The Three-Body Problem

"Well-written, but some of the time jumps in the storyline were confusing when listening, and the science was pretty hardcore at parts."

"3.75/5 ⭐️"

"The Three-Body Problem was a trip. This is the first book of a trilogy that is huge in China right now. I haven't read much fiction in translation, and Liu Cixin's novel was a revelation. Not that I have much basis for comparison, but Ken Liu's translation seemed fantastic. He managed to translate the novel into English while maintaining a distinct non-English rhythm, perspective, and tone. While surprisingly science-heavy (far more so than almost any other sci-fi book I've read), The Three-Body Problem was fun, intriguing, and utterly different that any other sci-fi I've ever seen. Really thought-provoking to read a modern sci-fi tale with such a distinct Chinese perspective too. Definitely worth a read. Now just have to wait for the other two books to get translated!"

"What the...?!?!? Made it about halfway before I couldn't take it anymore. Granted, the last sci-fi book I probably read (decades ago) was Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land," which I loved. But this is "hard sci-fi" (a term I learned via this book) and not for me. Plus, I can't stand it when I have no idea what's going on, so if that's you, then might be best to skip this one."

"This took me on a very frustrating ride, y’all. Having been heavily recommended by many smart friends, I struggled through 80% of this. Heavy science, disjointed speech and conversational style, and facts and footnotes made it feel less a narrative and more a heavy historical textbook - of which I was interested in connecting emotionally to the material, but couldn’t quite keep the effort. But, around 80% in, things sped up, and it felt the context was helpful, if not entirely necessary to have spread it so thickly in the beginning. <br/><br/>I persevered, probably, only because we have the trilogy in hard copy, and I already felt it was a sunk investment. <br/><br/>However: On reading the post scripts from the author and the translator, I finally felt the emotion and context that seemed to be lacking from the first part of the story. Where was THIS emotion, context, thought, and language, throughout the whole story? Come on Cixin, if you can write like this, where was it in 400 pages?<br/><br/>A quote from the translator “the best translations into English, do not in fact, read as if they were originally written in English. The English words are arranged in such a way that the reader sees a glimpse of another culture’s patterns of thinking, hears an echo of another language’s rhythms and cadences, and feels a tenor of another people’s gestures and movements.”<br/><br/>Overall, I think the message, story, and framing are important. I wish this went further into passionate framing of the history, but by nature of the protagonist being a scientist, the words on the page seemed dry and factual. I usually love Asian history/narrative and find a lot of connection, but this seemed to miss the underlying personal motivation and deep character development from a first-person lens. We spent most of the time in present tense, having things happen to us, with no reflection or context other than footnotes and scientific processes - which probably rings more true to the frustration and hopelessness that comes with people experiencing crisis, growth, political upheaval, etc.<br/><br/>Again, all conscious and effective choices by the author, and a reflection of political and historical pragmatism, but if you’re looking for a page turner, you won’t find it here until the very end. <br/><br/>That being said, there’s a lot to think about - challenging political theories, whatever they may be, and our very understanding and framing of our lives and what it means to be human and have a spiritual or moral duty, and touches on how countries and ideologies deal with crisis. <br/><br/>Oh, and aliens."

"Although the characters may be a tad stiff, I was blown away by the scope and grandeur of this book. The science is up front and center and the wild concepts and twists just keep coming the whole time. The “game” was so cool. The “end of physics”. The folding dimensions of the proton, and the 3-body problem itself are all such gripping ideas. My only wish would be for a more emotional dive into the inner turmoil of the characters - the choice to betray the human race for example, but it doesn’t take away from the mind tilting science and physics that make this book so enjoyable."

"I think it's a great book, I really liked the human circuit board; and the gloomy view on how humanity doesn't need anything tangible to fight among themselves."

"5/5 holy ****.<br/><br/>I’ll admit, at times this was a very tough read for me because I got lost in some of the more technical explanations. I put off finishing the book for a month, but that was SUCH a mistake. Fight through the hard moments, and you will be greatly rewarded by the end. <br/><br/>This is such a clever and mind boggling read; I have no idea how Cixin Liu crafted this from his own mind. Speculative science fiction can be very fun to read but also very daunting, and somehow Liu pushes the boundaries of what we COULD know to places beyond my own comprehension. The last 100 pages of this book were so gripping, it seemed like every page I read contained a new concept I had never thought of or even heard of before. This is genuinely the first science fiction book I’ve read that has made me consider possibilities I had NEVER seen anyone else explore. Absolutely amazing."

"A lovely work of fiction for science enthusiasts and sci-fi fans alike. "