English language
Published April 18, 2021 by Head of Zeus, Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book.
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.
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.
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.
Extremely average... I don't get what all the fuss is about
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.
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!
Best hard sci-fi I've read in years. Very modern and interesting.
For me a different type of sci-fi that explored our world while also reflecting on a variation through which our nature is considered.
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 …
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 a lot more than what this book has done.
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.
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.
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 …
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?
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.
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.
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.
Quite a lot of material in this book and a lot of it was foreign for a foreigner.The Cultural revolution and the potential psychological damage that could do to those who lived through it or fought on each side was intense. As the book planed out the character development of the main parties was thorough enough to understand. The science was well spoken even if I can't verify the validity of it, it felt right. Thank goodness for all the footnotes or I'd never have pieced together all the Chinese references.
A little bit of a challenge but a good amount of enjoyment reading this. The author has a good pulse on some of the psychosis of human nature. I have some qualms with how the Trisolorans are portrayed but a re-read might make me feel different. It's a lot to wrap your head around what an alien culture might …
Quite a lot of material in this book and a lot of it was foreign for a foreigner.The Cultural revolution and the potential psychological damage that could do to those who lived through it or fought on each side was intense. As the book planed out the character development of the main parties was thorough enough to understand. The science was well spoken even if I can't verify the validity of it, it felt right. Thank goodness for all the footnotes or I'd never have pieced together all the Chinese references.
A little bit of a challenge but a good amount of enjoyment reading this. The author has a good pulse on some of the psychosis of human nature. I have some qualms with how the Trisolorans are portrayed but a re-read might make me feel different. It's a lot to wrap your head around what an alien culture might be thinking.
I am eagerly awaiting a translation of Dark Forest to continue learning what happens.
