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A review by tracysbookbalderdash
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I was the right audience for this book. It made me nauseous and somehow still want to continue reading. A rare balance for me indeed.
It has some sticking points that may weight more or less heavily for some readers. This is was HARD sci-fi. This was also a translated work, which makes it ring a bit off to native English speaking ears. The women characters are kinda objectified for beauty in a manner that is not very self-aware or really intentional. It’s not really a feminist novel. It’s not a humanist novel, though perhaps it’s arguably humanist by implication. It’s not ultra-political in its messaging. It feels a bit overly dramatic at times, which makes it feel like watching more of an allegorical play at points, yet the science is so damn persuasive. The people characters almost feel like a vehicle for science in this, and I loved it when we got those moments of scientific explanation and awe.
It’s effective. I really respect what the authors and translators did here, even if the author kinda (hypocritically?) states that stories of science are WAY cooler than stories of literature. I’m inclined to forgive imperfections in this one, because I agree with the author that “reality brands each of us with its indelible mark. Every era puts invisible shackles on those who have lived through it, and [we] can only dance in [our] chains.”
It has some sticking points that may weight more or less heavily for some readers. This is was HARD sci-fi. This was also a translated work, which makes it ring a bit off to native English speaking ears. The women characters are kinda objectified for beauty in a manner that is not very self-aware or really intentional. It’s not really a feminist novel. It’s not a humanist novel, though perhaps it’s arguably humanist by implication. It’s not ultra-political in its messaging. It feels a bit overly dramatic at times, which makes it feel like watching more of an allegorical play at points, yet the science is so damn persuasive. The people characters almost feel like a vehicle for science in this, and I loved it when we got those moments of scientific explanation and awe.
It’s effective. I really respect what the authors and translators did here, even if the author kinda (hypocritically?) states that stories of science are WAY cooler than stories of literature. I’m inclined to forgive imperfections in this one, because I agree with the author that “reality brands each of us with its indelible mark. Every era puts invisible shackles on those who have lived through it, and [we] can only dance in [our] chains.”