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jenhurst's review against another edition
4.0
This is a Chinese sci-fi novel involving the Chinese cultural revolution as a backdrop to an alien invasion. As Earth is dealing with the Revolution, there are different camps forming for how to deal with things and an elaborate game called the Three-Body Problem.
This is a lot different from other speculative fiction I've read. It's a Chinese novel intended for Chinese audience and thus there is obviously cultural differences between Western novels. I really enjoyed it for the differences. One I found was that the characters weren't as warm and dynamic as characters in Western books (think Tyrion, Luke Skywalker, etc). The references to Chinese cultural pieces, ideas and words were explained very well by the translator in foot notes, that didn't feel overwhelming. I hate footnotes but these ones didn't bother me. I liked the philosophical side to this and the exploration of science elements in a way that felt realistic. The science was explained in a way that me with no university science (past first year bio) but I didn't feel stupid reading it or that it was dumbed down. Dealing with the agents also did not involve "Get the nukes!" and actually tried to come up with the idea to defeat them in a realistic way.
I can understand the complaints about the characters (even if it didn't bother me) and I can understand why people wouldn't like the writing but I think it worked for the approach of the novel. It is definitely inspired by Asimov, but he's such a great author I can't blame Cixin Liu.
4.5/5 stars.
I recommend this if you like first contact with aliens and are looking for a hard sci-fi.
This is a lot different from other speculative fiction I've read. It's a Chinese novel intended for Chinese audience and thus there is obviously cultural differences between Western novels. I really enjoyed it for the differences. One I found was that the characters weren't as warm and dynamic as characters in Western books (think Tyrion, Luke Skywalker, etc). The references to Chinese cultural pieces, ideas and words were explained very well by the translator in foot notes, that didn't feel overwhelming. I hate footnotes but these ones didn't bother me. I liked the philosophical side to this and the exploration of science elements in a way that felt realistic. The science was explained in a way that me with no university science (past first year bio) but I didn't feel stupid reading it or that it was dumbed down. Dealing with the agents also did not involve "Get the nukes!" and actually tried to come up with the idea to defeat them in a realistic way.
I can understand the complaints about the characters (even if it didn't bother me) and I can understand why people wouldn't like the writing but I think it worked for the approach of the novel. It is definitely inspired by Asimov, but he's such a great author I can't blame Cixin Liu.
4.5/5 stars.
I recommend this if you like first contact with aliens and are looking for a hard sci-fi.
sealreads's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sophie_111's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
pagesplotsandpints's review against another edition
3.25
Read Completed 3/28/24 | 3.5 stars? I think? -- after thinking, settled on 3.25
This has been rolling around as something I considered reading for a long time but I wasn't sure if I'd ever pick it up. Now that there's a Netflix series and that Kori started reading it, I decided to pick it up and sort of buddy read it with her (even though I'm the world's worst buddy reader and keep no pacing with my buddy whatsoever).
So.
This was... different. I don't even know how to review it and I tried to read other people's reviews and they're like.... really smart 😂 My review will be nothing so coherent, critical, or in depth. I read this for fun and I am not literary critic and reading other people's reviews blatantly reminds me of that. So from a fun factor: THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM was a compelling read, but not at first. The first part of the book trudged along slowly for me, focusing on China's Cultural Revolution with some true history mixed with fictional characters. It was a little heavy-handed on the history for my tastes, obviously not speaking of the history and events themselves, but just that I was ready to jump in head-first to the science fiction and aliens and I just was really impatient to get there. It wasn't quite my type of writing or subject.
The science in this book was kind of mind-blowing. Or rather, so in depth that a lot of it just went over my head. I was wildly interested in everything that was going on but if you're worried about it being very science-y... It is. In my opinion. It wasn't a bad thing, though. I kind of just let it wash over me and I picked up on what was going on, not really needed to understand ALL of the physics going on here. It was incredibly interesting and engaging and I was dying to inhale everything that was going on. There were big things that were brought in to be answered later (by more science) and I'm glad we came back to some of those things that I forgot to even question with everything that was going on!
