The Three-Body Problem

Three-Body Trilogy #1

Hardcover, 400 pages

English language

Published Sept. 12, 2014 by Tor Books.

ISBN:
978-0-7653-7706-7
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OCLC Number:
868276526
Goodreads:
20518872

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4 stars (10 reviews)

Within the context of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a military project sends messages to alien worlds. A nearby alien society receives these messages and makes plans to invade Earth.

10 editions

Not just bizarrely nihilistic and cynical, but also pro-authoritarian propaganda

1 star

Content warning This book is intensely political.

Science Fiction

5 stars

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.

Good, but watch out - sets up trilogy

5 stars

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.

Review of 'The Three-Body Problem' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was a good read, but with more than a few flaws.
It has plenty of intellectually stimulating ideas, which I cannot list here to avoid spoilers. Let's just Say that sci-fi has a new interpretation for the "Human computer" term, other than Herbert's mentats.
Plot Is also rather good and well paced.
So, what are the flaws?
First of all, the writing style. It's unbearably stiff and formal. I don't know of it's a cultural thing or it's translation-related, but still.
And characters are extremely monodimensional.
Ok, it's a hard sci-fi novel, but come on. There's very little to distinguish them.
These flaws would normally be more than enough for me to abandon a book, but in this case the plot was so well crafted that I had to know how It ended. Alas, It does not, since it's a trilogy. Seems like i'll have to endure cixin stiff …