I am the only person who isn't overwhelmed by this book. Sorry. ( )

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. ( )

Disappointing. Some interesting ideas but poorly written ( or perhaps something is lost in translation? ) Some cheesy dialogue and overly reliant on "data dumps" ( )

This book was fine. The premise was interesting. The only problem I had was some of the writing and dialog. I don't know if that's the author or because it was translated from Chinese. At any rate, it was a worthwhile read, I'm just not sure if I *need* to read any further in the series. ( )

O encontro com outras civilizações planetárias é muitas vezes descrito como terrível e o nosso fim. É o caso aqui. Pelo menos é o que parece neste primeiro livro da trilogia, o fim da nossa espécie. Drama político e existencial, numa trama que combina ciência e distopia. ( )

Cool and weird and maybe unintentionally religiously profound. ( )

I don’t even know how to describe this one well enough without giving stuff away. It’s a scifi novel set in china over several decades starting during the Cultural Revolution, and it involves a cult conspiracy, a VR video game with a more sinister purpose, and lots and lots of physics.

I enjoyed the plot (although I confess I was hoping for a more twisty reveal of the mysterious bits), but I could certainly have done with a great deal less science exposition. Hoping that the Netflix rendition leaves all that to the imagination. ( )

I felt mixed about this novel by the end. Once I had settled in to a different style of writing, a Chinese style, there were elements of the story that I enjoyed. There was also a lot of maths and physics that I found tedious and too difficult to grasp. The beginning and the historical context of the cultural revolution and how science fitted in to that was good. And once the story got going, once first contact with a race on another planet had been made, the narrative gained some momentum. It still felt quite rambling and the characters seemed two dimensional, although there were points of time when Wang Miao developed somewhat. Some of the ideas were so radical and fascinating and I was gripped, such as the nanotech filaments that sliced a ship but at other times I was willing the story to move on. So generally interesting but I'm not going to rush out and read another. ( )

"The fate of the entire human race was now tied to these slender fingers. Without hesitation, Ye pressed the button."

i don't know what i was expecting. i knew next to nothing of the plot going in and it was better than i could have ever hoped for!!! taking my ass to the library posthaste for the second book ( )

"You must see the stars. Aren't you awed and curious?"
"I never look at the sky at night."
"How is that possible? I thought you often worked the night shift?"
"Buddy, when I work at night, if I look up at the sky, the suspect is going to escape." ( )

Having heard about this Chinese science fiction writer for several years, I decided to read his signature book, The Three Body Problem. It was a disappointment. The book had little drama. Its science fiction premise, an alien species that dehydrates its populace, restarts its civilization, and rebuilds its infrastructure after every natural disaster, is unbelievable.

Maybe I'll change my mind in the future. As of this time, however, I'm not interested in reading the sequel. ( )

On the one hand, the insights into the turmoil the Cultural Revolution visited upon China and its lingering effects made this book important and intriguing. (I won't say "enjoyable", because of the misery the Cultural Revolution caused.)
On the other hand, most of the characters in the book felt flat and hard to relate to. Was this a flaw in the writing? In the translation? In my perception as a reader? It is probably impossible to say which was the culprit.
I'm glad I read The Three-Body Problem, because I wanted to see what Chinese science fiction is like. But I very much doubt I will pick up the sequels. ( )

As a book translated from Chinese, it gave me an interesting cultural perspective on history and relationship to authority. As a science fiction story, it tended to drift into a kind of contrived plot, somewhat disjointed in order to move rapidly ahead. The characters didn’t seem that real in their motivations, so I was not able to finish. ( )

Very thought provoking. Highly recommended. ( )

A premissa é bem interessante e é bastante louvável a capacidade do autor de juntar assuntos científicos pesados com a história, sem parecer forçado ou deslocado e, principalmente, contribuindo para o avanço da trama. Entretanto, às vezes o autor tenta explicar demais alguns aspectos da narrativa e não deixa muito para a imaginação do leitor. Além disso, os personagens são muito pouco desenvolvidos, descambando, às vezes, para o caricato.
Apesar disso, para quem gosta de especulações sobre ciência e tecnologia, é um livro interessante, que tende a agradar os fãs do gênero. ( )

For personal nostalgia:

Incredible.

To start, this is an impeccably intriguing and mind-blowing series that throughout the novel the genre transforms, tones shift and twists laid bare. The riveting mystery interwoven with a backdrop of political upheaval, ecology, fervor very few novels can achieve a sense of grandeur humanitarianism; the nature of politics through a personalized perspective that build such compelling ideas and caricatures through its characters.

Not only that, this novel is SF! Frankly I didnt catch all the science, yet that did not distract me from the novel. Rather the science built upon the explorations of the previously aforementioned ideas on humanity, politics and science.

Very few can be said for the first novel, its fairly simple and straightforward in terms of things to discuss. Yet its complexity and degree of beauty is brilliant and unforgettable. ( )

Truly Mind-boggling, Original, and Entertaining. Simply* Incredible!

I literally just finished the author's and translator's post scripts and I am still catching my mental breath, after taking such a colossal cerebral and emotional kicking by this story, what I know of the author, and their own words, so this is going to be a mess and I will endeavour to return once I have had time to process.

