Q&A

China Daily sat for a Q&A with Joel Martinsen, translator of Liu Cixin's novel, Ball Lightning, as well as the internationally best-selling The Dark Forest, the second book of the Three Body trilogy. Martinsen refers to Liu as Da Liu, meaning big Liu, just like the author's Chinese fans.

How did you get started with Ball Lightning?

I read it when it was first published in 2004, and it stayed with me. The opening of the novel is really well done and exciting. I translated it first for my own entertainment - back then I just wanted to translate something interesting and longer than what I had done previously. The translation ended up online and the website is still getting traffic after many years.