The Three-Body Problem

by Liu Cixin

Paperback, 416 pages

English language

Published Jan. 12, 2016 by Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-8203-0

(176 reviews)

Within the context of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a military project sends messages to alien worlds. A nearby alien society receives these messages and makes plans to invade Earth.

10 editions

brenticus reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth's Past, Book 1)

None

4 stars

Lately I find myself enjoying hard sci-fi less, as the need to keep everything grounded and feeling real begins to gnaw at the fantastical elements that I love in the genre. Brilliant phenomena, foreign worlds, unbelievable machines.

The Three Body Problem is a rare book capable of delving so deep into hard sci-fi that I wondered whether large portions were real, yet still highlighting all the most impressive things the genre is capable of bringing forth. We are sucked so far into the intrigue and science that so many revelations feel like they must have been a fever dream until their consequences rebound throughout the book.

My only major gripe is the bizarre pacing. Some plots take up huge chunks of the book shoved in the middle of climactic events, and the whole thing kind of just feels like a prologue to a completely different book. There are also parts …

Eleder reviewed El problema de los tres cuerpos by Liu Cixin (Recuerdo del pasado de la Tierra, #1)

Review of 'El problema de los tres cuerpos' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Empecé con muchas ganas este ganador del Premio Hugo de 2015. Ciencia ficción "hard", de una cultura un tanto exótica para mí como la china, y con aplauso unánime de la crítica, prometía mucho. Y no es que sea una mala lectura ni mucho menos, pero me ha acabado decepcionando bastante.

Se dice que el autor está muy influido por Asimov, Clarke y similares, y la verdad es que sí: la trama contiene muchos elementos que podían haber sido originales en los años 60, pero que desde luego hoy en día no lo son, al menos en Occidente. El personaje principal es bastante plano; los secundarios, que tenían mimbres para ser interesantes, acaban resultando estereotípicos; el hecho de que la novela acabe en un "continuará" (es el primer libro de una trilogía) no ayuda tampoco a la redondez de la trama.

En otros aspectos donde se ven influencias de otros autores, los extraterrestres, lejanos y enigmáticos pero a la vez muy humanos, me recuerdan poderosamente a los de Los Propios Dioses; el juego de realidad virtual no puede menos de sonarnos a Ender... Pero todo ello con menos fuerza que las referencias originales.

Curiosamente, donde me parece que el libro se vuelve más vivo y brillante es en sus regresiones sobre China, la Revolución Cultural y su evolución posterior. Quizás es simplemente por mi desconocimiento sobre el tema, pero los capítulos centrados en ese tema se me hicieron mucho más interesantes.

El libro se lee bien, entretiene y es de lectura ágil, pero esperaba algo más. No sé si continuaré con los otros dos libros de la trilogía, tocará pensarlo.

Erin reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I had mixed feelings about this one. Some of the plot and conflict I really enjoyed. But the characterization wasn’t working for me and there were some heavy science info dumps that were rough, even for someone who enjoys learning about quantum physics.

arpia49 reviewed El problema de los tres cuerpos by Liu Cixin (Recuerdo del pasado de la Tierra, #1)

Review of 'El problema de los tres cuerpos' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Me ha gustado mucho, muy entretenido. Viene bien saber algo de física/ciencia para disfrutarlo más.

Eric Lawton reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth's Past, Book 1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Interesting with several physics plot twists. Almost no social commentary, as the author explains in an afterword. Although I found it interesting to read something mostly set in China through the Cultural Revolution and beyond, I found the pages of details on pseudo-physics tedious if ingenious. Glad I read this one, but unlikely to read the sequels.

jv reviewed El problema de los tres cuerpos by Liu Cixin (Recuerdo del pasado de la Tierra, #1)

Review of 'El problema de los tres cuerpos' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Pues... venía tan recomendado que me he llevado un ligero chasco. Posiblemente tenga tantas virtudes como defectos: la trama se despliega con cierta elegancia y se cierra con algún chirrido, no demasiado grave; los aspectos científicos parecen bien traídos, pero las motivaciones de los personajes apenas se esbozan, parecen tomar decisiones que cambian vidas por poco menos que ocurrencias de un momento de calentón. Sólo la protagonista aparece definida, el resto son máscaras.

