1. Three Body Problem: This is mind-blowing! 2. Dark Forest: WOW, the first one is just a Disney cartoon show. This one can rebuild your worldview and philosophy of life!! 3. Death's End: The second one is just your kindergarten graduation. And nothing matters in your real life after reading this one.
The "cold character" thing is just Liu Cixin. He once wrote that he believes the best fiction should be blunt and cold like a news channel, and that reflects in his actual writing. I'm chinese and I can assure you it's just him.
Thank you. I was uncomfortable with broad statements that Chinese literature is generally uses cold characters. I actually enjoyed the characterisation of the first half of the book, even her resolute acceptance of what life threw at her, and could understand her perceived coldness. What frustrated me was the many unrealistic character flips that happened among the scientific and professional people in the second half of the story. People, philosophically, don't switch from believers in science to believers in an anti-humanity perspective. To me this randomness and suddenness felt more like he was trying to parallel the narrative that the CCP wanted the population to believe about the ubiquity and anti-rationality of the falong gong, and therefore the changes in personality were both insufficiently examined and unrealistic. His ideas were great, but not his inconsistent characters.
When a journalist pointed out to Liu that his characters seemed flat, he acknowledged it and said "I did not begin writing for love of literature, I did so for love of science". He seemed to be more invested in describing his ideas than developing his characters. It's not an issue of a difference in culture, it's just him. Other Chinese fiction I've read can have well-developed characters.
I could almost wonder if the perceptions of characters as "cold" is a generational thing. Let's get this out of the way quickly: I'm about old enough to be King Tut's Auntie. I am also most decidedly NOT a STEM-type of person. So while parts of the book have left me somewhat confused, I didn't find the characters either "cold" or "flat." Perhaps younger people just like the sensationalistic, overwrought, emotionally-charged Superhero-type of characters? What I saw were intellectual scientists and policy-makers doing their jobs as professionals. I'll concede that the dialogue was occasionally stilted or unconvincing. But the book is FAR from being exclusively hard science. The entire premise deals with social structures and their consequences.
I think fiction needs the characters. He could have just written a nonfiction book about the concepts. It seems something like that could have been written in a shorter format but still been more detailed.
The second book - The Dark Forest, left me in a state of shock. When you experience excellence, something so truly profound and original that your mind goes blank and you feel like you uncovered a secret and you want to share that secret with everybody, that is how I felt after reading the second book and after finishing the trilogy. It is incomparable, unforgettable and unforgiving. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
@@leftifornian2066 hard scifi almost always goes by at a crawl unless you enjoy it. This entire book acts as a prelude to the other two. If you read the synopsis you'd probably even be able to skip the first one but anyone who has read through them would advise against that. The video game part is actually quite amazing. Exploring life and culture that have very different starting conditions than our own.
Dude! I went in as a physics grad student looking for a hard sci-fi after being disappointed by various self proclaimed sci-fi books. Let me tell you that this book not only satiated my need for a hard sci-fi, the many ideas it presents are unbelievably based on genuine science! I’m so glad that I read this book. It has opened up a whole new avenue for me to explore!
@@DeepTitanicis it not like that out there? In the world? 😅 I'm sooo sick of ppl being offended by objective reality or even ideas about objective reality.
@@sirgog I just finished 3 body problem. Found it kind of banal as a SciFi story. The background of the cultural revolution was interesting. The characters were mostly pretty two dimensional.
Bonus: The English translation is amazing! Not only is it well-written, the translator adds incredibly helpful footnotes whenever historical context is necessary to undersstand the text - and since the book is so very ingrained in a Chinese cultural context and in Chinese history, this is very much a must. Sadly, the second book lacks these additions, with a different translator opting out of footnotes, but Ken Liu is back for book 3 and also brings them back.
Thanks for the info, I was seriously asking myself wether to read the English or the German translation. Normally I read scifi and fantasy in english since that's the language it was written in most of the times - but I observed that often time the translations from different languages in these popular genres like scifi and fantasy seem to lack standard and skill in english (unfortunately they often do in german, too )
Fact: a Chinese Minecraft animator created 3 body problem into Minecraft animation. There are 4 season until now. And the animation is a high quality animation
Yeah, I didn't know it was when I picked it up either. Actually, one of my dad's coworkers at Google gave it to him specifically for me, so he just came home and tossed it to me lmao.
Same. It synopsis for the whole book basically spoils the whole book. It’s so good with that mystery hanging in the air! What the heck is Red Coast doing? Why is Ye Wenjie even important? Haha
I loved The Three body Problem, especially it's take on alien invasion. But my "issue" was that it genuinely terrified me. It was a great book, I loved it. But when I read sci-fi that takes a more serious tone like I need a major break from it afterwards. I still love the genre but I also need time in-between books.
Needing to put something down for a while because it's a lot to process both mentally and emotionally is the sign that an idea-based book did its job right. The combination of a book's ability to make you entertain difficult questions, and your willingness to take it seriously enough to be disturbed by it is, I would argue, a marvelous thing. I wouldn't worry too much that three body unsettled you. I would be concerned if it hadn't.
So, I just finished the trilogy, and the existential crisis is killing me. The universe of the three body problem is terrifying, merciless, and the future is bleak. I loved the series, but I wish that I hadn't read it.
There is a tale in Chinese Folklore where the divine archer Hou Yi shot and killed 9/10 suns that was baking the earth to death. The Trisolaran Three sun system might be kinda based on this tale with several scifi updates
I didn't know this before reading the book but the star system mentioned in the book (Alpha Centauri) actually has 3 suns and is the closest star system to earth.
@James Wang agreed. Or maybe just an alien comes with a 9 engines space ship. Which seen by houyi. And he shot it. And he thinks he kill the 9 engines....
@@sewerat2947 Yes, Alpha Centauri really is a 3-star system, but those three stars don’t behave remotely like the 3 stars described in the Trisolaran system.
I just finished the third book, Death’s End, a few weeks ago, and I’m still thinking deeply about the entire series! It’s so thought provoking! The last book was my favorite subjective favorite! I rarely want to pick up a book/series right after finishing, but this series made me want to re-read and pick up every other book by this author immediately.
No, there is no stereotype that "Chinese are colder" - I would say it's quite the opposite. People are very vocal and straightforward, especially in the past two generations. Though, like United States, Chinese from different regions have different temperaments, cultures, accents and even physical differences. Some cities are known to be more polite and others more confrontational (in a friendly fashion). Regarding the book (which I read in English though I understand both languages), I also found the characters to be on the colder side. I think it's reasonable since the main character (the lady scientist) lived through cultural revolution in which speaking too much can get one imprisoned. And the characters tended to be cerebral, scientist types. A great if a challenging book to go through though.
@@christopherjenkins3063 They are not as indoctrinated as you think. Some come over to UK or US for further studies. Sometimes they see the chaos and anti science you guys have and they think.... wow thank god we dont have nutjobs like that back home.
One thing that really stood out to me was the first quarter of the book set in the Cultural Revolution. I nearly cried then because I have good friends and coworkers that lived through the Cultural Revolution and it was nearly spot on with their stories and though it actually softens what happened, it really gives you a little glimpse into what people went through during the Cultural Revolution.
If you enjoyed this book, I would highly recommend that you read its prequel - "Ball Lightning"! Its much easier to read, with a faster paced and more straight forward story line. I actually enjoyed Ball Lightning more than Three Body Problem on first impression.
Three Body Problem blew my mind. Not many Sci-Fi books have gripped me that much. I'm also super into Astrophysics and Astronomy so that made it even more fun for me.
Totally agree that this one was fantastic; just come prepared to grapple with existential dread. As a linguistics nerd, I also feel the need to praise the excellent translation! It was great to hear your review & can't wait to see if you continue on with the series.
Regarding cold characters, being a native Chinese reader, I have a few points that I'd like to put forward. 1. Liu Cixin is sometimes criticised for being bad at creating interesting female characters. Some said the females in his novel, especially in this book are hollow, inhumane and appear only for functional or symbolic purpose. 2. As a female reader, what do I think? I think it's fine, I don't necessarily feel the same way. I think the reason that the characters appear cold in this novel is that the entire story was started at one of the lowest points in China's contemporary history, the cultural revolution, which kinda sets the cold and stern tone of the entire storyline. It is unlikely that under that kind of crazy and dark circumstances, anyone would put up a bright front. On a side note, Liu Cixin did write some shorter stories with excellent heros and heroines, like there are two called “With her eyes” and "The village school teacher", they are both really touching. So I personally think he's fully capable of shaping rich and lively characters, just he chose not to give all the characters too many warm touches in this book. 3. Maybe the cultural difference is that you couldn't understand how terrible and harmful cultural revolution is for China, it's probably as destructive and mad as a genocide. Following on, humans quickly devolved into a huge existential crisis, so I don't think there's a lot of chance for bright and hopeful characters as well. 4. I do think that the book has a somewhat "depressing" tone, there's almost no humour or little "daily life" breaks to give you some breathing time. Yet I think this is perfectly fine, given the structural integrity and consistent style of the book.
