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The Three-Body Problem Trilogy by Cixin Liu
(lemmy.ml)
My opinion:
- Interesting concept of a Dark Forest & cosmic sociology axioms.
- Unpleasant characters: Ye Wenjie (narcissistic and psychopathic), Cheng Xin (a kind billionaire lol).
- Disappointing ending—the last few chapters feel weak.
Bonus: Absolutely fascinating interpretation of the first book by @yogthos@lemmy.ml.
I read the first book and I think it is the first time in decades that I have encountered actual sci-fi concepts that weren't a reworking of ideas that have been around for decades.
It's not a character driven novel but the characters are fine, mostly they're not that likeable - which in my opinion is not a reason to dislike a story - and I think they probably lose something in translation. When I was a teenager I devoured Asimov, Phillip K Dick, Heinlein etc for the concepts, compared to them the characters in 3 Body are masterfully written.
I haven't yet read the second book as I found the first few chapters a bit of a slog but I plan to pick it up again once I've finished rereading some Ursula K LeGuin
Third is the best. It gets better and better imo
Totally agree that novel ideas about science fiction are presented. A group of humans betraying all of humanity was a nice inversion of the “one man has to save everyone” concept.
For me, the succeeding novels became increasingly boring and inconsequential.
Major spoiler for book 3
I was compelled to read the books when I learned about other species collapsing dimensions as a weapon of war. How fascinating.Unfortunately, that entire concept was explained in two paragraphs by a character who had no right to know that information. And then we moved on like nothing happened.
I think a better novel that explored very similar themes is The Last Human by Zack Jordan.