Chinese Sci-Fi, "The Three Body Problem"

[sid]

I had this trilogy in the book shelf for a while and found some time during Christmas holidays to read them And boy, once I picked up the first book, read through some chapters, I could not put it down and finished the trilogy in no time. It is such an invigorating and mesmerising read, with concepts which are too wild to imagine. The cosmology Cixin-Liu builds is so scary and melancholic by the time you get to the end that one feels thankful that there is more to this universe that what is visible in 3D. Without the higher densities and concepts of soul development and STO pathway, events would likely progress the way they do in these novels and that is an extremely scary though even though very exciting at some junctures.

Its a series that I would highly recommend to the peeps on the forum. The author is very intelligent and seems to have a good understanding of human nature i.e. how people react to reality changing doomsday events, the fickle mindedness, shifting paradigms, difficult decisions, individuals being worshipped as heroes one moment, villains the next moment. I also liked what the author does in the middle of the novels to keep you hooked such as the "the human computer" which appeals to my geek side. And, the "Yun Tianming's fairy tales" were just mind blowing. I feel more knowledgeable about some of the cutting edge physics contents and their limitations after reading these novels. I wish we get to see more novels like these from the same author or others out there.

There is also a netflix series with first season out already. I havent seen it yet but planning to when time permits. I do hear that the chinese TV series is much closer to the books so, might see that first. Either way, the tv adaptations tend to differ for legitimate reasons and reading the books is always the way to go.

 

[Andrian]

I had this trilogy in the book shelf for a while and found some time during Christmas holidays to read them And boy, once I picked up the first book, read through some chapters, I could not put it down and finished the trilogy in no time. It is such an invigorating and mesmerising read, with concepts which are too wild to imagine. The cosmology Cixin-Liu builds is so scary and melancholic by the time you get to the end that one feels thankful that there is more to this universe that what is visible in 3D. Without the higher densities and concepts of soul development and STO pathway, events would likely progress the way they do in these novels and that is an extremely scary though even though very exciting at some junctures.

Its a series that I would highly recommend to the peeps on the forum. The author is very intelligent and seems to have a good understanding of human nature i.e. how people react to reality changing doomsday events, the fickle mindedness, shifting paradigms, difficult decisions, individuals being worshipped as heroes one moment, villains the next moment. I also liked what the author does in the middle of the novels to keep you hooked such as the "the human computer" which appeals to my geek side. And, the "Yun Tianming's fairy tales" were just mind blowing. I feel more knowledgeable about some of the cutting edge physics contents and their limitations after reading these novels. I wish we get to see more novels like these from the same author or others out there.

There is also a netflix series with first season out already. I havent seen it yet but planning to when time permits. I do hear that the chinese TV series is much closer to the books so, might see that first. Either way, the tv adaptations tend to differ for legitimate reasons and reading the books is always the way to go.

Nice, I'm planning to read the books when I'll have more free time as well.

As for the Netflix adaptation, I've tried to watch the first episode, couldn't finish it, it sucks so bad. At least that's what i've experienced. It's too wokish for me to have the necessary patience to watch it. FWIW

 

[ScioAgapeOmnis]

I had this trilogy in the book shelf for a while and found some time during Christmas holidays to read them And boy, once I picked up the first book, read through some chapters, I could not put it down and finished the trilogy in no time. It is such an invigorating and mesmerising read, with concepts which are too wild to imagine. The cosmology Cixin-Liu builds is so scary and melancholic by the time you get to the end that one feels thankful that there is more to this universe that what is visible in 3D. Without the higher densities and concepts of soul development and STO pathway, events would likely progress the way they do in these novels and that is an extremely scary though even though very exciting at some junctures.

Its a series that I would highly recommend to the peeps on the forum. The author is very intelligent and seems to have a good understanding of human nature i.e. how people react to reality changing doomsday events, the fickle mindedness, shifting paradigms, difficult decisions, individuals being worshipped as heroes one moment, villains the next moment. I also liked what the author does in the middle of the novels to keep you hooked such as the "the human computer" which appeals to my geek side. And, the "Yun Tianming's fairy tales" were just mind blowing. I feel more knowledgeable about some of the cutting edge physics contents and their limitations after reading these novels. I wish we get to see more novels like these from the same author or others out there.

There is also a netflix series with first season out already. I havent seen it yet but planning to when time permits. I do hear that the chinese TV series is much closer to the books so, might see that first. Either way, the tv adaptations tend to differ for legitimate reasons and reading the books is always the way to go.

I saw about half of the Netflix adaptation for the 3 Body Problem, and I’m curious if the books have a particular part that I found so silly I couldn't keep watching: (Warning: a bunch of spoilers below).