I do not think book 1 female protagonist was cold but rather that she confined herself within. The female protagonist in book 3 was stereotyped, at least to me as a male. And it was quite an unsatisfying experience tagging along with her.
I have just finished Death´s End today and I think the trilogie is on of the best literature worksI have ever read in my life. The plot develops into such an unexpected direction and I was captivated all the time. Each successor novel gets better than its predecessor and you actually can not believe that the creativity and ingenuity is improving. I am curious about Baoshu´s installment!!
@@lucashou5172 I really like Wang Miao and Shi Qiang, particularly when they are working together. I was kind of disappointed when I recognized that Wang Miao does not occur in Dark Forest and Death´s End, but Cixin Liu created Dr Luo Ji, who turned out to be my favourite character in the entire trilogie. I also like Cheng Xin, but the Luo Ji´s development and history is more fascinating. What about you?
I'm an astrophysicst who recently read the trilogy, I absolutely loved this book. The science (aside from the Sophons) was flawless and well done. The comment about the characters seeming more cold actually can be seen in academia as well, maybe we just see it more since we see China's research publications more than their social media
Would you criticize the authors inclusion of the sophons, or do you see them as a necessary evil that helped the plat shine. I saw some other people saying little conveniences like this made the series not worth it for them to read, and I think your take on the matter would be interesting.
@@caelblanch2737 Since I made this comment I finished the 3rd book of the trilogy and have changed my opinion somewhat: I still don't love it, but given the continuity to the story and string theory being their "correct" physics I'd say they weren't even a necessary evil, but rather a great narrative tool and a reminder that "fi" is half the genre. Of course I'd love a story that uses hard science without inventing any new stuff, but that would basically just be a story set today! Suspension of disbelief and the absolutely amazing plot following book 2 and 3 have opened my heart to the sophons.
Definitely continue the series if you haven’t already. The next book will make you forget about the first. And the final will make you forget about the first two. They are that crazy in scope. Best sci books and perhaps the best books I’ve ever read.
"the character development is cold": yeah this is a common criticism even in China, and yeah, a lot of readers don't really care the character is a bit cold, to others the coldness is a bit of problem. "book one's ending is weird": I never thought of it, because I rush through all three books with my dad with in a week.
The Martian is softer scifi than The Expanse?? The Martian is 99% actual real science, no fancy stuff at all. The entire plot is based around the science. Artemis is pretty hard too
So happy to see you getting into this series! It gets utterly horrifyingly mind-shattering at it goes on, like nothing else I know. Gentle correction for future videos though: the name Cixin Liu sounds more like "tsih-sheen lyoh"
Just finished Death's End in the trilogy and my god, the story hit an exponential curve of even greater epicness on the third act. Glad you're enjoying the first book as I did last year, whilst going through my matriculation exams for university entry. Keep up the great work you do, thoroughly enjoying your POV in fantasy and sci-fi. And thanks for pointing me towards Wheel of time!
I went into it not knowing it was about alien invasion. I thought it was about an unsolvable mathematical problem. I was pleasantly surprised. Loved it. S-tier Sci fi novel.
IMO Enders Game is much more of a bang bang shooty shooty lasers take on alien invasions and from what I've read it is a)more interested in character than technology and b) doesnt explain how anything works irl just there is gun that kills everything when you shoot it and there is no realistic explanation behind how that would be built what kind of effect that sort of weapon would have on society or why doesnt everyone use it all the time. I just dont find stories interesting where only one character is smart and everyone else is an idiot and dont do obvious things so the protagonist can seem like a genius especially if the author keeps trying to hit me over the head with how smart their MC is. DNF Enders game btw it grated on me.
Ghost Emblem Oh, sorry I don’t know abbreviations. If you have only read a summary, don’t judge it. Finish the actual book then you can actually speak intelligently.
I think the themes surrounding humanity is what makes this book so memorable. It wasn’t my favorite while reading it but I also haven’t been able to quit thinking about it
7:58 "unrelenting in it's themes". Immediately made me cringe for the Netflix version of this. It is being written by David Benioff and DB Weiss of Game of Thrones fame. You know, the two writers who scoffed at the idea of themes, saying, "Themes are for 8th grade book reports." Yikes.
Read the others as well. Both The Dark Forest and Death's End take things to a whole different level in terms of scale and the mind-bending ideas that are proposed. Death's End is a bit controversial, but it has some of the most fascinating ideas and beautiful writing I've ever come across in a SciFi book. The scene on Pluto is among my top 3 most favorite scenes in SciFi just based on the beautifully translated prose and the sheer heartbreaking magnificence of the events unfolding. One of the others is probably the entirety of The Wandering Earth, also by Liu, released in a short story collection of the same name. If you cant get enough of his writing, that's absolutely something worth picking up as well.
AwarthSGN Death’s End was my favorite for sure! (Minor spoilers ahead) One of my favorite chapters/philosophies/themes I’ve come across in literature is the staircase of responsibility! And it has sooo many scenes that are just as beautiful and evocative as the Pluto scene!
I personally hold the Pluto scene very close to my heart. Sometimes a book need not be fancy with its writing to instill a strong response. After I finished reading it, I felt this deep sense of sadness realizing that I will never get to read it again for the first time. Beethoven's Moonlight immediately started playing in my head.
I read this whole series this month. Absolutely fell in love with it. The Dark Forest is my favorite and it's easily a top 10 (top 5) favorite SF book. So so good. Hope you read that one too. The third one is quite good too but I didn't like the ending
Thank you for reviewing this book, Daniel! I read this book thanks to it. I have to disagree about your thoughts on the ending, though. I personally loved the ending and it actually got me really excited to continue reading the next books! Which I hope you end up reviewing as well
Great to see you review this masterpiece. And making it an awesome in depth review without going too much into specific details. Be ready to get blown away in the sequels, in which the scope of the story will increase exponentially. All in all a wonderful trilogy that is not only entertaining, but thought provoking as well!
First off thank you for turning me on to this!!! So I finished 2 of the 3 books in the series. "The Three Body Problem," really needs that time to processes; totally agree - it needs to "marinate." It is a rich slice of cake, that requires time to digest. I appreciate the cold (even clinical) narrative on how toxic our ideologies can be to our intellectual evolution and progress. This book spoke to thought's I've personally had, about what humanity would need to push us through the "walls" we can't seem to break through. I'm still processing this book and "The Dark Forest," which really fit together nicely; but I will say the second book becomes much more human. Your channel is awesome; thanks again for this review.
This Series was so profound on me, as an epic SciFi reader, it was hard not to slip into a deep litterary depression after reading it. I know there are large threads around of 3-body readers asking "What on earth could I possibly read now... That was so _______." Honestly my biggest gripe was the lane-change with a new translator for book 2, but charge ahead and the better translation comes back in Book 3 where things really pick up. I highly suggest you and anyone who reads this (and has the same experience) pick up the book "Seveneves" as a pallet cleanser. It's an amazing one-off with similar scope, epic-introspection, dark themes, and human ingenuity. You'll be ready to pickup anything else after Seveneves, and break that feeling after finishing 3-body (i.e., Rememberance of Earth's Past Trilogy).
Chinese culture is definitely not “cold”. The usual view by Chinese people is that Westerners are more rational compared to the more emotional Chinese.
@Jennifer Wang Chinese culture is based on ancestor worship, respect of elders, honour culture and devotion to family. A culture based on those things are based on emotion, rather than the pursuit of reason, such as the Greeks who influenced European culture and is the basis for the Renaissance and Enlightenment movement.
@Jennifer Wang The imperial exams existed more than a thousand years before the scientific method was invented. It was greatly diminished during the Yuan and Qing dynasties as those Dynasties used prejudiced systems to elevated the Mongol and Manchu ruling minorities, but hampered a system based on merit.
