The Three-Body Problem

by 劉慈欣, Ken Liu

English language

Published April 18, 2021 by Head of Zeus, Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book.

ISBN:: 978-1-80024-917-2

(174 reviews)

Cixin Liu's trilogy-opening novel about first contact with aliens and the clandestine struggle with them over Earth's future, and its scientific progress in particular.

8 editions

B. Haas reviewed Three Body Problem by 劉慈欣

Review of 'Three Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book was a challenge, but I enjoyed it overall and I plan to read the sequel.

Part of the challenge for me was stylistic. I have a hard time with books that tell more than show, and some chapters were heavy on the telling/lecturing. The ideas were interesting, but I felt like I was wading through the delivery.

My other major challenge was tone. (Mildest of mild spoilers ahead) There is a lot of death and doom.
Some graphic deaths occur “onscreen,” and many other deaths are referenced. There’s only so much death and trauma I can handle in one sitting. The end is hopeful or at least resilient, which I appreciated. If it had just been more doom I probably wouldn’t have wanted to continue the series.

I’m not going to say much about the parts I liked, and that’s not because they were few. I just don’t …

DThoris reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

Verisimilitude is the word

4 stars

Kinda dry, but quite enjoyable. I felt there were some plot holes that weren't adequately explained.

Other than those two things, I really enjoyed it. Aliens, scientists, intrigue, and, of course, the swearing cop/everyman. The prose certainly painted pictures in my mind.

Eph (they, them) reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

3 stars

Content warning Discusses elements of the plot

We haven't read the other books in the trilogy. How to describe? Liu has a very pessimistic perception of humanity and the nature of the universe. Not only does it science what kind of beings might evolve in a three-body solar system, but he also engages the Fermi Paradox, a very pessimistic theory about intelligent life. Be prepared to deal with frustration and disappointment.

That said, it is an important book and should be read.

Chungledown Bim reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

2 stars

Extremely average... I don't get what all the fuss is about

Rito Ghosh reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

4 stars

It was the perfect sci-fi book till I read 70% of it. Then it became science fantasy. To some extent.

But it is extremely well-written. The author is fantastic.

gabe. reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

4 stars

First book I read by Liu Cixin, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt like the ending was a little rushed, but I enjoyed the way the story unfolded, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. Good sci-fi!

m9p909 reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

5 stars

Best hard sci-fi I've read in years. Very modern and interesting.

Brian Rayburn reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

5 stars

For me a different type of sci-fi that explored our world while also reflecting on a variation through which our nature is considered.

hsubu reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

2 stars

I am a novice when it comes to science fiction, so maybe that is why I was disappointed with this book. I tried to push myself to finish this book, but at some point, I decided not to waste my time anymore. The characters were shallow and stereotypical, the plot structure was somewhat predictable but these things can be forgiven if the science is deep and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, after reading some utter nonsense written in this book about nanotechnology and noticing other instances of inaccurate science, I gave up. It looks like the author is genuinely excited about the possibilities of various fields of science but is not patient enough to probe the science deeply to fish out fantastic possibilities. I read this book won the Hugo award. Does that mean the other books that year were even worse than this one? I truly believe that science fiction can accomplish …

ManyRoads reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

4 stars

In my experience, this is a unique book. Aside from ancient Chinese religious writings, I have essentially no experience reading Chinese authors. I found this novel, interesting, unique, complex and engaging. It offers both a unique style and perspective (Weltanschauung). FWIW, I plan to complete much of this series during this Covid-19 season.

Robin reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

5 stars

This story starts slowly but intriguingly, and as it proceeds it gets harder and harder to put down as the story gets faster and faster to its fascinating destination.

tauriner reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

5 stars

SPOILERS THO

The three-body problem in physics states that although it is trivial to model the path of two bodies (e.g. binary stars) revolving around each other, it is currently impossible to create a model that can accurately predict the future positions of three bodies around each other, as minute instabilities add up over time to create a chaotic system. This book postulates that the nearest star to the earth, Alpha Centauri, as a ternary star system, is such a chaotic system; despite its unpredictability, a race of sentient species have evolved to sentience on an immensely inhospitable planet. When they learn of the existence of Earth, and realize it is in a stable solar system with a relatively mild climate, what would such a civilization do?

The book reminds me of Carl Sagan's "Contact" (well, the movie; I haven't read the book) but goes beyond the touchy-feely aspects of Sagan's work. Contact is distinctly American, and therefore, deeply religious; when Arroway finally meets aliens, the interaction is solely a personal one, which occurs without any observable proof that it took place at all. With that experience, Arroway is humanity's messiah, able to spread the message that the promised land is a space paradise of hob-nobbing with other, enlightened spacefaring species — if you have faith. 3BP dispenses with the notion that the space age will be a lovely vacation earned by a well-behaved humanity. I don't know if it's because the author takes a very hard-science approach or it's more of a Chinese cultural influence, but the characters in 3BP don't think of joining the aliens because they believe they're worthy. On the contrary, they invite the (presumably enlightened) aliens to Earth as a corrective measure: we're flawed, we're broken, we need your help, come fix us.

Of course, even that ends up being wildly optimistic, as the aliens don't really care about mentoring humans at all. They just want a planet with an easier difficulty level to live on. The universe is a harsh and unforgiving place, and it turns out that outer space isn't the paradise, Earth is. And the aliens wants it for themselves. So, well, they kind of do the science equivalent of driving down the property values so they can swoop in and buy up all the land at a super low price by the time their moving vans get there. (It'll take about 450 years, at a maximum of 10-percent of the speed of light.)

The book ends there. Not with a proclamation of some glorious, kumbaya future, or even a clear evil to be defeated, just a slowly ticking clock. Earth will be occupied in 450 years by star-hopping alien gentrifiers just trying to find a new backyard in which to raise their alien babies. So what now?

Carl Brown reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

4 stars

Fascinating read. Not for everyone, and parts were somewhat confusing and/or implausible to me (oddly enough, not the Alien parts, but the Human reaction parts).

But very very good, very original and fascinating aliens and societies.

matt reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

2 stars

I didn't think this book was very good. Maybe it's better in the original Chinese.

There are some interesting ideas, but they have the narrative urgency of a PowerPoint slide. The characters are cardboard. I wasn't sure if it's the Chinese style I'm not used to or the translation, but all the dialogue feels stilted. There's no character development except (maybe) for Ye Wenjie, who's actions remain completely unbelievable.

The parts about the cultural revolution were interesting.

princeofspace reviewed The Three-Body Problem by 劉慈欣

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

4 stars

Very slow to start. I checked after the first few chapters to make sure I didn't grab the wrong book.

Many interesting ideas with a unique and original alien race. After all the hype around this book I was hoping for more. It was good, just not great.