This is truly one of the most singular and incredible books I have ever read. I've been a fan of science fiction practically all my life and have truly dived into the the deeper, stranger, and harder stuff this year through Ken Liu, Ted Chiang, Jeff Vandermeer, and Greg Egan to name a few. Cixin Liu certainly joins that illustrious pantheon of imagination, knowledge, and obsession, while bringing an entirely unique perspective and tonality to his fiction and the application and extrapolation of the science within the story.

I can't pretend to have followed half the science, but that is not for Cixin, through Ken (using their first names to avoid the confusion of them sharing the same second name), grounding and setting the lofty concepts in the world and place that makes them, at least potentially, make sense and able to follow in a way that is remeniscent of more accessible Egan stories. Everything is at least followable from a narrative sense and truly fascinating, embuing the micro and macro elements of science that Cixin has the superpower of being able to comprehend in a very real and tactile way (something that is incomprehensible for me with hypoaphantasia) with truly awesome (in a literal sense) wonder and terror.

The narrative follows a great span of years, but predominantly focuses on a scientist who is inducted into the rapidly unfolding, seemingly esoteric scientific mystery that involves suicides, questioning the fidelity of physics, terrifying virtual reality gaming with some of the most bizarre and brilliant historical cameos that put the Assassin's Creed franchise to shame, lies within secrets within hidden societies and conflicting interests, interstellar messaging, and the potential nightmare of extraterrestrial contact. I literally don't know how to summarise without spoiling anything, so I will leave it as that, while assuring you it makes sense and is as far from s sci-fi Dan Brown caper (as I'm worried I've made it sound) as it could be.

Reading quotes that indicate Cixin seems to politically align with the authoritarian communism* of China, particularly with regard to being anti-democracy (and not in the cooler, edgelord anarchist way) and being a proponent of the state's draconian laws that somewhat parallel the U.S' Patriot Act was depressing, but also incredibly confusing from the way the Cultural Revolution and Struggle Sessions are portrayed on the opening of the novel, and the affinity he has for the human race as a whole. This universal love of humanity is both clear in the novel with the international efforts and explicit in his author's note. Although, the fear and vehemence he holds with the othering of aliens works wonders in the novel, but was disturbing to hear in his own words.

Honestly, I am struggling to reconcile the wonder of the universe and love for humanity that seems so at odds with his politics. So much so that I found his author's note almost as discombobulating and confronting as the novel itself. It also made me question how I go about interacting with his work. I own a bunch of the books already and I am truly entertained and engaging critically, so I will absolutely be continuing the series, though I doth believe I will continue to support him financially.

Ultimately, this book has absolutely knocked me for six and snuck in as one of my favourite reads of 2023 right at the death, along with a new problematic fave of an author. I truly loved this book and felt such giddy excitement, awe, wonder, terror, and was disturbed and perplexed. It's phenomenal!

Cixin Liu is one hell of an author. Ken Liu is also one hell of an author to and, seemingly, wonderful translator. Daniel York Loh is one hell of a narrator. This is truly a all-seasons dream team right here, which could only be improved with a some gender diversity. ( )

/How do you destroy an inquisitive mind? You give it problem it can not solve./

The horror. The problem with horror of this book is… perspective. I could (not?) use word “intelligence” of course, and should I? As it turns out (as per book and as per our current world affairs) intelligence is a relative term. And everything that is relative comes down to perspective, is it not? What then we fear more, an unknown or knowing what is unknown? I’m finding myself asking the same questions as this book more and more of late. To put it bluntly, what stupid person fears and what intelligent person fears are not the same. Even if in reality the something they fear is actually one thing.

The author of this book does not pull any punches. I wish (I really wish!) I could read this book without knowing anything about it. Like watching “Cloud Atlas” or reading “Flowers for Algernon” or listening “The Dolls of New Albion” or anything of this one single time first experience. Carefully crafted narrative bring everything about of course but… don’t spoil it, just read it. It may give something, it may not. Such as the nature of any questions. Some questions ask questions, some give you answers, some you just ignore.

I often think that good books (even in relative terms) come into my life in exactly right time and circumstance. It’s like some cosmic director always (are you sure?) put them in my hands as to remind me that life while being a generally chaotic thing is actually made by people around. Aren’t all books like that? Aren’t all people around like that? Talking lately with those people around living in same reality as me, seeing how good and intelligent people react to the same thing as I differently… it does really put everything in perspective. I fear I know. ( )

terrible writing for the most part (except the historical bit on the chinese revolution which was pretty captivating actually).

zero character development.

enjoyed some of the central ideas (e.g. game used to explain deeper astrological stuff) but the nanotech string thing to cut up a ship just seemed incredibly lame science. ( )

I can see why this made such a splash. The China background plus the cool ideas and philosophy. It's characterisation is its weak spot - you don't really feel for the characters. But I really enjoyed it and rapidly went on to the sequel. ( )

Any book where Newton duels Leibniz over credit for calculus until the latter flees is worth a read. ( )

Entertaining. At times a little tedious, but an interesting premise of contact with aliens mixed in with the existential dread of humanity’s capacity for evil, with a twist of environmental dome swirled in. A little confusing at times, but I liked the historical element of the cultural revolution as the starting place. The hopeful ending was flawed however. As “bugs” we are supposed to take comfort in a bug’s ability to survive, but given our current insect apocalypse…. Well it’s not that hopeful.

Was about to put this book down just because of the political start, I didn't need all the insight of what China thought of America. I continued and found a very interesting world. One that the whole of the world would need to understand. ( )