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A review by ratgrrrl
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
5.0
Truly Mind-boggling, Original, and Entertaining. Simply* Incredible!
I literally just finished the author's and translator's post scripts and I am still catching my mental breath, after taking such a colossal cerebral and emotional kicking by this story, what I know of the author, and their own words, so this is going to be a mess and I will endeavour to return once I have had time to process.
This is truly one of the most singular and incredible books I have ever read. I've been a fan of science fiction practically all my life and have truly dived into the the deeper, stranger, and harder stuff this year through Ken Liu, Ted Chiang, Jeff Vandermeer, and Greg Egan to name a few. Cixin Liu certainly joins that illustrious pantheon of imagination, knowledge, and obsession, while bringing an entirely unique perspective and tonality to his fiction and the application and extrapolation of the science within the story.
I can't pretend to have followed half the science, but that is not for Cixin, through Ken (using their first names to avoid the confusion of them sharing the same second name), grounding and setting the lofty concepts in the world and place that makes them, at least potentially, make sense and able to follow in a way that is remeniscent of more accessible Egan stories. Everything is at least followable from a narrative sense and truly fascinating, embuing the micro and macro elements of science that Cixin has the superpower of being able to comprehend in a very real and tactile way (something that is incomprehensible for me with hypoaphantasia) with truly awesome (in a literal sense) wonder and terror.
The narrative follows a great span of years, but predominantly focuses on a scientist who is inducted into the rapidly unfolding, seemingly esoteric scientific mystery that involves suicides, questioning the fidelity of physics, terrifying virtual reality gaming with some of the most bizarre and brilliant historical cameos that put the Assassin's Creed franchise to shame, lies within secrets within hidden societies and conflicting interests, interstellar messaging, and the potential nightmare of extraterrestrial contact. I literally don't know how to summarise without spoiling anything, so I will leave it as that, while assuring you it makes sense and is as far from s sci-fi Dan Brown caper (as I'm worried I've made it sound) as it could be.
Reading quotes that indicate Cixin seems to politically align with the authoritarian communism* of China, particularly with regard to being anti-democracy (and not in the cooler, edgelord anarchist way) and being a proponent of the state's draconian laws that somewhat parallel the U.S' Patriot Act was depressing, but also incredibly confusing from the way the Cultural Revolution and Struggle Sessions are portrayed on the opening of the novel, and the affinity he has for the human race as a whole. This universal love of humanity is both clear in the novel with the international efforts and explicit in his author's note. Although, the fear and vehemence he holds with the othering of aliens works wonders in the novel, but was disturbing to hear in his own words.
Honestly, I am struggling to reconcile the wonder of the universe and love for humanity that seems so at odds with his politics. So much so that I found his author's note almost as discombobulating and confronting as the novel itself. It also made me question how I go about interacting with his work. I own a bunch of the books already and I am truly entertained and engaging critically, so I will absolutely be continuing the series, though I doth believe I will continue to support him financially.
Ultimately, this book has absolutely knocked me for six and snuck in as one of my favourite reads of 2023 right at the death, along with a new problematic fave of an author. I truly loved this book and felt such giddy excitement, awe, wonder, terror, and was disturbed and perplexed. It's phenomenal!
Cixin Liu is one hell of an author. Ken Liu is also one hell of an author to and, seemingly, wonderful translator. Daniel York Loh is one hell of a narrator. This is truly a all-seasons dream team right here, which could only be improved with a some gender diversity.
I literally just finished the author's and translator's post scripts and I am still catching my mental breath, after taking such a colossal cerebral and emotional kicking by this story, what I know of the author, and their own words, so this is going to be a mess and I will endeavour to return once I have had time to process.
This is truly one of the most singular and incredible books I have ever read. I've been a fan of science fiction practically all my life and have truly dived into the the deeper, stranger, and harder stuff this year through Ken Liu, Ted Chiang, Jeff Vandermeer, and Greg Egan to name a few. Cixin Liu certainly joins that illustrious pantheon of imagination, knowledge, and obsession, while bringing an entirely unique perspective and tonality to his fiction and the application and extrapolation of the science within the story.
I can't pretend to have followed half the science, but that is not for Cixin, through Ken (using their first names to avoid the confusion of them sharing the same second name), grounding and setting the lofty concepts in the world and place that makes them, at least potentially, make sense and able to follow in a way that is remeniscent of more accessible Egan stories. Everything is at least followable from a narrative sense and truly fascinating, embuing the micro and macro elements of science that Cixin has the superpower of being able to comprehend in a very real and tactile way (something that is incomprehensible for me with hypoaphantasia) with truly awesome (in a literal sense) wonder and terror.
The narrative follows a great span of years, but predominantly focuses on a scientist who is inducted into the rapidly unfolding, seemingly esoteric scientific mystery that involves suicides, questioning the fidelity of physics, terrifying virtual reality gaming with some of the most bizarre and brilliant historical cameos that put the Assassin's Creed franchise to shame, lies within secrets within hidden societies and conflicting interests, interstellar messaging, and the potential nightmare of extraterrestrial contact. I literally don't know how to summarise without spoiling anything, so I will leave it as that, while assuring you it makes sense and is as far from s sci-fi Dan Brown caper (as I'm worried I've made it sound) as it could be.
Reading quotes that indicate Cixin seems to politically align with the authoritarian communism* of China, particularly with regard to being anti-democracy (and not in the cooler, edgelord anarchist way) and being a proponent of the state's draconian laws that somewhat parallel the U.S' Patriot Act was depressing, but also incredibly confusing from the way the Cultural Revolution and Struggle Sessions are portrayed on the opening of the novel, and the affinity he has for the human race as a whole. This universal love of humanity is both clear in the novel with the international efforts and explicit in his author's note. Although, the fear and vehemence he holds with the othering of aliens works wonders in the novel, but was disturbing to hear in his own words.
Honestly, I am struggling to reconcile the wonder of the universe and love for humanity that seems so at odds with his politics. So much so that I found his author's note almost as discombobulating and confronting as the novel itself. It also made me question how I go about interacting with his work. I own a bunch of the books already and I am truly entertained and engaging critically, so I will absolutely be continuing the series, though I doth believe I will continue to support him financially.
Ultimately, this book has absolutely knocked me for six and snuck in as one of my favourite reads of 2023 right at the death, along with a new problematic fave of an author. I truly loved this book and felt such giddy excitement, awe, wonder, terror, and was disturbed and perplexed. It's phenomenal!
Cixin Liu is one hell of an author. Ken Liu is also one hell of an author to and, seemingly, wonderful translator. Daniel York Loh is one hell of a narrator. This is truly a all-seasons dream team right here, which could only be improved with a some gender diversity.