@Jennifer Wang I'm not trying to educate you, just saying what I have heard and read. Anyways, if you can read Chinese, the phrase I have always heard in China is "西方人很理性，中国还是比较感性“
The first one was 3/5, I could see the greatness of ideas but it was written so odd. I then understood it was mainly due to translation. The second one? My God, I just finished it and I'm blown away. Please Daniel review them all.
I just finished Dark Forest in like 1 week (work life was tough, so I probably would have finished it in even sooner), and my god... I loved Three Body Problem, but Dark Forest is just... mind blowing I would say. And I really got disturbed and invested. I can't just shake it off. It's outstanding. I'm gonna start Death's End tomorrow and can't wait to jump to it... PS: Luo, you're the man dude. The last fucking all-in-gambit of a life time... What a way to go...
Hi. TBP did popularize SF in China to a point, as in, SF existed there but TBP brought the genre into popular culture. It also was one of the first major SF novels to be translated to English and popularized. With the help of Ken Liu (the translator) it has brought a lot of chinese SF into American culture. Also, Tor has continited to publish Cixin Liu's backlist into english as well! Ken Liu has published two short story anthologies of translated Chinese SF (which are very good!) in order to highlight more amazing Chinese SF authors. All good things !
Got recommended this book by an engineering professor. Very technical guy lmao. Ended up finishing the series a while back in around a month. I couldn’t put it down. The scientific fact and conjecture written into such an organic story was very unique. The coldness of characters was interesting to me in terms of how humanity would *actually* act if the events in this series really happen. Would humanity really be ‘warm’? It truly does make you think. That’s another great thing about the anthropology in the book.
Post Mao Chinese philosophy. There is no way you are telling me confucianism, buddhism, and taoism are about personal survival at the expense of morals.
@@tubbytoad More like post-Qing or perhaps earlier when the West started sticking their fingers into China. When there are wars and famine, people value themselves and their family over others. It wasn't like life in China was amazing before Mao, Mao was more like the climax.
I almost exclusively read hard sci-fi. I love all the scienc-y stuff, especially plausible speculative scienc-y stuff based on our current understanding of physics. Something darkly intense in this book made an impression. I finished the last page with a kind of “meh” feeling, and didn’t move onto the next book. But here I am months later still thinking about it. There’s a reason why. And I’ve just ordered the second book in the series. Hopefully it won’t disappoint.
I'm almost done with the first book and if they can put that proton unfolding thing into space in a stable orbit how can they not predict or put their planet into a stable orbit??? Also if they have the listening stations why couldn't they just build bigger ones and keep people working?? That's how we beat the elements
"I don't know how to address those people, but they exist." As consistently great as your content is, this might be the best thing I've ever heard on this channel.
The scifi im writing is trying to do both. Wish me luck in succeeding bc i want to talk about the ideas in depth and the consequences of different tech but i want my characters to be super interesting and real as well
Examining if the human race is worth saving is a concept a love reading about because personally I think the human race is disgusting. You’ve totally convinced me to move this up on my TBR!
Very late reply, but did you read the books, and if so, how was this theme handled? I too have a great disgust for the human race, and I don’t want to experience another series where the final message is this “we sure have a lot to learn, but humankind is still truly amazing!” nonsense. Would you recommend it or not?
Its crazy youre reviewing this book. I started looking for books to read when my interest in reading was rekindled about a year ago. I found your videos and started reading fantasy again, and eventually scifi and this book. This book went off like a bomb in my head. I love how challenging it is, i love experiencing a completely new and different culture while also trying to keep up with the really hard science. The philosophical aspects are just... Amazing. Stuff you can think about for weeks. I am so glad you gave this book a video. Theres so much to find in this book other than a alien invasion. Thanks for your reciews and getting me excited about reading again.
I agree. While technically the book is about an alien invasion, it's so much more. It's more about the Universe and why we are here, and is there a point to anything or everything. Extremely thought-provoking. The politics of the cultural revolution, while interesting, were just a smokescreen for the real plot of the stories.
I´m 2 or 3 chapters away from finishing this book. And it´s amazing. I think you are absolutley right when you say that the book makes you question things and makes you think the difficult questions and that should be the purpose of all art, and when you say that people don´t want to read it becaus it makes us think of difficult issues it just makes me feel like mike evans does.
You need to read Iain M Banks. His Culture novels are some of the best space opera stories out there. His characters are strong, as well as containing amazing world building and brilliant plotting.
@@Witty_Jackson That's funny. I didn't like Matter at all. Surface Detail, on the other hand, was pretty good so maybe I was out of line above. Nevertheless, I think the earlier novel do have a bit higher quality.
Classic Science fiction did not develp chharacters a lot because the READER is the character. When I was a boy, I was on the spaceship with HAL - I was Dave. I am more concerned about the great ideas and problem-solving than the love life of the characters. If I want characters, I read Pride and Prejudice.
Daniel, - I need you to review the next two books in this trilogy like yesterday. They will terrify your soul and instantly make your top series of all time. Pls & TY
I also read a lot more fantasy as well, because a lot of the science fiction that I would read had difficulties creating things that made sense scientifically. However, when I read (well listened) to the 3 body problem it was incredibly realistic. Sadly, by the time I finished Death's End, I still loved the books but it did change my world view to the point that I was frankly a bit depressed. In fact, I try not to think about the book, and when I go back to fantasy books, they seem to lose a lot of significance.
I just checked my goodreads review from last September and it's basically identical to yours. I even ended it with "I definitely want to continue the series, just not right away." This video actually made me want to continue soon.
I started with Cixin Liu’s short story novel The Wandering Earth and I felt the same way about characters in that. I ultimately felt that it was just down to cultural differences as well. The range of emotions were not as polarizing a range as you’d see in books by North American or UK based writers. But there were a lot of short stories in it that did what you described and made you think about things afterward. It was great! And I can’t wait to read Three Body Problem. It’s been on my TBR ever since I read The Wandering Earth.
@@adri2663 It was the same as with the book. Praised by everyone, but just not fun to watch/read, at least for me. It is a strange kind of soft scifi, and the main characters behave like big children... I could not watch it for more than 10 minutes.
The first book is an awesome stepping stone for an epic trilogy. If you prefer a story with a good plot, the dark forest is the best. If you prefer a story with a painfuly deep lesson, death's end is just the best.
Just finished the first book. I never really got horror as a genre, but spooky physics? Sign me up. I'm scared and I like it. One thing that I loved and was surprised by was the amount of female characters whose feminity was relevant to their experiences but not central or sexualised. 10/10 female representation.
I'm Chinese and I have so far read the first book. About the cold character problem, I definitely felt the characters are "cold". I would say it's not a social norm, Chinese people are very much not cold lmao. My guess is it's just because they are in such a special time and everyone is experiencing so much supernatural and unfamiliar stuff. Also, some of the characters are just portrayed as cold people.
Daniel, my dude, you're giving me financial problems by adding to my book buying list. 10 since we found you a few days ago...we already have 2000 physical books man...AND I NEED MOAAAR. More sci fi reviews please.
I am SO, SO happy you liked this Daniel! Since I saw one of your old videos on scifi I've been hoping you'd run across the three body problem!! And just you wait, the next two books it the series are arguably even better, and certainly MORE. - Wallfacer Dumas
If you're willing to go comics, "The Eternaut" by HG Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López is an Argentinian classic about Alien Invasion and surviving the apocalypse (and fighting no matter what). Great Read.
Oh Daniel my dear.... my TBR is already a precariously leaning tower ( in some cases literally), and you always persist in adding to that structure. Love to see you making progress on your own massive TBR man. This is the first three body problem review that’s really tempted me to read the book.
Have you read “the Hyperion Cantos” series by Dan Simmons? Fantastic sci fi with memorable characters mixed with hard sci fi ideas for days. A modern continuation and evolution of classic Sci fi. 👍
I am Chinese and I’m sure that the character thing is not a cultural reason, there are Chinese literature that highly concentrate on character development( actually most of the mainstream Chinese literature do ) this is just Cixin Liu’s writing style, if you could check out some of his interviews, he actually said that the character in his story is merely tools to interpret the sci-fi concept, but he said he didn’t think it’s the best way of writing and he wanted to improve that
I just finished a (I guess you would call it) "modern sci-fi" called Lockstep by Karl Schroeder. It was actually super good, I finished it in like 3 sittings. It gave me some hardcore Voyager vibes.