Spoiler: The silly thing

When the guy talking to the aliens over the radio told them a children's story, they had no concept of a fictitious story. The guy explained - and they had to clarify that this is a lie, and also that he and other humans lie. I can't remember for sure but they may have needed to be taught what a lie even is. They were so upset by this discovery that they said "we are afraid of you" and halted all communication.

I just couldn't take the aliens or the show seriously after that point. Literally everything in nature camouflages itself in some way to deceive either the prey or the predators. STS lies all the time and STO lies if needed. In fact, nature itself will lie to you - because not everything is as it appears. Our own brain lies. There is just no way that they couldn't grasp these things, nobody is THAT alien.

And this whole time the aliens themselves were blatantly deceiving us - like when the stars disappeared, that was an illusion created by them. Or when they gave those VR headsets to people and created this weird video game (read: story) world to "teach" the scientists about the 3-body problem. Or when they infiltrated our technologies to compromise them by subterfuge, that's not exactly being open and honest about their actions and intentions either. So they clearly lie all the damn time, but a children's story is what put them off?!??!?

Please tell me that the aliens weren't serious and were just messing with us or something - because otherwise they're both stupid and hypocritical and the show is no fun!

 

[Revolucionar]

I saw about half of the Netflix adaptation for the 3 Body Problem, and I’m curious if the books have a particular part that I found so silly I couldn't keep watching: (Warning: a bunch of spoilers below).

Spoiler: The silly thing

When the guy talking to the aliens over the radio told them a children's story, they had no concept of a fictitious story. The guy explained - and they had to clarify that this is a lie, and also that he and other humans lie. I can't remember for sure but they may have needed to be taught what a lie even is. They were so upset by this discovery that they said "we are afraid of you" and halted all communication.

I just couldn't take the aliens or the show seriously after that point. Literally everything in nature camouflages itself in some way to deceive either the prey or the predators. STS lies all the time and STO lies if needed. In fact, nature itself will lie to you - because not everything is as it appears. Our own brain lies. There is just no way that they couldn't grasp these things, nobody is THAT alien.

And this whole time the aliens themselves were blatantly deceiving us - like when the stars disappeared, that was an illusion created by them. Or when they gave those VR headsets to people and created this weird video game (read: story) world to "teach" the scientists about the 3-body problem. Or when they infiltrated our technologies to compromise them by subterfuge, that's not exactly being open and honest about their actions and intentions either. So they clearly lie all the damn time, but a children's story is what put them off?!??!?

Please tell me that the aliens weren't serious and were just messing with us or something - because otherwise they're both stupid and hypocritical and the show is no fun!

Yeah, that's in the book. I'm actually surprised by all the praise this awful book is getting here. I barely finished the first book in the series and finally gave up some 80 pages into the second book. It's probably the worst book I have ever read. Characters are cardboard cutouts, and they're all pretty awful people. The philosophical undertones are decidedly materialistic and the plot is ridiculous with certain interesting plot points being dropped at the drop of a hat leaving you scratching your head what the point was.
And the writing...God the writing is atrocious. Pages of spoonfed exposition interspersed with dialogue that sounds like two socially inept scientists discussing their least favorite scientific theories.
I have the box set of the series. If anyone wants it, I'll send it with shipping covered just so it doesn't ruin my library's street cred.

 

[fifty_five]

I did not read the book intentionally. Basically, I rarely read translated books. All the more so from Chinese. In contrast, I love Chinese TV dramas sub eng. I don't know the language, and sub eng is pleasantly alienating even on a creative level. It seems that the Chinese TV adaptation series is far superior to the netflix version. I have it in agenda for when and if my son comes to visit me on summer vacation to watch together. If he doesn't come I will watch it anyway. If ihmo noteworthy I will forward it to you.

 

[sid]

@ScioAgapeOmnis , to answer your observations -

Spoiler

Since its been over 6 months now, I may not be able to recollect the exact detail, but the aliens i.e Trisolarans do mention that a few members of their species do cheat but since they don't lie, their deceit is easily revealed and they accept the punishment. And they do exercise care and don't reveal too much information when making contact with other species such as humans i.e. they do take steps to camouflage themselves. After interacting with humans, they work out that lying is an effective strategy to deal with them and they use it very wisely particularly in the second book. They generally get smarter in dealing with humans as they progress their interactions.

