THREE BODY PROBLEM - REVIEW / Scifi Talk

My thoughts on / review of The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.

[kathymei]

The "cold character" thing is just Liu Cixin. He once wrote that he believes the best fiction should be blunt and cold like a news channel, and that reflects in his actual writing. I'm chinese and I can assure you it's just him.

[doryfishie]

When a journalist pointed out to Liu that his characters seemed flat, he acknowledged it and said "I did not begin writing for love of literature, I did so for love of science". He seemed to be more invested in describing his ideas than developing his characters. It's not an issue of a difference in culture, it's just him. Other Chinese fiction I've read can have well-developed characters.

[zeroseinfinal]

1. Three Body Problem: This is mind-blowing!
2. Dark Forest: WOW, the first one is just a Disney cartoon show. This one can rebuild your worldview and philosophy of life!!
3. Death's End: The second one is just your kindergarten graduation. And nothing matters in your real life after reading this one.

[amitnagpal]

The second book - The Dark Forest, left me in a state of shock. When you experience excellence, something so truly profound and original that your mind goes blank and you feel like you uncovered a secret and you want to share that secret with everybody, that is how I felt after reading the second book and after finishing the trilogy. It is incomparable, unforgettable and unforgiving. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

[blackblade]

Tbh don't shy away from talking about your thoughts on deep and uncomfortable topics!!

[VikasSBhat]

Dude! I went in as a physics grad student looking for a hard sci-fi after being disappointed by various self proclaimed sci-fi books. Let me tell you that this book not only satiated my need for a hard sci-fi, the many ideas it presents are unbelievably based on genuine science! I’m so glad that I read this book. It has opened up a whole new avenue for me to explore!

[nywovpr]

I actually went into this without knowing it was an alien invasion story, and I actually really enjoyed it that way.

[Supersoniczero]

OMG, finally a review of this masterpiece . Thanks daniel, i hope that a lot of people will read it now

[Homiea]

I loved The Three body Problem, especially it's take on alien invasion. But my "issue" was that it genuinely terrified me. It was a great book, I loved it. But when I read sci-fi that takes a more serious tone like I need a major break from it afterwards. I still love the genre but I also need time in-between books.

[sertaki]

Bonus: The English translation is amazing!
Not only is it well-written, the translator adds incredibly helpful footnotes whenever historical context is necessary to undersstand the text - and since the book is so very ingrained in a Chinese cultural context and in Chinese history, this is very much a must.
Sadly, the second book lacks these additions, with a different translator opting out of footnotes, but Ken Liu is back for book 3 and also brings them back.

[tanme]

Fact: a Chinese Minecraft animator created 3 body problem into Minecraft animation. There are 4 season until now. And the animation is a high quality animation

[GaysianAmerican]

There is a tale in Chinese Folklore where the divine archer Hou Yi shot and killed 9/10 suns that was baking the earth to death. The Trisolaran Three sun system might be kinda based on this tale with several scifi updates

[Peads]

The Martian is softer scifi than The Expanse?? The Martian is 99% actual real science, no fancy stuff at all. The entire plot is based around the science. Artemis is pretty hard too

[belleah]

I just finished the third book, Death’s End, a few weeks ago, and I’m still thinking deeply about the entire series! It’s so thought provoking! The last book was my favorite subjective favorite! I rarely want to pick up a book/series right after finishing, but this series made me want to re-read and pick up every other book by this author immediately.

[shuang]

No, there is no stereotype that "Chinese are colder" - I would say it's quite the opposite. People are very vocal and straightforward, especially in the past two generations. Though, like United States, Chinese from different regions have different temperaments, cultures, accents and even physical differences. Some cities are known to be more polite and others more confrontational (in a friendly fashion).

Regarding the book (which I read in English though I understand both languages), I also found the characters to be on the colder side. I think it's reasonable since the main character (the lady scientist) lived through cultural revolution in which speaking too much can get one imprisoned. And the characters tended to be cerebral, scientist types. A great if a challenging book to go through though.

[ryan]

I totally forgot about the invasion part of this book. I just remembered when they used human bodies and horses to build a computer

[randombookclubpodcast]

If you enjoyed this book, I would highly recommend that you read its prequel - "Ball Lightning"! Its much easier to read, with a faster paced and more straight forward story line. I actually enjoyed Ball Lightning more than Three Body Problem on first impression.

[OronoDiane]

7:58 "unrelenting in it's themes".
Immediately made me cringe for the Netflix version of this. It is being written by David Benioff and DB Weiss of Game of Thrones fame. You know, the two writers who scoffed at the idea of themes, saying, "Themes are for 8th grade book reports." Yikes.

[Mharriscreations]

One thing that really stood out to me was the first quarter of the book set in the Cultural Revolution. I nearly cried then because I have good friends and coworkers that lived through the Cultural Revolution and it was nearly spot on with their stories and though it actually softens what happened, it really gives you a little glimpse into what people went through during the Cultural Revolution.

[临高]

"the character development is cold": yeah this is a common criticism even in China, and yeah, a lot of readers don't really care the character is a bit cold, to others the coldness is a bit of problem.
"book one's ending is weird": I never thought of it, because I rush through all three books with my dad with in a week.