war breaks out, the U.S. uses a similar application of Chen's technology to form tornadoes as a weapon to destroy naval vessels.

Living daily life in wartime China, Chen is surprised to one day find that all the microprocessors in the city have been incinerated. Ding Yi finds Chen and recounts that he and Lin's research group had progressed beyond macro-electrons to find macro-nuclei as well, creating the possibility of "macro- fusion," which would combine the power of conventional nuclear weapons with the matter-selectivity of ball lightning. The Chinese military, fearing the consequences of such technology, shut down the research, but Lin Yun disobeys orders and starts the planned macro-fusion trial, at the cost of her and her followers' lives. The reaction destroyed microprocessors across a vast swathe of China, and as the world recognizes the power of any future macro-fusion events to wipe out advanced weaponry across a theater of war, an armistice is signed.

The remains of Lin Yun, despite their probabilistic nature, have enough decoherence to sustain a heartfelt conversation with her father. They later deliver an invisible rose to Chen. A photograph in Ding Yi's apartment indicates that Lin Yun's quantum state can even lend temporary visibility to the child victims of the nuclear plant. At the end of the novel, an American ball lightning researcher visits Chen and they discuss his latest research. The Americans had found that in several trials, ball lightning behaved as though an observer was present, despite the experiment being held deep in a mineshaft with no human observers.

Characters

;Dr Chen ()
:His given name isn't mentioned in the text. A doctor in atmospheric sciences, the entire book is told from his first-person perspective. Explores the mysteries of ball lightning and participates in the development of macroatomic weapons.
;Lin Yun ()
:Daughter of General Lin Feng, Major in rank, graduated from the National University of Defense Technology, fanatical about weapons development due to her early childhood experience.

:It is precisely this complex experience that gives Lin Yun a contradictory temperament. She is willing to achieve her goals by any means necessary, even if it means disregarding moral considerations, yet also sometimes possesses a child-like innocence. Her father (General Lin Feng) commented on this, noting: "Such experiences (the sacrifice of Lin Yun's mother) can have opposite effects on different children: it might cause her to detest war and everything associated with it for life, or they might lead her to focus on, or even become enthusiastic about, these things. Unfortunately, my daughter falls into the latter category."

:She's the protagonist of Ball Lightning and ''Full Spectrum Barrage Jamming'', also has been mentioned by Ding Yi in ''Remembrance of Earth's Past'' ( ''The Three-Bodies Problem'' ("Bugs" chapter) and ''The Dark Forest'').
;Zhang Bin ()
:A professor from Chen's university. He once attempted to investigate the mysteries of ball lightning until it cost him his wife, Zheng Min. Reluctantly, he helps Chen in his own pursuit of ball lightning.
;Ding Yi ()
:The greatest physicist in China, he discovers what ball lightning consists of. He goes on to appear in Liu Cixin's subsequent ''Remembrance of Earth's Past'' trilogy (also known as '' The Three-Body Problem'').
;Zhao Yu
:A classmate of Chen's, notable for his lackadaisical personality.
;Dai Lin ()
:Dr. Chen's college classmate, the two married after college.

Adaptation

There were plans to release a film based on the book.

A TV series directed by Dai Mo was filmed in 2022 and is planned to be released on the iQIYI platform.

Reception to the book

''Ball Lightning'' has been regarded as the book with the most complete story line and closest to real life in Liu's science fiction universe.

Critics have called the book, "an important—and timely—meditation on science, weapons development, and the ways in which people confront trauma."

Creation background

One summer night in 1981, Liu Cixin first saw "ball lightning" during a thunderstorm at the south end of Zhonghua Road in Handan City. This natural phenomenon not only shocked his visual senses but also ignited his enthusiasm for exploring the unknown world, which became the inspiration for the book ''Ball Lightning''.

Due to a misdiagnosis, the author thought he was suffering from liver cancer at the time he was writing the novel, but instead of making a statement, he did his best to finish writing the novel before he believed he was going to die. As such, the novel is a personal outpouring and reflection of Liu's feelings.

See also

* Ball lightning

Notes

References

External links

*

{{Remembrance of Earth's Past

2004 Chinese novels
2004 science fiction novels
Novels by Liu Cixin
Hard science fiction