The world of fantasy and myth isn’t really that large. The universe, as depicted in Eastern and Western mythology alike, is hardly ever larger than two astronomical units in radius. The notion of a light-year could never have made it into a myth because such a scale is beyond the capacity of the mythological imagination. The most magnificent deities of the world of magic are dwarfed by the stars of the world of sci-fi, and its most terrible demons pale in comparison to the sci-fi world’s black holes." - Meaning and context.">
The Battle Between Sci-Fi and Fantasy (pp. 85-86)
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The world of fantasy and myth isn’t really that large. The universe, as depicted in Eastern and Western mythology alike, is hardly ever larger than two astronomical units in radius. The notion of a light-year could never have made it into a myth because such a scale is beyond the capacity of the mythological imagination. The most magnificent deities of the world of magic are dwarfed by the stars of the world of sci-fi, and its most terrible demons pale in comparison to the sci-fi world’s black holes.

— Liu Cixin

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The world of fantasy and myth isn’t really that large. The universe, as depicted in Eastern and Western mythology alike, is hardly ever larger than two astronomical units in radius. The notion of a light-year could never have made it into a myth because such a scale is beyond the capacity of the mythological imagination. The most magnificent deities of the world of magic are dwarfed by the stars of the world of sci-fi, and its most terrible demons pale in comparison to the sci-fi world’s black holes." in the context of "The Battle Between Sci-Fi and Fantasy (pp. 85-86)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Liu Cixin" (Quotes, Short fiction and essays, A View from the Stars (2024): Page numbers from the hardcover first American edition, published by Tor Books; , first printing See Cixin Liu's Internet Science Fiction Database page for original publication details Bold face added for emphasis ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Liu Cixin

About Liu Cixin

Liu Cixin (born June 23, 1963) is a Chinese science fiction writer.