Well, you've sold me on this book. I've pondered a lot on whether humanity is worth keeping around or if we are a detriment. I'm excited to see a study of the idea. Thank you for all your hard work, you are amazing ^_^
You should read it. Before I read it I often mused as to whether or not humanity had a purpose or are all living things on the earth about as useful as mold growing on an orange. Incidentally, I am not sure that the book answers that question, but it tries it's best to show how humanity would react to the situation.
The scary part is how people have so many secrets, its almost impossible to trust anyone. Also, the events in the story seem so tied with real life I feel like this may actually happen someday
What makes me angry about this book and also its coming netflix adaption: It's always described as "a science fiction story about first contact with aliens" etc. In my opinion, that's a huge ass spoiler though. edit: You mentioned this at 3:58. That's what I mean. I would have enjoyed the book even more, had I not known that it's about an alien invasion.
I have read all science fictions of Cixin Liu,and other fictions of him r also amazing. I love TBP, Ball Lightning, and his short stories. We call him Big Liu
The problem with the theme that some SF puts forth is, "Science vs. Religion/Faith/Anti-Science/etc" is not as relevant as many would have people believe. Most people (with some notable exceptions) believe in SCIENCE in general. But the idea that SCIENCE is one big unified TRUTH is not accurate. My wife is a scientist (an actual work-in-a-lab, do biological experiments, get published in scientific journals scientist). And one thing that I've found being a part of that world is that most scientific issues do NOT have a consensus. I know that is hard for a lot of people to believe, because we are hit hard with the idea that if someone doesn't hold to what many scientists say, they are some ignorant backwoods religious zealots. But if you look deeper, you'll find that often there are many other scientists that view that particular scientific topic in a different way than the first set (either they got different results, or they INTERPRETED the results differently). Many of our scientist friends talk about the common 60/40 split (sometimes 70/30), where if 60 % of scientists tend towards a certain conclusion, it is often passed off as a consensus. But if you see how scientific conclusions have evolved over time, you'll see that often the "consensus" is overturned years later as new evidence is discovered or REinterpreted. We are even seeing some of that with this current virus, as there are several camps with different ideas on how this virus evolved, how to "cure" the virus, how to prevent it's spread, etc.... In the same way that while most scientists agree that our climate IS changing, they differ vastly on what the biggest causes are, how to stop it, how it will effect us, etc... I guess my point is that I hope this book isn't presenting the theme as "SCIENCE vs ANTI-Science". It would be great if there were a SF book out there that tackled the more relevant idea of how we reconcile various different scientific interpretations of the same evidence and merge our differing scientific views to better mankind. Just my 2 cents....
Eddy A Eddy A I have trouble separating themes in the first book from in the later books, but I can confirm that the series as a whole does not approach the world as science v anti-science. My interpretation of the theme was that science is the way forward for humanity as a whole, and we as part of human society, should invest more in scientific advancement/research. Also, that means the focus is not that science is truth, rather that we should continue to pursue scientific discoveries as a means of benefitting society/humanity.
Sure there may not be a consensus on the topic, there are arguments for and against the current understanding of how gravity works (General relativity vs MOND), how COVID evolved or should be cured, life emerged, how the climate, or our brain or mind works, etc. But the vast majority of scientists do not think the Earth if flat. The vast majority of them do not think Evolution is a hoax, or vaccines cause autism, or the virus is just a flu, or some crazy shit like that. Disagreement in science is not the same thing as anti-science by conspiracy theorists. Scientific answers may not be written in stone, but there are answers which we definitely know are wrong.
@@nikolatasev4948 I agree that some things have a general consensus among scientists. But the point I was trying to make, being a part of that world, is that the average person would be AMAZED at how few things there is consensus about. Even many things that the average person THINKS are common scientific fact, are often still highly debated (amongst legitimate scientists.... I am NOT including fringe pseudoscience when I use the term "Scientist"). And I wish more people would understand this and realize exactly how little we actually know about the world around us (And I would use what has been evolving over the past 5 months with the Virus as an microcosm of this.... Many studies have been released stating definitively how it effects kids, or how it spreads (airborne vs droplets), or how is the most at risk, or how long it can live on certain surfaces, etc.... but then new studies come out and completely debunk those things. Another example is how for decades medical science said that smoking was good for us. It cleared the airways, and helped us in various different ways. Our understanding of Science is always evolving. And if you study the history of science, you will find that very few things we take for granted are not still being studied and debated among scientists) PS - I am in no way justifying idiotic "pseudoscience".
1. How would humanity react to the existence of an extraterrestrial civilization ? 2. If there are many civilizations in space, why haven't we met them yet ? Is contact between different civilizations possible ? 3. What impact did civilizations have on the universe ? Are the laws of physics universal ? Overall : should humanity go to space and is there any place for their morality there ?
I loved the book and read all 3. I found them to be very interesting and ,like you said, full of topics and themes that you don't normally see in media (even on sci-fi). ***Spolier*** However, I found it to be very optimistic, cause even thou mankind is outmatched, (it's basically an ant colony vs the US Army, humanity being the ants) they find a way to survive. Yeah, they never achieved a total victory like in Independence Day or those kind of movies, but even when all feels lost and all solutions are exhausted, they seem to find a way, the best example of this is the ending of the second book. I hope more people read the book cause that kind optimism is rare nowadays and consequently people might have a more cynical view of the world. This 3 books can be a cure for that for sure!
I was actually trying to search this book a few days ago because I remember you mentioned it in a fantasy (sci-fi) news episode a while back. I held off on buying it because I was unsure if I'd found the right one, but now I can go ahead and order it. Thanks!
If you want some hard Sci Fi in the vein of Asimov/Clarke I can wholeheartedly recommend Alastair Reynolds Zima Blue and other stories is a good jumping off point via short stories, I particularly love House of Suns and Pushing Ice as standalone novels His big project is the Revelation Space universe, Starting with either Revelation Space or The Prefect is recommended!
As a sci-fi (and fantasy) lover, you must read Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It is a sci-fantasy retelling of The Canterbury Tales, and it's largely considered to be one of the greatest sci-fi works of all time.
When it came to TTBP, I really enjoyed the mystery and how the story was neatly wrapped. But I soon came to realize that TTBP is just the introduction to a greater series when I read TDF. The books cosmic feeling created a terror for the unknown that inspires me and my art. In the final book that goes deeper, and when I finish(HALFWAY through) I will make sure to update this. Sn: don’t hold me on that, I probably won’t.
![Death's End [Spoiler] Review | The Three Body Problem](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yz5n3888buE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Death's End [Spoiler] Review | The Three Body Problem](/img/tr.png)
1. Three Body Problem: This is mind-blowing!
2. Dark Forest: WOW, the first one is just a Disney cartoon show. This one can rebuild your worldview and philosophy of life!!
3. Death's End: The second one is just your kindergarten graduation. And nothing matters in your real life after reading this one.
After I finished this trio I can't read other books for a while,
i prefer the Chinese title Death forever 。
I thought the third one is called death forever
@@ciaranshrrr563 New book is a fan fic that got made into a real book endorsed by the author. I loved the ending, very clever.
Is the new fanfic book worth reading?
The "cold character" thing is just Liu Cixin. He once wrote that he believes the best fiction should be blunt and cold like a news channel, and that reflects in his actual writing. I'm chinese and I can assure you it's just him.
Thank you. I was uncomfortable with broad statements that Chinese literature is generally uses cold characters. I actually enjoyed the characterisation of the first half of the book, even her resolute acceptance of what life threw at her, and could understand her perceived coldness.
What frustrated me was the many unrealistic character flips that happened among the scientific and professional people in the second half of the story. People, philosophically, don't switch from believers in science to believers in an anti-humanity perspective. To me this randomness and suddenness felt more like he was trying to parallel the narrative that the CCP wanted the population to believe about the ubiquity and anti-rationality of the falong gong, and therefore the changes in personality were both insufficiently examined and unrealistic. His ideas were great, but not his inconsistent characters.
I wonder if another reason this may be is because of translation.
Man I can’t wait to read the books .
this "coldness", I think, adds to the dread. Because it leaves the imagination of the dread to us, which makes it even more scarier.
@@tonykirk8295 no, I read it in chinese and it's the same.
When a journalist pointed out to Liu that his characters seemed flat, he acknowledged it and said "I did not begin writing for love of literature, I did so for love of science". He seemed to be more invested in describing his ideas than developing his characters. It's not an issue of a difference in culture, it's just him. Other Chinese fiction I've read can have well-developed characters.
