A review by chocorb
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.0

this book was disappointing, to say the least. i thought this would be a fantastic read with high stakes, with alien invasions being mentioned and all. what did i get instead?

whatever the hell this book was. a hidden physics lecture? perhaps.

this is going to be a quick run down: there were politics, a game based on the alien world, than aliens finally mentioned at the end with hopes of an invasion. oh, and can’t forget the random and incomprehensible scientific info-dumps in the middle! i understand that us readers need an explanation for the phenomenons occurring in this book, but were the paragraphs describing the physics really necessary? this book could’ve relied more on the general understanding the readers have, rather than trying to drill something they would possibly never get. 

then comes the narrative. the least engaging narrative, with no build-ups of suspense whatsoever. the way i felt absolutely nothing throughout this book. 

where was the action? the violence? the actual invasion? this book is obviously a part of a trilogy, because absolutely nothing gets accomplished during it. i can see how it may have meant to show the politics of how the situation came to be, but really, i took no interest in it whatsoever.

i appreciate what the book was trying to deliver but frankly, did not enjoy it one bit.