I didn't really love some of the writing and the way the timelines were all jumbled. The timelines kind of jump around a lot based on the character, and sometimes the timelines jump even within a character's POV. I got a little frustrated in the beginning because we'd spend time with a character in the 1960s and then it would say "and then 30 years later she found out X" and then jump back, and do it again. It was a little bit of a timeline whiplash sometimes and especially at the beginning when I'm still getting the hang of a new author's writing, it was a little distracting.
This ended on a cliffhanger, which I should have known because it's a series, but it's like, RIGHT as it's getting good. I was interested in the sequel, but it's much longer than THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM with this book being 13+ hours as an audiobook and the sequel being almost twice as long at 22+. I just don't know if I want to spend 22+ hours with some of the same writing issues I had here (and I snuck a peek at some reviews that confirmed the beginning drags).
This book definitely set it up for a series, in pacing and in concept, but I think I would have rather cut some things that happened in the past for the sake of pacing and plot so we could make this two books instead of three. I'm not an author, it's not my book, but I just don't know if I'll continue the series with how I'm currently feeling about how long it'll take me to read the next book. I'm no stranger to long audiobooks and have read multiple books that are almost 50 hours, but I think the beginning would really start to drag again.
Clearly my opinion is just my opinion. This is still highly rated with tons of 5 star reviews. When I started it, I wasn't sure if it would be my kind of sci-fi and it kind of was, but also wasn't. I'm incredibly interested to see what happens with the Trisolerans reach Earth, but maybe I'll find out what happens by watching the Netflix series instead of finishing by reading. I can easily see this being "better" as a TV show, at least to be a bit more widely consumable, and the imagery has to be absolutely amazing.
This has been rolling around as something I considered reading for a long time but I wasn't sure if I'd ever pick it up. Now that there's a Netflix series and that Kori started reading it, I decided to pick it up and sort of buddy read it with her (even though I'm the world's worst buddy reader and keep no pacing with my buddy whatsoever).
So.
This was... different. I don't even know how to review it and I tried to read other people's reviews and they're like.... really smart 😂 My review will be nothing so coherent, critical, or in depth. I read this for fun and I am not literary critic and reading other people's reviews blatantly reminds me of that. So from a fun factor: THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM was a compelling read, but not at first. The first part of the book trudged along slowly for me, focusing on China's Cultural Revolution with some true history mixed with fictional characters. It was a little heavy-handed on the history for my tastes, obviously not speaking of the history and events themselves, but just that I was ready to jump in head-first to the science fiction and aliens and I just was really impatient to get there. It wasn't quite my type of writing or subject.
The science in this book was kind of mind-blowing. Or rather, so in depth that a lot of it just went over my head. I was wildly interested in everything that was going on but if you're worried about it being very science-y... It is. In my opinion. It wasn't a bad thing, though. I kind of just let it wash over me and I picked up on what was going on, not really needed to understand ALL of the physics going on here. It was incredibly interesting and engaging and I was dying to inhale everything that was going on. There were big things that were brought in to be answered later (by more science) and I'm glad we came back to some of those things that I forgot to even question with everything that was going on!
I didn't really love some of the writing and the way the timelines were all jumbled. The timelines kind of jump around a lot based on the character, and sometimes the timelines jump even within a character's POV. I got a little frustrated in the beginning because we'd spend time with a character in the 1960s and then it would say "and then 30 years later she found out X" and then jump back, and do it again. It was a little bit of a timeline whiplash sometimes and especially at the beginning when I'm still getting the hang of a new author's writing, it was a little distracting.
This ended on a cliffhanger, which I should have known because it's a series, but it's like, RIGHT as it's getting good. I was interested in the sequel, but it's much longer than THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM with this book being 13+ hours as an audiobook and the sequel being almost twice as long at 22+. I just don't know if I want to spend 22+ hours with some of the same writing issues I had here (and I snuck a peek at some reviews that confirmed the beginning drags).
