Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Three-Body Problem (2008)by Liu Cixin
Books Read in 2015 (43) » 45 more Books Read in 2017 (51) Books Read in 2016 (130) Books Read in 2021 (87) Top Five Books of 2015 (115) Books Read in 2018 (322) Top Five Books of 2020 (611) Top Five Books of 2017 (359) Top Five Books of 2019 (246) Books Read in 2024 (853) Books Read in 2019 (1,473) Overdue Podcast (270) Finished in 2021 (6) Books Read in 2020 (4,240) KayStJ's to-read list (409) infjsarah's wishlist (37) io9 Book Club (11) 2010s (22) Very Very Bad (4) 2023 (13) um actually (15) Wishlist (29) Five star books (1,525) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.
First book in a trilogy, The Three Body Problem is set in Communist China, in the present day and in flashbacks to the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s there. Ye Weijing witnesses her physicist father being killed during the height of the Cultural Revolution, and eventually ends up at a remote science station dedicated to the search for contact with alien intelligences. In the present day, scientists are killing themselves at a startling rate, as they are puzzled that the laws of physics no longer seem to apply in their research. Wang Miao is developing a super-strong polymer, and experiences a bizarre experience in which a countdown starts appearing on film that he is using for his amateur photography. He is then brought into a government-led project that knows more than he does about what's going on. He infiltrates a shadowy group that also seems to know much more about what is happening, and starts to play an immersive video game "three body". We later learn that this game is telling the story of the development of civilization in a solar system that has three stars and a doomed planet that is passed constantly between them. That civilization is in a desperate battle to survive the "Chaotic Eras" and learn to predict when to start building, which requires a lengthy "Stable Era" when extreme heat and cold are absent. There's a lot going on in this story! The science is very dense, character development less so. I had a tough time following the physics. But it has something interesting to say about how humans might react to news of alien civilization. It was worth sticking through the science for me, and I look forward to the rest of the series. A friend once complained about his undergraduate Science Fiction class that they only discussed character, theme, and other elements of literature without talking about the "ideas." The appeal of The Three-Body Problem has to be its ideas, which are mind-blowing, because the technique is bad. I don't think this is the fault of the translation or the audio performance. The way information is presented lacks life: coming off as essays about what's going on. We are (mostly) told about things rather than shown. A few sparks of real drama lured me far enough into the book to keep reading, but I'm left not caring enough to continue to the next books. Loved it mostly. Did not keep me up trying to find out what would happen next, but since I read before bed, that can be a good thing. I loved that the characters are believable. The writing style is enjoyable and does not get in the way of the story. Kudos to the translator. I also love that science is an integral part of the story. I will be reading the sequels.
The Three-Body Problem is a masterclass in sci-fi with a thesis, telling a complex story about the perseverance of intelligent life and the psychology of cultures in crisis. The Three-Body Problem turns a boilerplate, first-contact concept into something absolutely mind-unfolding. While in the virtual world of Three Body, Miao confronts philosophical conundrums that border on the psychedelic, all while remaining scientifically rigorous. The way the book's alien race seeks to assert its presence on Earth is nothing short of awe-inspiring. In concept and development, it resembles top-notch Arthur C. Clarke or Larry Niven but with a perspective—plots, mysteries, conspiracies, murders, revelations and all—embedded in a culture and politic dramatically unfamiliar to most readers in the West, conveniently illuminated with footnotes courtesy of translator Liu. Belongs to SeriesBelongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inHas as a commentary on the textAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
With the scope of Dune and the commercial action of Independence Day, this near-future trilogy is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multple-award-winning phenemonenon from China's most beloved science fiction author. Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)895.13Literature Literature of other languages Asian (east and south east) languages Chinese Chinese fictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
Thoughts: I finished this but it was a struggle. I skimmed through the last 20% or so of the story, to see what happened. I almost put this down multiple times, but some of the VR elements introduced about 30% of the way in made me curious enough to keep going.
The writing here is stiff and the dialogue is awkward. I assume a lot has been lost in translation, but based on the other reviews of those who have read the original Chinese version maybe not. The characters are forgettable and hard to keep track of. Really the characters feel like generic placeholders that any random person could fill in.
I actually liked the beginning of this but then when we moved to present I lost interest. I did appreciate that we did get to go back to see the events that happened in the past progress. The story ends up bouncing between three different settings the present real world, the present in the VR Three Body World, and the past. There are footnotes throughout which did explain a lot of the science and Chinese historical subtleties in more detail; I liked learning about this but was frustrated that these footnotes broke up the story even more.
There are some very creative ideas here and that seems to be mainly what this book is, an idea story. I did enjoy the irony around the actions the characters took in both locations being based around how much they disliked their own species (I know this is a vague statement but I am trying to avoid spoilers).
The ideas here are cool...the plot, the characters, and the general readability here are weak. I did not enjoy this and it was not fun to read, it felt like work to read and was almost textbook like at times.
My Summary (3/5): Overall I really struggled with this book and do not plan on reading any more books by this author. Yes, this was a neat idea but the flow of the story, the characters, and the writing were all very awkward and weak. This was work to read and I didn't really enjoy it. I do appreciate the idea and creativity though. ( )