The Three-Body Problem: Remembrance of Earth's Past 1

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Average customer rating 4.5 (4 comments)

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This review is for the entire trilogy (The Three Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death's End). Despite starting the series with great anticipation, on the recommendation of a trusted science, and science fiction, fan/friend, only determination, not desire, allowed me to complete it. Admittedly, it's been some months since I finished the third installment, as my reluctance to give a poor review has delayed this writing, and so some details are fuzzy. In general, I found the characters difficult to connect with, and I don't recall a single strong character who is present throughout the telling, around whom the reader can organize the story arc. The writing overall is often more science than fiction; as an avid reader of science non-fiction, I could follow the story as the physics moved into extra dimensions, but the fiction part, the story being told, was not engaging enough to hold my interest. While I can understand how these books could be very appealing to a reader, I guess this time, I am not that reader.

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I read this because it was on former President Obama's list of titles that he escaped the pressures of office with. I was curious to try SF from a contemporary Chinese author. The first volume has some tough sledding but stick with it, by the halfway point I was rushing to the end to see how it comes out, and devoured volumes two and three. Two gets VERY dark, but Three finds some mind-altering redemption. All three novels have a dramatic set piece when the action reaches a climax, almost a space opera/action movie moment; but there are also quiet, reflective passages. A blend of hard SF -- lots of physics -- with soft SF in the LeGuin mode, social movements, human responses. It has stuck with me for months. Absolutely worth your time.

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Such a wonderful trilogy! It may be too dark for some readers, something like the natural world, but it is illuminating and grand...like the natural world. It starts with an unrelentingly bleak description of the Cultural Revolution and makes its way through to a distant future. Are you worried about the loss of privacy? Wait until you've met a Sophon. Would aliens be good, evil, or just self-interested? This is quite a story. I've talked with several people in China (reading the original edition) and here in the US reading the English translation. For both, it is common to stop half-way through the first book. Don't. Keep with it and you will be rewarded by a finely crafted story that is both believable and enchanting. I give it away to friends as a Christmas gift.

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It is no wonder this book one the 2015 Hugo Award for best novel. It's just the right mix of actual science and sci-fi science, and weaves its three settings together wonderfully, such that by the time you reach the third, you feel you already know it (I wish I could say more, but it's too good to spoil!) And, like the best science fiction, it says loads about humanity just through telling the story. I can hardly wait until the next book comes out.