Not a unique voice, but a unique flavor Our past must have some influence on how we envision our future. Stands to reason that a SciFi from a Chinese author would have some unique qualities to it. In this novel, we not only get to read his version of Earth's future but also a glimpse of the past that shaped it. In two different eras, two of our leading scientists came in contact with interstellar intelligence. Their actions and the contrast between them could've made a great novel. But we also get to interact with the intelligence, in quite unique ways. The narrative, as interesting as it is, is definitely elevated by its narration.
The Three-Body Problem is not only an absorbing read and an intriguing mystery, it also is a gently stimulating. The novel centers around a problem that is almost purely mathematical, the author does well to navigate us through with fluid language and inventive scenarios. The book respects the readers' intelligence and doesn't stop to make too many explanations.
Liu Cixin is clearly a fan of the genre and is aware of the richness of it. He's brave to push us onto higher dimensions, whether he can keep us audiences along with him in this journey is a different matter. After 399 pages, I'm quite willing to stay on-board.
Old-School Sci-fi in the 21st Century (Staff Revie This book has all the grand visions of science and philosophy that the best classic sci-fi stories had, but with a far grimmer and more brutal perspective, making this a very unique and cool read. The science in this book is cutting-edge and complex without weighing down the story in details, but the total focus of concepts over character development was a bit of a let down. All the characters are uber-competent professionals lacking any notable personalities, and though I respect the focus on the big ideas, I think giving the characters a bit more depth wouldn't have hurt.
I absolutely loved the way the author integrated the work of philosophers and scholars from Eastern and Western history into the story through the proxy of an online game. The way the game combined these historical figures with modern scientific questions was very fun to read.
Finally, there is the cultural colouring of having the story take place around revolutionary and post-revolutionary China. This definitely created a dark and somewhat nihilistic tone over what could easily have been a story of triumph and hope. While an impending apocalypse is typically met with resistance, many characters in this story welcome it with open arms. My instinct was to think that as an unrealistic reaction, but when you think back to the brutality of the revolution portrayed in the opening chapters and scattered throughout, it starts to make more sense than I would like it to. - Paul, Forest Heights KPL
Staff Review - Hard Sci Fi This book was interesting and presented some interesting issues in theoretical and advanced physics. However, I believe a lot of it went over my head. As a humanities major, I lack the scientific background and literacy to appreciate much of the arguments put forth. I was most intrigued by the parts about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, as well as noticing differences in how cultural backgrounds can influence how an author approaches something like sci-fi. There isn't much action, and most of the characters aren't overly well-developed. The most interesting character, in my opinion, was Da Shi, and he isn't one of the characters whose perspective the story is told from. I also found the end rather anticlimactic, despite how interesting the ideas behind it were. Overall, I'm glad I read it, but suffice to say that having read "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil DeGrasse Tyson was not a sufficient enough education for me to understand or appreciate much of this book.
ok I have read a few of Liu Cixin's short stories (They show up on the Amazon free list occasionally.) so I knew it would be interesting.
Honestly, I can see why it is a bestseller in China. I can. But equally as honestly, this book didn't do it for me. I often find Chinese to English translation read very dryly and this is no exception. (I'm pretty sure this is a cultural characteristic of Chinese writing.) But the book is also very slow to get going.
The first half feels very random and though the end does tie it all together, I still spent 200 pages wondering what was going on. None of this is helped by the fact that it is very science heavy. Everything is explained well, but I didn't particularly enjoy sciences lessons.
Then, in the last half, when things do finally pick up I found myself irked about something else entirely. It's hard to address without a spoiler of some sort, but the POV shifts somewhere new and that POV feels far too human. We're told repeatedly that we don't know what they're like, but everything about them presents as human when it really shouldn't have.
All of the characters are also very thin. However, there are some interesting ones. Da Shi is one of the best anti-heroes I've come across in a while and I appreciated Ye Weing's flat affect.
I've heard that the 2nd and 3rd books are better than this one and if I happen across them I'd read them. But I'm not rushing out to buy them. This was just an OK read for me.
Good read Entertaining scifi by Chinese author tells of good intentions gone bad. The story intertwines misanthropic environmental activism with the search for intelligent life in the universe set in the context of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the Cold War. Elements of astrophysics and quantum mechanics are deftly incorporated.