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A review by bickleyhouse
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I decided that I needed to read this book because of the new Netflix series that came out in March. I did enjoy the book, but there are some things that make it difficult to review, at least for me.
One of those things is that I can't even tell you what the "three-body problem" IS without spoiling part of the plot, and I don't like to do that in my reviews.
Another of the things is that about a third of this book is totally over my head. Listen, I consider myself to be a relatively smart guy, of above-average intelligence. But this book had so much physics in it that my head was spinning, at times. I spent a great deal of time scratching my head and going "huh?"
And yet, it winds up with a five-star rating.
Early on, I even came close to DNF-ing the book. At around 80 pages, or so, I was waiting for it to get interesting. My rule of thumb is that I will give a book anywhere from 100-125 pages to grab me, depending on the length of the book. Finally, somewhere around that point, the story got more interesting, and continued to do so.
The genius of the writing, in this case, is how the author reveals things along the way, things that explain things that happened many pages ago. For example, at one point, one of our main characters begins playing a game that required a full VR body suit. Not unexpectedly, the game is called "Three Body." But we don't really find out what is going on with this game until much later in the book. In fact, we don't really know what the "three-body problem" is until well past the halfway point.
And once we do find out these things, my reaction was somewhere along the lines of "OH, CRAP!!!"
And that's why I give this book five stars. But let me warn you; if you aren't well-versed in physics (and, perhaps other hard sciences), you might struggle with this one. Cixin Liu has most definitely put the SCIENCE in Science Fiction!
One of those things is that I can't even tell you what the "three-body problem" IS without spoiling part of the plot, and I don't like to do that in my reviews.
Another of the things is that about a third of this book is totally over my head. Listen, I consider myself to be a relatively smart guy, of above-average intelligence. But this book had so much physics in it that my head was spinning, at times. I spent a great deal of time scratching my head and going "huh?"
And yet, it winds up with a five-star rating.
Early on, I even came close to DNF-ing the book. At around 80 pages, or so, I was waiting for it to get interesting. My rule of thumb is that I will give a book anywhere from 100-125 pages to grab me, depending on the length of the book. Finally, somewhere around that point, the story got more interesting, and continued to do so.
The genius of the writing, in this case, is how the author reveals things along the way, things that explain things that happened many pages ago. For example, at one point, one of our main characters begins playing a game that required a full VR body suit. Not unexpectedly, the game is called "Three Body." But we don't really find out what is going on with this game until much later in the book. In fact, we don't really know what the "three-body problem" is until well past the halfway point.
And once we do find out these things, my reaction was somewhere along the lines of "OH, CRAP!!!"
And that's why I give this book five stars. But let me warn you; if you aren't well-versed in physics (and, perhaps other hard sciences), you might struggle with this one. Cixin Liu has most definitely put the SCIENCE in Science Fiction!