Review by jcooloti

I believe most changes made from the books by Cixin Liu are good ones for an adaptation like this. I do have gripes with the show. Casting choices. Mainly Eiza Gonzalez and the other scientist. I'm sorry, but Eiza is just a very unbelievable scientist. Her acting is very one dimensional... basically one emotion, anger and disappointment. At all times. Her angular and artificially sculpted face is a huge distraction for me. It's as if they decided to just "put a young hot chick" as the lead. It's ridiculous.

I also feel the series does not feel as EPIC as it should. While reading the books, it just felt so epic and the stakes were so incredibly high. This does not feel that way, at least not yet. I believe with a little better use of exposition in the story, this could have been achieved. The books are educational, even if not on purpose. This series focuses more on the adventurous points of this tale, which is honestly are the less interesting aspects. The themes of the original story that Cixin Liu wrote are very scientific, philosophical, and complex. The Netflix series feels a bit dumbed down for a lazier audience.

Still, I do find it to be somewhat entertaining. I can't help it because it's a cool story. It does feel a bit rushed though. The first season could have used 4 more episodes and brought in some things they omitted from the book to raise the stakes and make it feel more epic.

If you're loving this, I'm happy for you! It's not bad. Maybe I would more if I hadn't have read the books. I highly recommend the books if you like this series, because so far I have to say they are the superior version of the story.