I could almost wonder if the perceptions of characters as "cold" is a generational thing. Let's get this out of the way quickly: I'm about old enough to be King Tut's Auntie. I am also most decidedly NOT a STEM-type of person. So while parts of the book have left me somewhat confused, I didn't find the characters either "cold" or "flat." Perhaps younger people just like the sensationalistic, overwrought, emotionally-charged Superhero-type of characters? What I saw were intellectual scientists and policy-makers doing their jobs as professionals. I'll concede that the dialogue was occasionally stilted or unconvincing. But the book is FAR from being exclusively hard science. The entire premise deals with social structures and their consequences.
I think fiction needs the characters. He could have just written a nonfiction book about the concepts. It seems something like that could have been written in a shorter format but still been more detailed.
The second book - The Dark Forest, left me in a state of shock. When you experience excellence, something so truly profound and original that your mind goes blank and you feel like you uncovered a secret and you want to share that secret with everybody, that is how I felt after reading the second book and after finishing the trilogy. It is incomparable, unforgettable and unforgiving. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
Wait until you finish the third
@@kirmie44 I couldn’t get thru the first one, so boring with that station bullcrap
@@leftifornian2066 if it ain't for you, it ain't for you. No need to go looking for a fight. Hard scifi is not for everyone
@@kirmie44 I love hard sci-fi it’s just the audiobook was unbearable The video game part was awful, people say the other two are much better
@@leftifornian2066 hard scifi almost always goes by at a crawl unless you enjoy it. This entire book acts as a prelude to the other two. If you read the synopsis you'd probably even be able to skip the first one but anyone who has read through them would advise against that. The video game part is actually quite amazing. Exploring life and culture that have very different starting conditions than our own.
Dude! I went in as a physics grad student looking for a hard sci-fi after being disappointed by various self proclaimed sci-fi books. Let me tell you that this book not only satiated my need for a hard sci-fi, the many ideas it presents are unbelievably based on genuine science! I’m so glad that I read this book. It has opened up a whole new avenue for me to explore!
Have you read any Alister Reynolds? He is a physicist
Read the Halo forerunner trilogy, amazing series
Greg Egan is another, although he does do a bit of "what if we change this one thing...?"
Totally agree with you. The Chinese hard sci-fi authors do not mess around when it comes to science.
The concept of the teardrop made me study materials engineering lol
Tbh don't shy away from talking about your thoughts on deep and uncomfortable topics!!
yaa justtt fuckkinnn sayyy ittttttttttttttt
I agree !
I like the way Americans have to put a trigger warning on intelligent thought
Everyone acts like they want to hear controversial opinions until someone says an opinion they don't agree with.
@@DeepTitanicis it not like that out there? In the world? 😅 I'm sooo sick of ppl being offended by objective reality or even ideas about objective reality.
OMG , finally a review of this masterpiece . Thanks daniel, i hope that a lot of people will read it now
(The dark forest is the best of the trilogy :P )
@@Supersoniczero im finishing the three problem, and cant wait to read the second book. once i started reading i didnt wanna put the book down.
@@eddywong6688 dont stop haha , it will blew your mind.
@@eddywong6688 oh, the second book is something else. First is actually the weakest in the series, the second is (IMO) the best scifi book ever.
@@sirgog I just finished 3 body problem. Found it kind of banal as a SciFi story. The background of the cultural revolution was interesting. The characters were mostly pretty two dimensional.
Bonus: The English translation is amazing!
Not only is it well-written, the translator adds incredibly helpful footnotes whenever historical context is necessary to undersstand the text - and since the book is so very ingrained in a Chinese cultural context and in Chinese history, this is very much a must.
Sadly, the second book lacks these additions, with a different translator opting out of footnotes, but Ken Liu is back for book 3 and also brings them back.
Thanks for the info, I was seriously asking myself wether to read the English or the German translation. Normally I read scifi and fantasy in english since that's the language it was written in most of the times - but I observed that often time the translations from different languages in these popular genres like scifi and fantasy seem to lack standard and skill in english (unfortunately they often do in german, too )
You’re high. The Dark Forest has footnotes, and the translation is still superb.
@@teej117 Maybe there are different editions ? Which one did you read ? (I want to read this series/trilogy too, and I want to get the "best" one)
The author even recommends the English translation over the Chinese original.
I read the Chinese original version first, and then I read the English. Both are very detailed but my understanding on the Chinese version was better.
Fact: a Chinese Minecraft animator created 3 body problem into Minecraft animation. There are 4 season until now. And the animation is a high quality animation
Where can I find this minecraft video?
@@lynnh5430 bilibili, pretty much Chinese version youtube
@@lynnh5430 just search my three body on RUclips 😂
There’s also a movie and three different series based on it com8ng out next year
Where can we watch it?
I actually went into this without knowing it was an alien invasion story, and I actually really enjoyed it that way.
Yeah, I didn't know it was when I picked it up either. Actually, one of my dad's coworkers at Google gave it to him specifically for me, so he just came home and tossed it to me lmao.
Same. It synopsis for the whole book basically spoils the whole book. It’s so good with that mystery hanging in the air! What the heck is Red Coast doing? Why is Ye Wenjie even important? Haha
actually, i …
I guess now I know it is :/
same here. Knowing that its an alien story kind of spoils the mystery of the first book
I loved The Three body Problem, especially it's take on alien invasion. But my "issue" was that it genuinely terrified me. It was a great book, I loved it. But when I read sci-fi that takes a more serious tone like I need a major break from it afterwards. I still love the genre but I also need time in-between books.
Needing to put something down for a while because it's a lot to process both mentally and emotionally is the sign that an idea-based book did its job right. The combination of a book's ability to make you entertain difficult questions, and your willingness to take it seriously enough to be disturbed by it is, I would argue, a marvelous thing. I wouldn't worry too much that three body unsettled you. I would be concerned if it hadn't.
The dark forest is way more terrifying in my opinion. Also gives you a lot too think about
The Three Body Problem was scary, The Dark Forest was brutal, and Death's End was just so sad. (I just finished it a few days ago.)
So, I just finished the trilogy, and the existential crisis is killing me. The universe of the three body problem is terrifying, merciless, and the future is bleak. I loved the series, but I wish that I hadn't read it.
@@kseriousr haha, yeah, it squashes your dimension, and your world became 2D for a while, until you get into another book that is.
There is a tale in Chinese Folklore where the divine archer Hou Yi shot and killed 9/10 suns that was baking the earth to death. The Trisolaran Three sun system might be kinda based on this tale with several scifi updates
I didn't know this before reading the book but the star system mentioned in the book (Alpha Centauri) actually has 3 suns and is the closest star system to earth.
@@sewerat2947 really
@James Wang agreed. Or maybe just an alien comes with a 9 engines space ship. Which seen by houyi. And he shot it. And he thinks he kill the 9 engines....
@@elioelioinmel5336 jup
@@sewerat2947 Yes, Alpha Centauri really is a 3-star system, but those three stars don’t behave remotely like the 3 stars described in the Trisolaran system.
I just finished the third book, Death’s End, a few weeks ago, and I’m still thinking deeply about the entire series! It’s so thought provoking! The last book was my favorite subjective favorite! I rarely want to pick up a book/series right after finishing, but this series made me want to re-read and pick up every other book by this author immediately.
No, there is no stereotype that "Chinese are colder" - I would say it's quite the opposite. People are very vocal and straightforward, especially in the past two generations. Though, like United States, Chinese from different regions have different temperaments, cultures, accents and even physical differences. Some cities are known to be more polite and others more confrontational (in a friendly fashion).
Regarding the book (which I read in English though I understand both languages), I also found the characters to be on the colder side. I think it's reasonable since the main character (the lady scientist) lived through cultural revolution in which speaking too much can get one imprisoned. And the characters tended to be cerebral, scientist types. A great if a challenging book to go through though.
@Ashley Fisher ;)
@Ashley Fisher It's okay. Life is stressful - sometimes one just needs to vent~
@@christopherjenkins3063 I feel so sad for you… you must living in a unhappy life. Give you a hug little poor thing :)
I just curious how people can be that ignorance try to define a culture by a sci-fi book :))))
@@christopherjenkins3063 They are not as indoctrinated as you think. Some come over to UK or US for further studies. Sometimes they see the chaos and anti science you guys have and they think.... wow thank god we dont have nutjobs like that back home.
