Three Body (三体)

[K. A. Pital]

Well, guys, I've been able to lay my hands on the first part of the Three Body trilogy by Liu Cixin (translated by Ken Liu), and I must say it's one of the best books I've read in years.

If you have read it, here's the place to share opinions. If you haven't - do it. I think the English version of the second book is also out now, or will be very soon.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

What is it about?

[SCRawl]

The plot of the novels concerns an invasion of Earth by the alien "Trisolarans", a civilization whose homeworld is rendered uninhabitable because of its unstable gravitational environment, and the response of Earth's governments and scientists to this threat. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics.

[mr friendly guy]

I believe this is a sci fi book from China, and since we don't get many...

I am interested in what type of sci fi this would be. It sounds sort of like something Ray Bradbury or Nicholas Fisk would write, rather than a adventure type sci fi.

[K. A. Pital]

Liu Cixin's writing is somewhat similar to Asimov, which I think is a compliment, and the book in general has the feel of decent sci-fi with big questions about the nature of our world and a plot that manages to be thrilling, unlike the majority of the lame 'Earth war aliens' books. In fact, I thought something like this wouldn't be possible with a plot that has been used in science fiction for decades and completely overused by now. It's also full of science trivia, engineering jokes and references.

But the best thing about Three Body is that it manages to amaze you page after page until you are done. I would heavily advise not to read anything about it's plot at all and just read it, that'd probably make it even more awesome.

[Cykeisme]

I would heavily advise not to read anything about it's plot at all and just read it, that'd probably make it even more awesome.

I find that, for me, fiction that's described in this way quite often tends to end up being the stuff that turns out to be very engaging.

Will take your recommendation to heart and check this out, good sir!