Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

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EnLightning
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Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#1 Post by EnLightning »

I'd recommend this marvelous space opera novel to sci-fi lovers, it's a Hugo(2015) Award-winning bestseller.

The Three-Body Problem
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Probl ... 765382032/
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The Dark Forest
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Reme ... 765386690/
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Death's End
https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-End-Remem ... 765386631/
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The Wikipedia pages:
The Three Body Problem
The Dark Forest
Death's End
Last edited by EnLightning on Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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EnLightning
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#2 Post by EnLightning »

Besides English, this trilogy has been also translated into some other languages, including German, French, Spanish, Russian etc. Seems there are quite a few friends here are from Germany, FYI, according to Wikipedia, it won 2017 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for Best Foreign SF work.
Last edited by EnLightning on Mon Dec 18, 2017 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#3 Post by The Silent One »

Yep, great read (so far, I'm in the middle of the second volume). It was a little hard for me to get into the story at first, but it's definitely worthwhile.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#4 Post by EnLightning »

The Silent One wrote:Yep, great read (so far, I'm in the middle of the second volume).
The 2nd volume The Dark Forest is my favorite among the trilogy. I still remember the first time I finish it in three days around ten years ago. What an immersive reading experience!
It was a little hard for me to get into the story at first, but it's definitely worthwhile.
Many other people feel the way like you, it's really hard to get into it at first :) , there are two reasons:

1, Liu's narrative style is slow, many readers say Liu is a story teller, not a shower.
2, The story starts from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution period(1960'~1970') of China, as a space opera sci-fi, the beginning plot is a little bit quirky. Even most of young Chinese people know little about this dark era of modern China, not to mention the Western ones.

Just keep reading, your patience will finally get paid off.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#5 Post by Oberlus »

Thank you very much, EnLightning. I didn't know this author. Now my mouth is watering.
谢谢你

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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#6 Post by EnLightning »

Oberlus wrote:Thank you very much, EnLightning. I didn't know this author. Now my mouth is watering.
谢谢你
:lol: No prob.

I don't know how many friends here from North America, AFAIK, After won Hugo award, the author Cixin Liu became quite popular among U.S and Canada sci-fi fans. Search Amazon, Goodreads or Youtube about the author and his books, you will find many reviews.

I often travel around the two countries and China, many of my friends and colleagues there became the fans of the author also.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#7 Post by Oberlus »

Well, in Spain, AFAIK, it's not very popular (my wife, that is a bookworm although doesn't like sci-fi specially, told me that she saw some reviews of that author, but that is not a proof of popularity since she knows about almost anything that has ever been printed on the Earth in most widespread languages).

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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#8 Post by Jaumito »

He's quite popular here in France, or at least seems popular enough, afaict. Haven't read it myself, as I don't read much sci-fi anymore.

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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#9 Post by Kilgore Replicant »

Best sci-fi since Blindsight. Wholeheartedly recommended!

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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#10 Post by Roccosi »

I wonder what rock have I been living under not to hear about this trilogy at all. I'm going to certainly give it a go even if it's a bit slower read. I don't mind that.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#11 Post by Oberlus »

I'm reading it right now (book 1, page 150) and I love it. For me it is thrilling. Dunno why some people say it's slow.

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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#12 Post by Ophiuchus »

Just finished the third one right now. What I like about his books is that they are full of scifi ideas on many levels and care a lot about what being human means. First two books i found the story is only a sometimes clunky wrapper to present the inspiring ideas. Characters feel more like sketches than real people (like in comics) and relations are often melodramatic and feel like manga. Cant read the original so I don't know how much got lost in the translation.

Third book though is really a good read also with lots of great scifi ideas. Even the characters are a bit more believable and the relations between them are a bit more grown up.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#13 Post by EnLightning »

Kilgore Replicant wrote: Mon May 21, 2018 7:29 pm Best sci-fi since Blindsight. Wholeheartedly recommended!
Going to read Blindsight, thanks for the recommendation.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#14 Post by EnLightning »

Ophiuchus wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:29 am Characters feel more like sketches than real people (like in comics) and relations are often melodramatic and feel like manga. Cant read the original so I don't know how much got lost in the translation.
I totally agree with you on your feeling about the characters. It's not the translation. AFAIK, the English translation is very good actually. I've read quite a few original books by the author, the most criticized part of his writing is that most of the characters in his novels are NOT LIKE REAL HUMAN.

Guess what, the author, Cixin Liu was not a professional writer when he published this trilogy, he was a computer engineer worked in a hydro power station.
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Re: Sci-Fi Book Recommendation: The Three-Body Trilogy

#15 Post by Oberlus »

I don't agree (totally) with that perception. The characters are a bit extreme in many senses, but I am used to that in most sci-fi books. Sci-fi authors tend to be very bad in the human dimension of their characters. E.g., Asimov's characters are flat and nearly emotionless, and most protagonists of other authors are just unrrealistic heroes. I can think of K. Dick's characters as some of the most 3D characters in Sci-fi gender, but those are a star in the void of the space.

What I'm disliking more from the novel is some of the contradictions in the plot. No spoilers so I won't develop on that, but I see those contradictions are not necessary (or are easily avoidable/fixable) for the plot.

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