The Three-Body Problem

Three-Body Trilogy #1

Hardcover, 400 pages

English language

Published Sept. 12, 2014 by Tor Books.

ISBN:
978-0-7653-7706-7
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
868276526
Goodreads:
20518872

View on OpenLibrary

View on Inventaire

4 stars (39 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.

15 editions

Pas mal mais je ne comprends pas trop l'engouement

4 stars

J'ai passé un bon moment à lire le problème des trois corps. C'est bien écrit, avec une structure narrative intéressante qui fait qu'on rentre facilement dans l'histoire. J'ai beaucoup apprécié de lire un livre chinois, dans un contexte et une histoire qui change du tout-étatunien de la science fiction, que je connais mal et que j'ai trouvé vraiment intéressant. Le côté science-fiction "dure" est aussi plaisant, on comprends dès le départ qu'il est féru de physique et qu'on va se plonger dans des questions théoriques, et ça fait du bien. Maintenant venons aux aspects négatifs : déjà il faut bien le dire, si j'ai trouvé que c'était un bon livre, je ne comprends pas sa réputation internationale, il y a plusieurs points (comme la société des tri***) que je trouve assez bancals et pas très crédibles. Si le sujet est amené de manière originale et prenante, on en arrive au …

The Three-Body Problem

4 stars

Imaginative and thoughtful "hard" science fiction. Fingers crossed that Netflix will do a good job with the series. The setting in China was interesting. Some parts were excellent, while others were a little tiresome (e.g., some of the military/police conversations), but I enjoyed it quite a bit overall. The chapter with Newton, Von Neumann and the human-formation computer was a fascinating and humorous highlight for me.

Science Fiction

5 stars

Spannend aufgebaut mit verschiedenen Handlungssträngen, die sich irgendwann zusammenfügen. Technische / physikalische Grundprinzipien auch für mich als Laien verständlich dargestellt. Und die Frage nach dem "First Contact" mit all ihren Implikationen wurde toll beackert. Zusätzlich erfährt von noch etwas über die jüngere chinesische Geschichte.

Good, but watch out - sets up trilogy

5 stars

The first few chapters had me darting to and from Wikipedia to help add some context to a story that is deeply set in the Chinese Cultural Revolution. It',s a triviality to call the story complex, a mystery than unfolds through the book. Be warned this is the first in a trilogy and a very much sets itself up this way, which was a little frustrating in the last few chapters.

professional play

3 stars

Much of the novel assumes a tone of gossamer fantasy, still with the heft of a folktale. Think of fabric draping a central space into being, over a solid floor.

There is video gaming (along with rally and militarism) as theatre, perhaps most overtly, but the whole story is almost palpably sited within in staging containers — which mostly stretch or are transcended rather gently, in contrast to the claustrophobic violence possessing and constricting the gap in the crowd, the logged woods, the cramped room, the retina, the battered biosphere, the rigid formation, the traumatic shared memory, the laden canal, the proton.

For its themes, The Three-Body Problem is a very comfortable read. The “hard sci‐fi” elements are good fun, silly (or playful and open) without committing to ridiculous abandon. Although, on occasion, explanatory dialogue felt condescendingly conspicuous, on the whole, Liu’s devices moved smoothly enough. There are some beautiful …

Sci-Fi from a different persepective

4 stars

I was surprised to read a Chinese sci-fi novel, but it's an interesting perspective on it. At first I thought this is going to be all about China, being for or against the CCP regime and a bit of sci-fi sprinkled on it, but it was the opposite!

The parts that were leaning on it being in China were great, it's a different view on how to write sci-fi, which is usually VERY centered on the US. I hope for more non-US authors in the sci-fi world, there's a lot to explore here.

The ending surprised me, because I read through it much faster than I thought. This should be a good thing, but I only noticed how far in I was, because I couldn't believe that this is how it's gonna end. It was a bit disappointing, but it's a trilogy, so and it felt very much written in …

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 …

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

4 stars

Although this book is really physics-inspired (just look at the name), it is not actually intended for physicists, and more for the general public (which is good! Just not expected). Let me explain:

I just finished my B.A. in physics, and although I'm in no means an expert, I do have certain knowledge in the field. This caused an unexpected problem for me.

The physicists in the book (except Ye Wenji maybe) aren't believable. They lack basic knowledge that all physicists have, or understand the situation far slower than expected.

For example, let's look at the 3body game. As a non-expert with limited knowledge, I was able to understand the mechanics of the game within the first chapter of it. For Wang, en expert with years more of experience it took 3 another several chapters.

Of course, this is not a problem for most people (I guess), since most people …

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

4 stars

Cixin Liu is a different voice in sci-fi - for someone brought up on western stories, Liu's story structure and background are odd, which makes it very refreshing to read. I had one minor problem with believability in the book, but otherwise I'm looking forward to reading the English translation of the next two books.

The tale is a sweeping one, filled with good sci-fi ideas and nothing less than the fate of humanity at stake. Like John Wright's Count to the Eschaton series, the fate of humanity rests in the hands of a few who know what's going on. Unlike anything else I've read, this book faces that challenge with the background of the Chinese Cultural Revolution driving the protagonists actions, and - here's where the refreshing part comes in - coloring the thoughts of alien minds as well.

If you've ever read the Night Watch books by Lukyanenko, …

avatar for Orlion

rated it

5 stars
avatar for kj

rated it

5 stars
avatar for nevin

rated it

4 stars
avatar for neh

rated it

4 stars
avatar for jkb
jkb

rated it

4 stars
avatar for PinkFloydian

rated it

3 stars
avatar for mrw
M@

rated it

2 stars
avatar for jeffbenner

rated it

5 stars
avatar for notableduck

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Conbini

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Susanna

rated it

3 stars
avatar for FredJohansen

rated it

5 stars
avatar for ComtesseDolingen

rated it

2 stars
avatar for janejana

rated it

5 stars
avatar for michael.sherman

rated it

5 stars
avatar for SpaceCamel

rated it

4 stars
avatar for markpoole

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Gorbag

rated it

5 stars