English language
Published April 11, 2015 by Head of Zeus.
The Three-Body Problem (Chinese: 三体; lit. 'Three-Body') is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past (Chinese: 地球往事) trilogy, but the whole series is often referred to as Three-Body. The trilogy's second and third novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End, respectively. The series portrays a fictional past, present and future where, in the first book, Earth encounters an alien civilization in a nearby star system that consists of three sun-like stars orbiting each other in an unstable system. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics. The Three-Body Problem was originally serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 and published as a standalone book in 2008. In 2006 it received the Yinhe [Galaxy] Award for Chinese science fiction, and in 2012 was described as one of the genre's most successful novels of …
The Three-Body Problem (Chinese: 三体; lit. 'Three-Body') is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past (Chinese: 地球往事) trilogy, but the whole series is often referred to as Three-Body. The trilogy's second and third novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End, respectively. The series portrays a fictional past, present and future where, in the first book, Earth encounters an alien civilization in a nearby star system that consists of three sun-like stars orbiting each other in an unstable system. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics. The Three-Body Problem was originally serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 and published as a standalone book in 2008. In 2006 it received the Yinhe [Galaxy] Award for Chinese science fiction, and in 2012 was described as one of the genre's most successful novels of the previous two decades. By 2015, a Chinese film adaptation of the same name was in production. The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor Books in 2014. The translation became the first Asian novel ever to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel.
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.
Content warning 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.
Da der Hugo-Award-Gewinner aus dem Jahr 2015 einer der wenigen international erfolgreichen SF-Romane aus China ist, finden sich auch zahlreiche deutschsprachige Zusammenfassungen und Rezensionen. Sehr spannend geschrieben, ein echter pageturner (habe es an drei Tagen weggeatmet). Viele Einblicke in die Auswüchse der Kulturrevolution in den späten 1960ern, und das kritischer, als ich es (wohl vorurteilsbehaftet) erwartet hätte. Schön ist der Ansatz, dass nicht "die Menschheit" als wie auch immer geeintes Kollektiv den ersten Kontakt erlebt, sondern verschiedene Interessengruppen agieren.
Einfallsreich ist die Idee, das Heimatsystem der Aliens mit drei Sonnen anzulegen. Die aus den wechselwirkenden Gravitaionskräften entstehenden Auswirkungen auf den Planeten der Aliens bilden die zentrale Herausforderung für die kulturelle und technische Entwicklung der Zivilisation(en) - in "chaotischen Zeitaltern" schwächelt die Alienzivilisation oder geht komplett unter, um in "stabilen Zeitaltern" neu zu erblühen. Die Darstellung der Aliens hat mich persönlich nicht so ganz mitgenommen - einerseits werden die Trisolarier als …
Da der Hugo-Award-Gewinner aus dem Jahr 2015 einer der wenigen international erfolgreichen SF-Romane aus China ist, finden sich auch zahlreiche deutschsprachige Zusammenfassungen und Rezensionen. Sehr spannend geschrieben, ein echter pageturner (habe es an drei Tagen weggeatmet). Viele Einblicke in die Auswüchse der Kulturrevolution in den späten 1960ern, und das kritischer, als ich es (wohl vorurteilsbehaftet) erwartet hätte. Schön ist der Ansatz, dass nicht "die Menschheit" als wie auch immer geeintes Kollektiv den ersten Kontakt erlebt, sondern verschiedene Interessengruppen agieren.
Einfallsreich ist die Idee, das Heimatsystem der Aliens mit drei Sonnen anzulegen. Die aus den wechselwirkenden Gravitaionskräften entstehenden Auswirkungen auf den Planeten der Aliens bilden die zentrale Herausforderung für die kulturelle und technische Entwicklung der Zivilisation(en) - in "chaotischen Zeitaltern" schwächelt die Alienzivilisation oder geht komplett unter, um in "stabilen Zeitaltern" neu zu erblühen. Die Darstellung der Aliens hat mich persönlich nicht so ganz mitgenommen - einerseits werden die Trisolarier als fremd und technologisch übermächtig aufgebaut, andererseits sind sie in ihren Begriffen, Konzepten und Motiven doch allzu menschlich. Die physikalischen Annahmen werden nach hinten raus auch deutlich absurd - ein elfdimensionales Photon wird von den Trisolariern auf zwei Dimensionen aufgefaltet, mit Schaltkreisen bestückt und zur KI aufgerüstet, als sogenanntes Sophon wieder eingefaltet und auf die Menschheit losgelassen. Wer diesen Move beherrscht, sollte eigentlich auch das Dreikörperproblem der Himmelsmechanik packen, vor allem, wenn das Problem die treibende Kraft der Entwicklung darstellt.
Hat insgesamt Spaß gemacht, freue mich auf den zweiten Teil.
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…
Content warning 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.
A good hard fiction novel that explores the question of making first contact. It's a quick read that has decent character development, a smooth flowing plot, and asks deep philosophical science questions.
Empecé con muchas ganas este ganador del Premio Hugo de 2015. Ciencia ficción "hard", de una cultura un tanto exótica para mí como la china, y con aplauso unánime de la crítica, prometía mucho. Y no es que sea una mala lectura ni mucho menos, pero me ha acabado decepcionando bastante.
Se dice que el autor está muy influido por Asimov, Clarke y similares, y la verdad es que sí: la trama contiene muchos elementos que podían haber sido originales en los años 60, pero que desde luego hoy en día no lo son, al menos en Occidente. El personaje principal es bastante plano; los secundarios, que tenían mimbres para ser interesantes, acaban resultando estereotípicos; el hecho de que la novela acabe en un "continuará" (es el primer libro de una trilogía) no ayuda tampoco a la redondez de la trama.
En otros aspectos donde se ven influencias de otros …
Empecé con muchas ganas este ganador del Premio Hugo de 2015. Ciencia ficción "hard", de una cultura un tanto exótica para mí como la china, y con aplauso unánime de la crítica, prometía mucho. Y no es que sea una mala lectura ni mucho menos, pero me ha acabado decepcionando bastante.
Se dice que el autor está muy influido por Asimov, Clarke y similares, y la verdad es que sí: la trama contiene muchos elementos que podían haber sido originales en los años 60, pero que desde luego hoy en día no lo son, al menos en Occidente. El personaje principal es bastante plano; los secundarios, que tenían mimbres para ser interesantes, acaban resultando estereotípicos; el hecho de que la novela acabe en un "continuará" (es el primer libro de una trilogía) no ayuda tampoco a la redondez de la trama.
En otros aspectos donde se ven influencias de otros autores, los extraterrestres, lejanos y enigmáticos pero a la vez muy humanos, me recuerdan poderosamente a los de Los Propios Dioses; el juego de realidad virtual no puede menos de sonarnos a Ender... Pero todo ello con menos fuerza que las referencias originales.
Curiosamente, donde me parece que el libro se vuelve más vivo y brillante es en sus regresiones sobre China, la Revolución Cultural y su evolución posterior. Quizás es simplemente por mi desconocimiento sobre el tema, pero los capítulos centrados en ese tema se me hicieron mucho más interesantes.
El libro se lee bien, entretiene y es de lectura ágil, pero esperaba algo más. No sé si continuaré con los otros dos libros de la trilogía, tocará pensarlo.
Sci-Fi, wie es mir gefällt. Freue mich auf den zweiten Band.