This book definitely set it up for a series, in pacing and in concept, but I think I would have rather cut some things that happened in the past for the sake of pacing and plot so we could make this two books instead of three. I'm not an author, it's not my book, but I just don't know if I'll continue the series with how I'm currently feeling about how long it'll take me to read the next book. I'm no stranger to long audiobooks and have read multiple books that are almost 50 hours, but I think the beginning would really start to drag again.
Clearly my opinion is just my opinion. This is still highly rated with tons of 5 star reviews. When I started it, I wasn't sure if it would be my kind of sci-fi and it kind of was, but also wasn't. I'm incredibly interested to see what happens with the Trisolerans reach Earth, but maybe I'll find out what happens by watching the Netflix series instead of finishing by reading. I can easily see this being "better" as a TV show, at least to be a bit more widely consumable, and the imagery has to be absolutely amazing.
janetpants's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
gassyhaggis's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
wyrmbergsabrina's review against another edition
Way to make me feel really stupid. There's using science and maths to ground your ideas, and then there's showing how clever you are at the expense of your reader.
Did I care for any of the characters - nope. Not one.
Too long to actually give any opportunity to work out what is going on and why. Every time an answer was near, the character claimed they couldn't tell anyone.
The game started off cool, but became very tedious and repetitive. I'm sure it looks great on screen but I'm reading it and it just felt cold and distant.
Did I care for any of the characters - nope. Not one.
Too long to actually give any opportunity to work out what is going on and why. Every time an answer was near, the character claimed they couldn't tell anyone.
The game started off cool, but became very tedious and repetitive. I'm sure it looks great on screen but I'm reading it and it just felt cold and distant.
milliebot_reads's review against another edition
I'd heard of the series and was vaguely interested, but didn't decide to check it out until I started watching the show with my partner. We gave up after 5 episodes because of a plot point that felt ridiculous, and because we didn't really care about the plotlines of most of the characters. But I still felt the concept was an interesting one, especially given most alien invasions are more imminent. Having to prepare for alien arrival several centuries ahead of time would be a big challenge and I wanted to see how it would play out, so I picked up the book.
However, I was mostly bored by the book??? Netflix made a lot of changes with the cast of characters, as least from what I can tell up to the halfway point of book one. I knew that going into the book and actually preferred the story centering mostly around 1 main character in the present, and 1 in the past. But it was so science heavy, in a way that made me feel like I didn't understand much of anything. That, combined with the aspects of this game the aliens created (which also was part of the show I really didn't like)...I just couldn't get invested. Nothing was pulling me in, making me feel like I was part of the story.
I just...didn't care what was going on anymore and decided my time would be better spent reading something else. It wouldn't even have been a hate-read if I finished - I don't think the writing or anything in particular was bad, this just wasn't a book for me.
However, I was mostly bored by the book??? Netflix made a lot of changes with the cast of characters, as least from what I can tell up to the halfway point of book one. I knew that going into the book and actually preferred the story centering mostly around 1 main character in the present, and 1 in the past. But it was so science heavy, in a way that made me feel like I didn't understand much of anything. That, combined with the aspects of this game the aliens created (which also was part of the show I really didn't like)...I just couldn't get invested. Nothing was pulling me in, making me feel like I was part of the story.
I just...didn't care what was going on anymore and decided my time would be better spent reading something else. It wouldn't even have been a hate-read if I finished - I don't think the writing or anything in particular was bad, this just wasn't a book for me.
tafeeeeee's review
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
4.25
I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this. I was hesitant to start it because it looked like it was going to be a heavy read. I felt like I could follow along for the most part in terms of all the physics terminology. I got confused when they started talking about protons and different dimensions towards the end, though.
I'm used to reading sci-fi set in Western settings and/or having Western characters. So this introduction to Chinese sci-fi was intriguing.
I'm used to reading sci-fi set in Western settings and/or having Western characters. So this introduction to Chinese sci-fi was intriguing.