The Three-Body Problem

, #1

Hardcover, 400 pages

English language

Published Sept. 12, 2014 by Tor Books.

ISBN:
978-0-7653-7706-7
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4 stars (36 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.

18 editions

reviewed Le problème à trois corps by Cixin Liu (le problème à trois corps, #1)

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 …

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 …

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

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 …

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

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 …