Lo más incómodo para mí ha sido la escala a la que se desarrolla todo, tan cósmica ella y tan difícil de abarcar.

Se lee del tirón, pero se nota demasiado la pincelada gruesa.

Moorlock reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

It has a good moment or two, but commits two of the usual terrible sins of sci-fi:

1. Lots of exposition in the form of unrealistic dialog... including the antagonist cackling gratuitously for several pages to the victim over how and why they are going to be destroyed, and how this evil plot will fool them all and they'll never see it coming.

2. Deus ex machina resolutions of plot mysteries and conflicts via suddenly-introduced, implausible quasiscientific machines or mechanisms.

To this you can add:

Officer Cliché: a tough-talking cop who bends the rules and doesn't have respect for the brass.

The book being largely a set-up for its sequels.

Lots of chapters describing a VR video game that's supposed to be hard to tear yourself away from, but in its description seems about as exciting as watching paint dry,

An alien race with superior technology and wisdom who choose …

Painkiller reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth's Past, Book 1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Excellent hard sci-fi that sucks you in with a great mystery.

Chris M reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

The premise was good, but I just couldn't get through the ceaseless science infodumps. This read like the novelization of a research paper.

Dennis A V Dittrich reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

pro-libertate.net/20160925/307-read-three-body-problem

itgrrl reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Some interesting ideas are explored in this trilogy, but for a book that is touted as being scientifically accurate/plausible I nearly rage-quit when the Sophons were introduced. I ended up reading the whole trilogy to see where the larger themes went, and I certainly don't regret it. But if you're expecting hard sci-fi, you're likely to be disappointed.

protomattr reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth's Past, Book 1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

For me, what makes sci-fi worthwhile is the following:

1. Asking big questions about the human condition, and humanity's place in the Universe.

2. Exploring the frontiers of science.

3. Blurring the line between the fantastical and real by building a plausible bridge between the fictional world and the reader's world.

The Three-Body Problem excels at all of these. Not only is Liu highly imaginative in constructing his universe, but he also manages to firmly ground it in well-drawn and memorable characters, real science, and most exceptionally for me, Chinese history and culture. The book begins in the throes of the Chinese cultural revolution, and this turbulence ripples through the rest of the book. This gave his story, already an outstanding example of first contact, a unique flavor, and it makes me want to learn more about something I know little about, a sign of an excellent book.

Another sign …

giantrobot reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Super interesting, with some great perspective-changing ideas and how that would affect people and humanity at a whole. I'm amused by how Chinese it still is, such as the shock of time frames being even longer than dynasties, and things like he human computer, reinforcing ideals that individuals doing their part in society can achieve great earth-changing things.

Sandra reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Meh. I did not care for this. It did nothing to spark my imagination. I was just reading words, blah, blah.

Blah

Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Triology, #1)

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I haven't read a book this full of ideas in a long time. I highly HIGHLY recommend the first novel of Cixin's Three-Body Problem trilogy. English translations of the remaining volumes are rolling out over the next 8 months (The Dark Forest comes out in a few weeks and Death's End drops April 2016) but this shouldn't stop you from getting started. There are awesome set pieces in this novel in the true sense of the word. I often turned to my wife after reading passages and enthusiastically tried to recount what I just read and why it was so cool. Hats off to Ken Liu - my translations never worked.

I really was impressed with the translation from Ken Liu, an accomplished writer himself. Ken was able to transition some very tricky cultural moments with minimal interruption and his writing flowed so well I often forgot it wasn't a book written in originally in English. It will be interesting to see how Joel Martinsen measures up in his translation of the second volume.

All in all, this is a novel of epic ideas and despite it's fantastic flourishes based in scientific theory feels rather relevant. Cixin manages to balance the optimism necessary to make very grim stakes wondrous. This is perfect beach reading material.