This book has been on my reading list for a few years now, before it grew popular enough to inspire a screenplay adaptation. It appeared there for a combination of my interest in learning more about Chinese culture and mindset, and my ongoing search for quality, hard science fiction from recent years. In both areas, it exceeded my expectations. Indeed, despite its somewhat bleak outlook on humanity and the possibilities of extraterrestrial intelligence, I enjoyed it as much or more than any other recent science fiction book I’ve read.
This is one of those rare hard science fiction books that contrives to both invoke rigorous scientific concepts and offer interesting plot and characters. If some of the more advanced technology revealed at the book’s conclusion seems a bit like magic, well, that’s probably rather the point: after all, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Not that the whole book revolves around technology. In fact, its treatment of the Cultural Revolution, related topics, and people’s responses is incisive, surprisingly so for a book published and popular in China. I’m not a China expert, but the fact that Liu was allowed to publish such a piece, even under the aegis of science fiction, strikes me as significant, although it is perhaps helped by the fact that it does not depict modern China in a negative political light.
It is surprising to me that the book has received such popular acclaim. Perhaps its rather pessimistic conclusions about humanity and civilization are trendy at the moment, but, while the writing is sometimes excellent, Liu is prone to exposition via massive info-dumps. Major plot points and character moments are revealed via vaguely epistolary info-dumps on the reader, often with significant technical jargon. Such a technique is something that, at least American authors, are told to avoid at all costs, but Liu embraces them. While it worked for me, because I was reading for the idea elements as I usually do when reading hard science fiction, it sometimes undermined the impact of the plot, and it’s a very different approach from what most readers usually see.
Like probably every other person in my professional field, I’ve tried my hand at a solution to the three-body equation of motion, or, as the generalized form is called, the n-body equation of motion. Needless to say, I’ve not succeeded, but the effort did give me a particular appreciation for the efforts made in the book, and the idea behind the extra-solar system and its chaotic planetary environment. It would have been fascinating to see more directly from the perspective of that world, although the video game concept was a neat mechanism to have the readers advance in understanding with the characters in a relatable way. As you may have noticed from other reviews (Rocheworld, Dragon’s Egg), I have a particular fascination with the dynamics that would arise on unusual worlds, and the one featured in Three Body Problem fits right into that mix.
Those info-dumps I mentioned earlier somewhat undermine the main climax of the story, and I would have liked to see a little more denouement. The ending seemed to struggle to strike any kind of an optimistic note, which could be said for most of the book, but there was little follow-up on the main plot, just a lot of debriefing characters to provide information more or less directly to the reader, and then a brief snippet of the main characters reflecting on what they’d learned. While I know there are additional books in the series, I think this one would have benefited from a little more exploration of the consequences of intervening against the small-scale opposing force.
As a brief note, I did read a translation, since I don’t read Chinese. The translation seemed well done, although I found most of the translator’s notes somewhat superfluous. They sought to provide additional context to foreign readers, but I think the text stands well enough without them, and they took away from the flow of the story.
Speaking of series, this book is first in a series (and apparently shares a world with other books Liu’s written, which were occasionally referenced), which brings up the oft-repeated question: will I read the sequel? In this case, the answer is maybe. While I enjoyed the hard science fiction elements and the ideas Liu is exploring, the overall pessimism that permeates the plot is not what I tend to seek in my reading. Nonetheless, this was a worthwhile read, and if you enjoy hard science fiction, I think it will make a worthy addition to your reading list.
IGC Publishing 