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The Three-Body Problem Book Review

The Three-Body Problem is a 2008 science fiction novel by Chinese author Liu Cixin. It’s a phenomenal genre read that is exciting and sophisticated.

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“Your lack of fear is based on your ignorance“

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Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. This is the first entry in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy. It received a Hugo Award and is a critical and fan favorite. All of this acclaim was undeniably earned.

This is my first Chinese novel that I’ve ever read and what a great choice for the very first as the book is Chinese to the core in both themes and ideas. First off, I have to say that this is very much a hard science fiction novel, one that is filled with scientific ideas, theories and facts that would bother anyone who either isn’t familiar with or is not willing to read about them. It’s very much an acquired taste, but for somebody who loves the genre, this was a blast to read. Liu Cixin is pretty much the successor to Arthur Clarke in both strengths and weaknesses – the ideas are heady and the story sophisticated and highly realistic, but the slight characterization and an austere tone might be an issue to some readers.

There is a pacing and structural issue here that prevented me from enjoying the novel fully from start to finish. The second half is so clearly superior to the first, but that first one was a necessary build-up for the big ideas that follow later down the line. The first third or so is set in a historical period in China and this is the driest section that is devoid of thrills or engaging narrative. It worked to set up the story for sure and the historical perspective is smart and complex, but the SF elements would only appear in the second third.

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But eventually all of those seemingly disparate threads were properly connected into a coherent whole, including this very odd VR video game that the characters play. That game is set in different time periods and is all about surviving on a harsh planet that has chaotic and stable eras. The knowledge gained while playing this game would be crucial later for both our characters and ourselves as readers. This element made the novel very contemporary and fresh.

The final third is where the book reaches its full potential. This is where big SF ideas are introduced and where we’re introduced to this alien civilization called Trisolaris. The physics in this section can be overwhelming, but if you read it slowly and carefully, you are bound to find it fascinating. Yes, it might seem antiquated to have this alien civilization be so technologically advanced and still be militant, but the author explained their situation so thoroughly that it eventually made sense within the context of the story.

How this alien planet functions is so well explained and unique while their way of thinking fits the author’s Chinese background intriguingly so. The novel ends on such a high note that I am very excited to start reading the second chapter as soon as possible. Thematically, it explores the positives and negatives of big technological breakthroughs through both of these very different civilizations.

The author depicts progress going with total destruction hand in hand. He also deftly addressed the political division that would result from these breakthroughs and how geopolitics would often influence the biggest advances in science, which is so sad. Trauma is also well addressed and how the cycle of violence can break a person to the point of no return. Another strong theme is the juxtaposition between abstract scientific theories and a more lived-in experience and how sometimes people in science need more regular people to ground them.

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The Three-Body Problem has quite slight character development, but this is often the case with hard SF where ideas are more important than characters, so ultimately I didn’t mind that as much. Most people here are forgettable, but there are still some interesting characters to be found. Ye Wenjie is the best developed and most complex character of the bunch and her tragic backstory drives the plot forward and is actually crucial for what would eventually happen. Wang Miao is much less memorable and the video game sections overall could have been more engaging overall. Shi Qiang is a comic relief of sorts and I wished that he was present more, and of course Listener 1379 is the best developed alien character and he was wonderful.