One thing that really stood out to me was the first quarter of the book set in the Cultural Revolution. I nearly cried then because I have good friends and coworkers that lived through the Cultural Revolution and it was nearly spot on with their stories and though it actually softens what happened, it really gives you a little glimpse into what people went through during the Cultural Revolution.
There is no greater evil on this planet than communism
If you enjoyed this book, I would highly recommend that you read its prequel - "Ball Lightning"! Its much easier to read, with a faster paced and more straight forward story line. I actually enjoyed Ball Lightning more than Three Body Problem on first impression.
Ball Lightning made me want to go to sleep.
It's not a prequel?
Three Body Problem blew my mind. Not many Sci-Fi books have gripped me that much. I'm also super into Astrophysics and Astronomy so that made it even more fun for me.
Totally agree that this one was fantastic; just come prepared to grapple with existential dread. As a linguistics nerd, I also feel the need to praise the excellent translation! It was great to hear your review & can't wait to see if you continue on with the series.
This review confirmed that I will never read everything on my list, as Daniel Greene is always adding something
Regarding cold characters, being a native Chinese reader, I have a few points that I'd like to put forward.
1. Liu Cixin is sometimes criticised for being bad at creating interesting female characters. Some said the females in his novel, especially in this book are hollow, inhumane and appear only for functional or symbolic purpose.
2. As a female reader, what do I think? I think it's fine, I don't necessarily feel the same way. I think the reason that the characters appear cold in this novel is that the entire story was started at one of the lowest points in China's contemporary history, the cultural revolution, which kinda sets the cold and stern tone of the entire storyline. It is unlikely that under that kind of crazy and dark circumstances, anyone would put up a bright front. On a side note, Liu Cixin did write some shorter stories with excellent heros and heroines, like there are two called “With her eyes” and "The village school teacher", they are both really touching. So I personally think he's fully capable of shaping rich and lively characters, just he chose not to give all the characters too many warm touches in this book.
3. Maybe the cultural difference is that you couldn't understand how terrible and harmful cultural revolution is for China, it's probably as destructive and mad as a genocide. Following on, humans quickly devolved into a huge existential crisis, so I don't think there's a lot of chance for bright and hopeful characters as well.
4. I do think that the book has a somewhat "depressing" tone, there's almost no humour or little "daily life" breaks to give you some breathing time. Yet I think this is perfectly fine, given the structural integrity and consistent style of the book.
I do not think book 1 female protagonist was cold but rather that she confined herself within. The female protagonist in book 3 was stereotyped, at least to me as a male. And it was quite an unsatisfying experience tagging along with her.
I have just finished Death´s End today and I think the trilogie is on of the best literature worksI have ever read in my life. The plot develops into such an unexpected direction and I was captivated all the time. Each successor novel gets better than its predecessor and you actually can not believe that the creativity and ingenuity is improving. I am curious about Baoshu´s installment!!
Who is your favorite character
@@lucashou5172 I really like Wang Miao and Shi Qiang, particularly when they are working together. I was kind of disappointed when I recognized that Wang Miao does not occur in Dark Forest and Death´s End, but Cixin Liu created Dr Luo Ji, who turned out to be my favourite character in the entire trilogie. I also like Cheng Xin, but the Luo Ji´s development and history is more fascinating. What about you?
@@bekem4827 Zhang Beihai is my guy. Of course, Luo Ji too
I'm an astrophysicst who recently read the trilogy, I absolutely loved this book. The science (aside from the Sophons) was flawless and well done. The comment about the characters seeming more cold actually can be seen in academia as well, maybe we just see it more since we see China's research publications more than their social media
Would you criticize the authors inclusion of the sophons, or do you see them as a necessary evil that helped the plat shine.
I saw some other people saying little conveniences like this made the series not worth it for them to read, and I think your take on the matter would be interesting.
@@caelblanch2737 Since I made this comment I finished the 3rd book of the trilogy and have changed my opinion somewhat: I still don't love it, but given the continuity to the story and string theory being their "correct" physics I'd say they weren't even a necessary evil, but rather a great narrative tool and a reminder that "fi" is half the genre. Of course I'd love a story that uses hard science without inventing any new stuff, but that would basically just be a story set today! Suspension of disbelief and the absolutely amazing plot following book 2 and 3 have opened my heart to the sophons.
@@MoldySpace That’s about how I felt about it. Thanks so much for the quality response!
I just finished the third and feel empty inside. Oh well.
Definitely continue the series if you haven’t already. The next book will make you forget about the first. And the final will make you forget about the first two. They are that crazy in scope. Best sci books and perhaps the best books I’ve ever read.
"the character development is cold": yeah this is a common criticism even in China, and yeah, a lot of readers don't really care the character is a bit cold, to others the coldness is a bit of problem.
"book one's ending is weird": I never thought of it, because I rush through all three books with my dad with in a week.
This is my favourite book, I used to read it whole night when i was a middle school student back to China. It changed my mind about the universe.
The Martian is softer scifi than The Expanse?? The Martian is 99% actual real science, no fancy stuff at all. The entire plot is based around the science. Artemis is pretty hard too
Agree,Martian could be true if Elon keeps doing his work in 10 years.
@@tomxu7041 Elon Musk is a conman
99% is an overestimate for sure, in reality any human in main character's situation would die pretty quickly. For multiple reasons
Did he say that?
@@pobbityboppity1110 It's onscreen at 1:17
So happy to see you getting into this series! It gets utterly horrifyingly mind-shattering at it goes on, like nothing else I know.
Gentle correction for future videos though: the name Cixin Liu sounds more like "tsih-sheen lyoh"
Just finished Death's End in the trilogy and my god, the story hit an exponential curve of even greater epicness on the third act. Glad you're enjoying the first book as I did last year, whilst going through my matriculation exams for university entry. Keep up the great work you do, thoroughly enjoying your POV in fantasy and sci-fi. And thanks for pointing me towards Wheel of time!
I totally forgot about the invasion part of this book. I just remembered when they used human bodies and horses to build a computer
lmaaaoooo i literally forgot about that part but it was iconic 😌
I went into it not knowing it was about alien invasion. I thought it was about an unsolvable mathematical problem. I was pleasantly surprised. Loved it. S-tier Sci fi novel.
Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead are classic science fiction that have great characters.
IMO Enders Game is much more of a bang bang shooty shooty lasers take on alien invasions and from what I've read it is a)more interested in character than technology and b) doesnt explain how anything works irl just there is gun that kills everything when you shoot it and there is no realistic explanation behind how that would be built what kind of effect that sort of weapon would have on society or why doesnt everyone use it all the time.
I just dont find stories interesting where only one character is smart and everyone else is an idiot and dont do obvious things so the protagonist can seem like a genius especially if the author keeps trying to hit me over the head with how smart their MC is. DNF Enders game btw it grated on me.
Ghost Emblem Have you actually read it?
@@alexanderfyock1838 I did say DNF which means did not finish but after I read a spoiler summary cause I didnt want to read it anymore.
Ghost Emblem Oh, sorry I don’t know abbreviations. If you have only read a summary, don’t judge it. Finish the actual book then you can actually speak intelligently.
@@alexanderfyock1838 So your just going to ignore all my reason for disliking it because I didnt finish it?
I think the themes surrounding humanity is what makes this book so memorable. It wasn’t my favorite while reading it but I also haven’t been able to quit thinking about it
7:58 "unrelenting in it's themes".
Immediately made me cringe for the Netflix version of this. It is being written by David Benioff and DB Weiss of Game of Thrones fame. You know, the two writers who scoffed at the idea of themes, saying, "Themes are for 8th grade book reports." Yikes.
RIP
Read the others as well. Both The Dark Forest and Death's End take things to a whole different level in terms of scale and the mind-bending ideas that are proposed. Death's End is a bit controversial, but it has some of the most fascinating ideas and beautiful writing I've ever come across in a SciFi book. The scene on Pluto is among my top 3 most favorite scenes in SciFi just based on the beautifully translated prose and the sheer heartbreaking magnificence of the events unfolding. One of the others is probably the entirety of The Wandering Earth, also by Liu, released in a short story collection of the same name. If you cant get enough of his writing, that's absolutely something worth picking up as well.
AwarthSGN Death’s End was my favorite for sure! (Minor spoilers ahead) One of my favorite chapters/philosophies/themes I’ve come across in literature is the staircase of responsibility! And it has sooo many scenes that are just as beautiful and evocative as the Pluto scene!
