The three-body problem (Hardcover, 2018, Head of Zeus)
434 sivua 20 cm, 434 paĝoj
Lingvo: English
Eldonita je 7-a de aŭgusto 2018 de Head of Zeus.
"1967: Ye Wenjie witnesses Red Guards beat her father to death during China's Cultural Revolution. This singular event will shape not only the rest of her life but also the future of mankind."
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.
I just kept reading to find out what was going on, the book really sucked me into the world and I couldn't stop myself as I had to know what was going on and how this was all connected.
Averto pri enhavo And I loved violin playing Albert
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.
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.
I read this book a few years ago now, and found it very thought provoking, It certainly gave me pause for thought about the world and universe we live in.
I would hightly recommend this book.
I read the bok a few years ago now, and it was very thought provoking, first in a trilogy and certainly gave me pause for thought about the world and universe we live in.
I would highly recommend this book.
Averto pri enhavo Discusses elements of the plot
We haven't read the other books in the trilogy. How to describe? Liu has a very pessimistic perception of humanity and the nature of the universe. Not only does it science what kind of beings might evolve in a three-body solar system, but he also engages the Fermi Paradox, a very pessimistic theory about intelligent life. Be prepared to deal with frustration and disappointment.
That said, it is an important book and should be read.
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 😅
I liked the plot and the unusual idea for the story, but the characters are somehow not so well detailed and it was hard to immerse myself into the book. Nevertheless, I'm going to read the second one in this series.
Imaginative and thoughtful "hard" science fiction. Fingers crossed that Netflix will do a good job with the series. The setting in China was interesting. Some parts were excellent, while others were a little tiresome (e.g., some of the military/police conversations), but I enjoyed it quite a bit overall. The chapter with Newton, Von Neumann and the human-formation computer was a fascinating and humorous highlight for me.
This was a little too weird for me and I can’t say I really bought the premise of the story fully…
Averto pri enhavo This book is intensely political.
Everyone loves this, but I can't understand why nobody seems to be put off, or at least puzzled, but the way that every human individual or organization in the book is just relentlessly awful, ranging from suicidal to genocidal, and everything in-between, without respite.
Most of them, given any chance at all, are trying hard to selfishly save their own skins, with not a moment's regard for the fact that their plans will immediately doom the rest of the human race. Those not intent on self preservation at any cost are instead committed to bitter nihilism, such as the ultimate eco-terrorists, who feel that to save the Earth's biosphere they must collaborate with alien forces to bring about humanity's defeat, and likely annihilation.
These characters and groups are not depicted as outliers. They represent the human race in its entirety. The only thing that holds back this tide of destructive behavior is the government, who keeps everyone in line.
I can't tell how much of this bizarrely one-sided depiction of humanity is a deliberate choice by the author, versus simply being an unplanned exposure of their worldview, shaped as it is by their native Chinese immersion in authoritarianism. Does that form a subconscious backdrop to everything they wrote here, or are they consciously making a deliberate point that strong government is absolutely necessary?
The author Liu Cixin has since gone on record in support of the Chinese government's internment of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang. There, people have been rounded up, because of their ethnicity, into over 400 internment camps. The camps administer cultural and religious re-education, forced labor, involuntary sterilization and abortion. This is something Liu Cixin is openly in favor of.
It makes my skin crawl to read that, and then carry on blithely with this story book of theirs, which seems to be an unapologetic justification for an authoritarian government's impositions on its populate. I did finish it, but have no desire to read the sequels - and not just because I don't agree with the politics. I genuinely found the behavior of all the characters to be intrusively bewildering, demented and incessantly frustrating.
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.
