Liu Cixin (simplified Chinese: 刘慈欣; traditional Chinese: 劉慈欣; born 1963) is a Chinese science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of the Galaxy Award (China's most prestigious literary science fiction award) and winner of the Nebula Award. Liu's work is considered hard science fiction. Liu received technical training from North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power. He has worked as a computer engineer for a power plant located in a remote village in Shanxi province.