I personally hold the Pluto scene very close to my heart. Sometimes a book need not be fancy with its writing to instill a strong response. After I finished reading it, I felt this deep sense of sadness realizing that I will never get to read it again for the first time. Beethoven's Moonlight immediately started playing in my head.
Man the Pluto scene haunts me
I read this whole series this month. Absolutely fell in love with it. The Dark Forest is my favorite and it's easily a top 10 (top 5) favorite SF book. So so good. Hope you read that one too. The third one is quite good too but I didn't like the ending
The ending is kind of wack but I loved it for that. Gave me chills.
The Dark Forest blew my mind.
Dark Forest blows the first one out of the water honestly
The dark forest is mind blowing. Luo ji is a character so well developed , the best one of the trilogy
I got a question. What are some good high fantasy series with both spiritual and psychological themes?
Thank you for reviewing this book, Daniel! I read this book thanks to it.
I have to disagree about your thoughts on the ending, though. I personally loved the ending and it actually got me really excited to continue reading the next books! Which I hope you end up reviewing as well
Great to see you review this masterpiece. And making it an awesome in depth review without going too much into specific details. Be ready to get blown away in the sequels, in which the scope of the story will increase exponentially. All in all a wonderful trilogy that is not only entertaining, but thought provoking as well!
First off thank you for turning me on to this!!! So I finished 2 of the 3 books in the series. "The Three Body Problem," really needs that time to processes; totally agree - it needs to "marinate." It is a rich slice of cake, that requires time to digest. I appreciate the cold (even clinical) narrative on how toxic our ideologies can be to our intellectual evolution and progress. This book spoke to thought's I've personally had, about what humanity would need to push us through the "walls" we can't seem to break through. I'm still processing this book and "The Dark Forest," which really fit together nicely; but I will say the second book becomes much more human.
Your channel is awesome; thanks again for this review.
This Series was so profound on me, as an epic SciFi reader, it was hard not to slip into a deep litterary depression after reading it. I know there are large threads around of 3-body readers asking "What on earth could I possibly read now... That was so _______." Honestly my biggest gripe was the lane-change with a new translator for book 2, but charge ahead and the better translation comes back in Book 3 where things really pick up.
I highly suggest you and anyone who reads this (and has the same experience) pick up the book "Seveneves" as a pallet cleanser. It's an amazing one-off with similar scope, epic-introspection, dark themes, and human ingenuity.
You'll be ready to pickup anything else after Seveneves, and break that feeling after finishing 3-body (i.e., Rememberance of Earth's Past Trilogy).
Chinese culture is definitely not “cold”. The usual view by Chinese people is that Westerners are more rational compared to the more emotional Chinese.
@Jennifer Wang you don’t know your own culture then
@Jennifer Wang Chinese culture is based on ancestor worship, respect of elders, honour culture and devotion to family. A culture based on those things are based on emotion, rather than the pursuit of reason, such as the Greeks who influenced European culture and is the basis for the Renaissance and Enlightenment movement.
@Jennifer Wang The imperial exams existed more than a thousand years before the scientific method was invented. It was greatly diminished during the Yuan and Qing dynasties as those Dynasties used prejudiced systems to elevated the Mongol and Manchu ruling minorities, but hampered a system based on merit.
@Jennifer Wang I'm not trying to educate you, just saying what I have heard and read. Anyways, if you can read Chinese, the phrase I have always heard in China is "西方人很理性，中国还是比较感性“
The first one was 3/5, I could see the greatness of ideas but it was written so odd. I then understood it was mainly due to translation. The second one? My God, I just finished it and I'm blown away. Please Daniel review them all.
I just finished Dark Forest in like 1 week (work life was tough, so I probably would have finished it in even sooner), and my god... I loved Three Body Problem, but Dark Forest is just... mind blowing I would say. And I really got disturbed and invested. I can't just shake it off. It's outstanding. I'm gonna start Death's End tomorrow and can't wait to jump to it...
PS: Luo, you're the man dude. The last fucking all-in-gambit of a life time... What a way to go...
Hi. TBP did popularize SF in China to a point, as in, SF existed there but TBP brought the genre into popular culture. It also was one of the first major SF novels to be translated to English and popularized. With the help of Ken Liu (the translator) it has brought a lot of chinese SF into American culture. Also, Tor has continited to publish Cixin Liu's backlist into english as well! Ken Liu has published two short story anthologies of translated Chinese SF (which are very good!) in order to highlight more amazing Chinese SF authors. All good things !
This book has been on my TBR for a while. Welp, now I'm going to read it. You got me very excited
Listened to the audiobooks from Audible awhile ago. The series is excellent.
Its so cool just casually seeing your youtube play button in the background like its no big deal lol
Got recommended this book by an engineering professor. Very technical guy lmao. Ended up finishing the series a while back in around a month. I couldn’t put it down. The scientific fact and conjecture written into such an organic story was very unique.
The coldness of characters was interesting to me in terms of how humanity would *actually* act if the events in this series really happen. Would humanity really be ‘warm’? It truly does make you think. That’s another great thing about the anthropology in the book.
Hey thanks for sticking my book face-out on your top shelf there. Trust me, authors can spot their own novels in a tornado of flying debris
Finished it 10 minutes ago and I enjoyed it a lot
I think the book quite reflects Chinese philosophy: survival is the most important.
Post Mao Chinese philosophy. There is no way you are telling me confucianism, buddhism, and taoism are about personal survival at the expense of morals.
@@tubbytoad More like post-Qing or perhaps earlier when the West started sticking their fingers into China. When there are wars and famine, people value themselves and their family over others. It wasn't like life in China was amazing before Mao, Mao was more like the climax.
I almost exclusively read hard sci-fi. I love all the scienc-y stuff, especially plausible speculative scienc-y stuff based on our current understanding of physics. Something darkly intense in this book made an impression. I finished the last page with a kind of “meh” feeling, and didn’t move onto the next book. But here I am months later still thinking about it. There’s a reason why. And I’ve just ordered the second book in the series. Hopefully it won’t disappoint.
I'm almost done with the first book and if they can put that proton unfolding thing into space in a stable orbit how can they not predict or put their planet into a stable orbit??? Also if they have the listening stations why couldn't they just build bigger ones and keep people working?? That's how we beat the elements
"I don't know how to address those people, but they exist."
As consistently great as your content is, this might be the best thing I've ever heard on this channel.
The scifi im writing is trying to do both. Wish me luck in succeeding bc i want to talk about the ideas in depth and the consequences of different tech but i want my characters to be super interesting and real as well
Examining if the human race is worth saving is a concept a love reading about because personally I think the human race is disgusting. You’ve totally convinced me to move this up on my TBR!
Very late reply, but did you read the books, and if so, how was this theme handled? I too have a great disgust for the human race, and I don’t want to experience another series where the final message is this “we sure have a lot to learn, but humankind is still truly amazing!” nonsense. Would you recommend it or not?
Its crazy youre reviewing this book. I started looking for books to read when my interest in reading was rekindled about a year ago. I found your videos and started reading fantasy again, and eventually scifi and this book. This book went off like a bomb in my head. I love how challenging it is, i love experiencing a completely new and different culture while also trying to keep up with the really hard science. The philosophical aspects are just... Amazing. Stuff you can think about for weeks. I am so glad you gave this book a video. Theres so much to find in this book other than a alien invasion. Thanks for your reciews and getting me excited about reading again.
I agree. While technically the book is about an alien invasion, it's so much more. It's more about the Universe and why we are here, and is there a point to anything or everything. Extremely thought-provoking. The politics of the cultural revolution, while interesting, were just a smokescreen for the real plot of the stories.
This is the only book I’ve read that I would die to be able to read it again from zero for the first time.
It’s sooooo good and mindblowing
I´m 2 or 3 chapters away from finishing this book. And it´s amazing. I think you are absolutley right when you say that the book makes you question things and makes you think the difficult questions and that should be the purpose of all art, and when you say that people don´t want to read it becaus it makes us think of difficult issues it just makes me feel like mike evans does.
You need to read Iain M Banks. His Culture novels are some of the best space opera stories out there. His characters are strong, as well as containing amazing world building and brilliant plotting.
This! Banks is amazing!
They vary though. The best Culture novels are amazing but some of the latter ones are weaker and too wordy.
@@hagenlala6409 I personally think the later ones are under appreciated. Matter, for instance, is definitely in my top 3.
@@Witty_Jackson I really like the later ones too.
@@Witty_Jackson That's funny. I didn't like Matter at all. Surface Detail, on the other hand, was pretty good so maybe I was out of line above. Nevertheless, I think the earlier novel do have a bit higher quality.