Further, the 3-body game, VR headsets etc is not the Triolarans' idea. This was done by a select few humans who became disillusioned with the world (including the girl whose father gets killed in the public in 1st episode). They have lost all hope in human leaders and are actively inviting the aliens to take over, cleanse and rebuild the planet. They begin communicating with the Trisolarns privately (after the girl sends the signal via the Sun having reached the point where she looses all faith in humans) and based on the information received, they create the online game as a recruitment vehicle for their cause. The game is intentionally designed to attaract and then retain individuals of a certain psychological makeup. The ones who take active interest and finish the game despite it appearing tedius and pointless have "made it" so to speak and are then invited to join the so called revolutionary group. Most people say yes at that point but anyone saying no is free to leave with no consequences. Now these revolutionaries think Trisolarans to be their saviours but the latter don't give two hoots about them. The former do fear that to be true to some extent but are willing to pin their hopes on the aliens vs current human leadership.

I suspect that the Netflix series has glossed over a few detail which generally happens in book to screen adaptations. Another thing to note which is critical in first two novels at least -

Spoiler

The Trisolarns are using sophons to watch and hear everything happening on Earth real-time even though they are 4.21 light years away. I am sure they would have shown it in Netflix but Sophons on Earth have a twin each on Trisolaris which is quantum entangled, permitting real-time communication. So, they are taking some decisions which will impact events 400 years later (time it would take for their fleet to arrive on Earth as they can only travel at 1/100 the speed of light due to their sheer size. And yet, they are able to issue certain orders to sophons in real-time mode. This makes for some very interesting situations and the tactics humans have to employ to defeat the sophons. Also, throughout the books, the story goes into flashbacks and back to present from one chapter to next due to the common threads existing between events and to help explain a character's motives. This can become difficult to adapt to onscreen especially for those who haven't read the books.)

 

[sid]

Yeah, that's in the book. I'm actually surprised by all the praise this awful book is getting here. I barely finished the first book in the series and finally gave up some 80 pages into the second book. It's probably the worst book I have ever read. Characters are cardboard cutouts, and they're all pretty awful people. The philosophical undertones are decidedly materialistic and the plot is ridiculous with certain interesting plot points being dropped at the drop of a hat leaving you scratching your head what the point was.
And the writing...God the writing is atrocious. Pages of spoonfed exposition interspersed with dialogue that sounds like two socially inept scientists discussing their least favorite scientific theories.
I have the box set of the series. If anyone wants it, I'll send it with shipping covered just so it doesn't ruin my library's street cred.

The books are written by a Chinese author in native language and even the translator states that this has been a difficult translation. Also, most sci-fi is materialistic in general so, its not much different in that regard. And it could just be an Asian thing or the author himself but he is not into building characters too much but rather focusses heavily on the technical elements and knows how to explain complex physics topics in an easier to understand language. Even then, it offers a few good insights into the Chinese history and culture which is very novel. You can try and finish reading the remaining books as the story gets better and wilder with topics such as 4th dimension (or 4th Density) and speed of light travel covered in a way which is easier to relate to. Fwiw

 

[Joan]

I have never heard of this novel series, or even contemplate reading it, although I have read several science fiction novels, just as and alternative of reality, a thought experiment in reality for those that were drawn to an alternative view of reality, the apocalypse is coming.

I think this presentation in Scifi, and one must remember, it was presented on Netflix. Not a most credible source, some could call it a propaganda steam, considering it's backers.

I am always drawn to the works of Dune by Frank Herbert in his 6 book series, always left hanging in suspense at the end, probably due to the demise of his beloved wife, and also his own demise soon after.

His insights into the psychological and ecological events of humanity at that time (1980's or so) are startling, from my perspective who would have considered the term Face Dancers. As an artificial creation, that could act and perform the role they were disguised for. One could make the analogy of NPC's in our own society. Replaced in strategic power positions to think and act as one would expect, from a mind controlled artificial creation.

This video from the author discussing the origins of Dune, his ideas of psychology and ecology, this is from over 40 years ago, the year his last book was published 1985.

And for those interested in reading the Dune Series, this from the internet archive, the Dune encyclopedia, maybe gives some insight, into the strange terms and ideology.

Dune Encyclopedia : Willis E. McNelly (compiler) | Berkley Books : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The Dune EncyclopediaDr. Willis E. McNellyBerkley Books, 1984Authorized compilation with foreword by Frank Herbert himself!

archive.org

A very thoughtful series of novels, giving insight into the power structure of a mechanical universe, where power is everything, and humanity is nothing more than a series of manipulations of human consciousness, no love, no compassion, no caring, especially no love. Just collateral damage, in never ending struggle of conquest, power and wealth. And also the corruption of religious and spiritual beliefs and ideology by those in power...The creation of a Messiah, for thousands of years.