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The Three-Body Problem

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The Three-Body Problem

By: Cixin Liu
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
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Soon to be a Netflix Original series!

“War of the Worlds for the 21st century.” (Wall Street Journal)

The Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking listeners to experience the Hugo Award-winning phenomenon from China's most beloved science fiction author, Liu Cixin.

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. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

The Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy:

The Three-Body Problem

The Dark Forest

Death's End

Other books:

Ball Lightning Supernova Era

To Hold Up The Sky (forthcoming)

©2006 Liu Cixin (P)2014 Macmillan Audio Fiction First Contact Genre Fiction Hard Science Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Interstellar Emotionally Gripping Chinese Science Fiction

Interview: Ken Liu on the performance of translation

The Three-Body Problem
'... It's just fascinating how writing really changes the way we think about language.'
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  • The Three-Body Problem
  • '... It's just fascinating how writing really changes the way we think about language.'

Featured Article: The Most Stellar Sci-Fi Authors of All Time


Science fiction is a genre as diverse as you can imagine. There are stories that take place in deep space, often depicting teams exploring or running away from something; stories that focus on life at the most cellular level, such as a pandemic tale; and stories that take place in times that feel similar to our own. Depicting themes of existentialism, philosophy, hubris, and personal and historical trauma, sci-fi has a cadre of topics and moods.

Featured Article The Most Stellar Sci Fi Authors of All Time
Unique Premise • Scientific Depth • Distinct Character Voices • Cultural Perspective • Thought-provoking Concepts
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Based on a good idea and tons of interesting details, the story is a little longwinded. I never got bored, but I felt impatient sometimes. "Come on, dude. Move it along here."

Fortunately, it was really interesting. I am a fan of translated fiction. I loved learning more about China's Cultural Revolution. The way the author looks at things, constructs subplots and interpersonal conflicts is different from the American run of the mill.

The central issues of the book are completely fascinating. There were twists that were really interesting. The explanation for the pool game was completely, totally unexpected. Some talk about dimensionality that was almost thrilling in its imaginativeness.

Sufficiently interesting to rise above problems

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A 3 star listen that could have been 4 or 5 star.
The Three Body Problem is the first part of a trilogy in which an alien planet, Trisolaris, intercepts a radio transmission from China. Trisolaris orbits 3 stars and due to the gravitational tug of war between those 3 stars, is subject to a violently unpredictable climate. Discovering Earth, Trisolaris plans to invade and claim the mild unchanging climate for themselves.
It took me at least an hour and a half of listening before I felt that that the story had actually begun as it goes through some back story that is only just relevant and could have been covered in a much shorter time.
When the book just gets on with the action its a great listen and has an interesting plot. The main problem with this book is that it is far better when its written as a sci-fi thriller than as the hard sci-fi it often bogs down in.
It can be a frustrating book to listen to due to some flaws that occasionally hobble the story. Large sections of the story are set in a computer game, which explains the history of Trisolaris and asks players to try to solve the riddle of predicting the varying climate of the planet. However these sections are long, mind numbingly tedious and repetitive.
There are also some problems with the internal logic of the story. The most obvious is why a group of traitors on Earth (a group of people who have grown disillusioned with the human race) conspire with the aliens to help them invade. They do this without even knowing one single detail about the alien race except for the fact that they exist. They also do this despite the fact that the very first message they get from the aliens is from a pacifist who tells them starkly and ominously not to answer any further communications as it would risk annihalation to humanity.
The last section of the book is also rather tedious and written in a dreamy style which stalls the momentum of the story. This part details the aliens plan to invade Earth (which due to the huge distance will be 450 years from now) and how they plan to disrupt human science so humanity won't have the technology to defend itself. This is also the part of the book where the hard sci-fi element is most prevalent as it describes the scientific principles and experiments they do. Just tell us what the gizmo is and what it does and get on with the story!!!! This is another part of the book that could have been written far more economically and with better characterisation.
One other point pertinent to the Audiobook version is the difficulty Westerners may have familiarising themselves with various characters in the first half of the book. Because the Chinese names are so unfamiliar it can be a little difficult to get a handle on who is who early on - but this does get easier as the story settles and the cast of characters solidifies.
As I said, this first book is first in a trilogy and I will go onto the next book as the story was interesting enough to keep me engaged, I'm hoping though that the second installment has a better editor.

3 Stars for a tale about 3 stars

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This is a decent novel with some interesting concepts. However, I do not recommend listening to it. The Three-Body Problem is the first in a series, but the next novel is read by an atrocious narrator who is no better than a text-to-speech engine. This novel ends on a cliffhanger, but the next novel is un-listenable. You're better off spending your money on something else.

Cixin Liu's novel contains some interesting sci-fi concepts and has a moderately engaging plot, but the narrative tends to dawdle and falter from time to time and is anti-climatic in some places. Luke Daniels does a mostly passable job; in some parts is narration is too dull, but there's a section in the middle where you can tell he got really into the performance and that part is the most fun to listen to.

I would still recommend this novel if it were not for the fact that the next entry is narrated by a lifeless robot instead of Mr. Daniels.

Don't bother (see full review)

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Having this book in my wish list for two years was an injustice to myself; I should have read this book as soon as I heard about it. Maybe I thought a translated sci-fi story couldn't be that great. I don't know. But from the first scene the author proved he could weave hard science, history, and fiction together perfectly. The last part of the book gets a bit out there, but not more than any other sci-fi. I don't know who wouldn't enjoy this book. Maybe if you hate physics.

Unique story with hard science and history

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This trilogy easily ranks alongside Asimov, Clark, and Card in the Parthenon of greatest hard SciFi works of all time. Reading this series feels like listening to a Neil Degrasse Tyson lecture on Physics and Cosmology - each narrative construct blows your mind in a new totally unexpected way. Words like original and expansive are completely inadequate to describe what has been done here, it's simply unprecedented. A word of warning, like much SciFi you are probably not here for rich characters and pithy dialogue. Characters here are more like representations of human kind used to fully explore the impacts of radical technological progress on human society. This work is very much at the macro scale of human society exploring such lofty concepts as the nature of life in the Universe, the fate of humankind, and how each of us fits into the greater cosmos. The story starts in our past, but don't let that fool you - stick with all three books and you will be taken to places far beyond your wildest dreams.

Definitive, Original, Expansive

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How interesting to have a very good sci fi novel start in the midst of China's Cultural Revolution! The human similarities and social/cultural differences are striking. The author writes of that time as one who knew it from the inside. I was surprised the book could be published there given its frankness. There are some robust characters, my favorite was the cop Da Shi (Big Shi) who's feet were firmly on the ground, who thought outside the box and was willing to challenge convention. Can't wait to listen to the next in the trilogy. Quality pronunciation of Chinese names added realism to an excellent performance.

A new source of sci fi

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The ideas are fresh, writing is poetic, and story is fascinating! A must read for lovers of the Genre!

One of the best SF I have listened to!

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The story was appealing and the build up exciting.
Then they started bringing in police officers and military personnel with the worst voice over dialogue ever.
The translation became a total distraction and was a bit laughable. We're talking, "your...dragon.STYLE...is.no..................MATCH.4.ME". Sadly had to return.

Translation reads like a dubbed Kung Fu movie

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What an excellent story. The Three-Body Problem mixes elements of science, math, history, and mythology, to tell a unique and very human story. 5 Stars!

An excellent work of science fiction

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this is a beautiful introduction to its own ends , 💘 nerd core sci-fi hints of Asimovs and sagan had a lovecraft with heart?

the best hard scifi nerd porn epic hints of azim

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