The Three-Body Problem (Chinese: 三体; lit. 'Three-Body') is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past (Chinese: 地球往事) trilogy, but the whole series is often referred to as The Three-Body Problem. The trilogy's second and third novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End, respectively. The first volume of The Three-Body Problem was originally serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 and published as a standalone book in 2008, becoming one of the most successful Chinese science fiction novels of the last two decades. The novel received the Chinese Science Fiction Yinhe ("Galaxy") Award in 2006 along with many more over the years. By 2015, a Chinese film adaptation of the same name was in production. The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor …
The Three-Body Problem (Chinese: 三体; lit. 'Three-Body') is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past (Chinese: 地球往事) trilogy, but the whole series is often referred to as The Three-Body Problem. The trilogy's second and third novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End, respectively. The first volume of The Three-Body Problem was originally serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 and published as a standalone book in 2008, becoming one of the most successful Chinese science fiction novels of the last two decades. The novel received the Chinese Science Fiction Yinhe ("Galaxy") Award in 2006 along with many more over the years. By 2015, a Chinese film adaptation of the same name was in production. The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor Books in 2014. Thereafter, it became the first Asian novel ever to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel.The series portrays a fictional past, present and future where, in the first book, Earth encounters an alien civilisation in a nearby star system that consists of three solar-type stars orbiting each other in an unstable three-body system.
I've read all three books before writing this review; and I can say: the first is the strongest and most exciting of the series. Hard science concepts are mixed with interesting characters and novel problems that may be feel a sense of scale and wonder as I read.
Another mediocre read, I’m not having much luck at the moment! This started off so well, I was absolutely hooked by the clever, sophisticated scientific concepts and Liu’s easy writing style. The sections set in 1960s China were fascinating, it kind of felt like a sweeping historical sci-fi. I was also really invested in the main characters early on, and I especially loved Da Shi, the noir-ish detective with a bit of an attitude.
But then somewhere around the halfway mark things got really bogged down with the science, in fact the science became the main character. The scientific concepts became very hard for a casual reader to grasp and Liu would spend pages, sometimes entire chapters, dissecting and analysing these complex ideas. Quite frankly, I got bored and felt quite alienated as a reader. All of the momentum went out of the storytelling and character development, which just felt …
Another mediocre read, I’m not having much luck at the moment! This started off so well, I was absolutely hooked by the clever, sophisticated scientific concepts and Liu’s easy writing style. The sections set in 1960s China were fascinating, it kind of felt like a sweeping historical sci-fi. I was also really invested in the main characters early on, and I especially loved Da Shi, the noir-ish detective with a bit of an attitude.
But then somewhere around the halfway mark things got really bogged down with the science, in fact the science became the main character. The scientific concepts became very hard for a casual reader to grasp and Liu would spend pages, sometimes entire chapters, dissecting and analysing these complex ideas. Quite frankly, I got bored and felt quite alienated as a reader. All of the momentum went out of the storytelling and character development, which just felt criminal as they were such interesting characters. It was such a disappointing turn of events as I was loving it up until this point, and was so excited to read the other books in the trilogy.
ciencia ficcion, puray dura, profunda investigacion fisica, matematica, social, geopolitica, para crear a partir de un problema de modelo matematico, ( los tres cuerpos) una novela innovadora, un salto cuantico en la ciencia ficción
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It was an interesting read. Somewhat hard to get into the story, but then it was making me turn pages and I could barely put it down. I loved some of the sci-fi ideas presented there.
A bunch of interesting ideas, but miles away from a great book.
Interesting premise but could get a bit wordy at times and once i read all three I couldn’t help but think back to the implied/embedded nationalism and misogyny. Or how being a historian of China ruins everything 😅
Set my imagination off, but felt like a stream of ideas.
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.
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.
A good hard fiction novel that explores the question of making first contact. It's a quick read that has decent character development, a smooth flowing plot, and asks deep philosophical science questions.
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 …
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.
Le he puesto un "I liked it" porque creo que tiene potencial, aunque le haya costado arrancar 3/4 partes del libro. Me recuerda mucho a la antigua ciencia-ficción de Asimov, dónde importaba más el subtexto filosófico que no hacer una "novela".
Cixin no tiene tiempo para molestarse con sus personajes, está demasiado entretenido con los what-ifs que plantea la física teórica y los usos que el ser humano puede darle. Le queda un libro muy interesante a nivel especulativo pero frío y árido en cuanto a personajes y motivaciones. No sé hasta que punto tiene que ver con la traducción, el tipo de autor o sus influencias.
Hay potencial y quiero ver como desarrolla el cliffhangerazo que deja en este libro. De momento se queda en un "No está mal".
Ha estado genial, hay veces que los cambios de formato, de temática incluso, o la introducción de algunos personajes parece que chirría un poco, pero sin embargo te mantiene pegado y quieres saber más y más de lo que el autor nos tiene preparado en su imaginativa cabeza