Classic Science fiction did not develp chharacters a lot because the READER is the character. When I was a boy, I was on the spaceship with HAL - I was Dave. I am more concerned about the great ideas and problem-solving than the love life of the characters. If I want characters, I read Pride and Prejudice.
Interesting talk about classic sci-fi, I loved The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein, and I’m definitely going to check Cixin Liu out!
Thank you! I stopped at 2:22, because that was enough for me to know I wanted to read this book next
Daniel,
- I need you to review the next two books in this trilogy like yesterday. They will terrify your soul and instantly make your top series of all time.
Pls & TY
i can attest to that
I also read a lot more fantasy as well, because a lot of the science fiction that I would read had difficulties creating things that made sense scientifically. However, when I read (well listened) to the 3 body problem it was incredibly realistic. Sadly, by the time I finished Death's End, I still loved the books but it did change my world view to the point that I was frankly a bit depressed. In fact, I try not to think about the book, and when I go back to fantasy books, they seem to lose a lot of significance.
Can’t wait to read LIu’s new book! I love this one, such a mind blowing one! This is the best scientific fiction
I just checked my goodreads review from last September and it's basically identical to yours. I even ended it with "I definitely want to continue the series, just not right away." This video actually made me want to continue soon.
I think the cold character is actualy Cixin Liu himself. He is not a typical writer per se. He somewhat talks like an engineer.
He is an AI sent by aliens.
He actually was an engineer working in a dam when he wrote this book.
I started with Cixin Liu’s short story novel The Wandering Earth and I felt the same way about characters in that. I ultimately felt that it was just down to cultural differences as well. The range of emotions were not as polarizing a range as you’d see in books by North American or UK based writers. But there were a lot of short stories in it that did what you described and made you think about things afterward. It was great! And I can’t wait to read Three Body Problem. It’s been on my TBR ever since I read The Wandering Earth.
I tried to enjoy the movie, like the novel, but had to quit after 10 minutes. A shame, I seem to be missing on a lot, in both cases.
Casey090 oh yeah! I forgot about the movie. I read it was coming to Netflix last year and totally forgot to check it out. It wasn’t any good?
@@adri2663 It was the same as with the book. Praised by everyone, but just not fun to watch/read, at least for me. It is a strange kind of soft scifi, and the main characters behave like big children... I could not watch it for more than 10 minutes.
How do you feel about space opera books in the sci fi genre like Hyperion?
The first book is an awesome stepping stone for an epic trilogy.
If you prefer a story with a good plot, the dark forest is the best. If you prefer a story with a painfuly deep lesson, death's end is just the best.
Oh man, wait til you read books 2 and 3. He really takes those ideas to mind-blowing places. The trilogy as a whole is an absolute masterpiece.
That early scene when the CMBR winks back is cosmic horror on a level HP Lovecraft could only have dreamed of.
The best hard SciFi I ever read. It just blew my mind.
Just finished the first book. I never really got horror as a genre, but spooky physics? Sign me up. I'm scared and I like it.
One thing that I loved and was surprised by was the amount of female characters whose feminity was relevant to their experiences but not central or sexualised. 10/10 female representation.
I'm Chinese and I have so far read the first book. About the cold character problem, I definitely felt the characters are "cold". I would say it's not a social norm, Chinese people are very much not cold lmao. My guess is it's just because they are in such a special time and everyone is experiencing so much supernatural and unfamiliar stuff. Also, some of the characters are just portrayed as cold people.
球状闪电也不错
Daniel, my dude, you're giving me financial problems by adding to my book buying list. 10 since we found you a few days ago...we already have 2000 physical books man...AND I NEED MOAAAR. More sci fi reviews please.
The trilogy is among the finest, more intelectually interesting sci fi of the last decade.
Plz finish the series! It's the best sci-fi I have ever read
Most SF master piece: A tiny pearl buried in a Jewelry Box.
Three Body series: A full carton box of pearls.
I am SO, SO happy you liked this Daniel! Since I saw one of your old videos on scifi I've been hoping you'd run across the three body problem!!
And just you wait, the next two books it the series are arguably even better, and certainly MORE.
- Wallfacer Dumas
Wallfacer Dumas, I am your Wallbreaker!!!
If you're willing to go comics, "The Eternaut" by HG Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López is an Argentinian classic about Alien Invasion and surviving the apocalypse (and fighting no matter what). Great Read.
Oh Daniel my dear.... my TBR is already a precariously leaning tower ( in some cases literally), and you always persist in adding to that structure. Love to see you making progress on your own massive TBR man. This is the first three body problem review that’s really tempted me to read the book.
Have you read “the Hyperion Cantos” series by Dan Simmons? Fantastic sci fi with memorable characters mixed with hard sci fi ideas for days. A modern continuation and evolution of classic Sci fi. 👍
Omg one of my absolute favorites!
I really hope you make it through the trilogy. he just keeps raising the bar exponentially at each twist and turn.
I am Chinese and I’m sure that the character thing is not a cultural reason, there are Chinese literature that highly concentrate on character development( actually most of the mainstream Chinese literature do ) this is just Cixin Liu’s writing style, if you could check out some of his interviews, he actually said that the character in his story is merely tools to interpret the sci-fi concept, but he said he didn’t think it’s the best way of writing and he wanted to improve that
This type of alien invasion tale is much better than the usual "Independence Day" or "Battle of LA" type of crap.
Yeah but it's just a different type of crap its just a bunch of leftists wanting the aliens to kill off our race
@@wisdomfox857oh just shut up
I just finished a (I guess you would call it) "modern sci-fi" called Lockstep by Karl Schroeder. It was actually super good, I finished it in like 3 sittings. It gave me some hardcore Voyager vibes.
Well, you've sold me on this book. I've pondered a lot on whether humanity is worth keeping around or if we are a detriment. I'm excited to see a study of the idea. Thank you for all your hard work, you are amazing ^_^
You should read it. Before I read it I often mused as to whether or not humanity had a purpose or are all living things on the earth about as useful as mold growing on an orange. Incidentally, I am not sure that the book answers that question, but it tries it's best to show how humanity would react to the situation.
The scary part is how people have so many secrets, its almost impossible to trust anyone. Also, the events in the story seem so tied with real life I feel like this may actually happen someday
“You’re all Bugs” was the most haunting line of this book. Gave me a shiver when I read it.
What makes me angry about this book and also its coming netflix adaption: It's always described as "a science fiction story about first contact with aliens" etc. In my opinion, that's a huge ass spoiler though.
edit: You mentioned this at 3:58. That's what I mean. I would have enjoyed the book even more, had I not known that it's about an alien invasion.
Yeah. Basically ruin's the main reveal.
I have read all science fictions of Cixin Liu,and other fictions of him r also amazing.
I love TBP, Ball Lightning, and his short stories.
We call him Big Liu
The problem with the theme that some SF puts forth is, "Science vs. Religion/Faith/Anti-Science/etc" is not as relevant as many would have people believe. Most people (with some notable exceptions) believe in SCIENCE in general. But the idea that SCIENCE is one big unified TRUTH is not accurate. My wife is a scientist (an actual work-in-a-lab, do biological experiments, get published in scientific journals scientist). And one thing that I've found being a part of that world is that most scientific issues do NOT have a consensus. I know that is hard for a lot of people to believe, because we are hit hard with the idea that if someone doesn't hold to what many scientists say, they are some ignorant backwoods religious zealots. But if you look deeper, you'll find that often there are many other scientists that view that particular scientific topic in a different way than the first set (either they got different results, or they INTERPRETED the results differently). Many of our scientist friends talk about the common 60/40 split (sometimes 70/30), where if 60 % of scientists tend towards a certain conclusion, it is often passed off as a consensus. But if you see how scientific conclusions have evolved over time, you'll see that often the "consensus" is overturned years later as new evidence is discovered or REinterpreted. We are even seeing some of that with this current virus, as there are several camps with different ideas on how this virus evolved, how to "cure" the virus, how to prevent it's spread, etc.... In the same way that while most scientists agree that our climate IS changing, they differ vastly on what the biggest causes are, how to stop it, how it will effect us, etc...
I guess my point is that I hope this book isn't presenting the theme as "SCIENCE vs ANTI-Science". It would be great if there were a SF book out there that tackled the more relevant idea of how we reconcile various different scientific interpretations of the same evidence and merge our differing scientific views to better mankind. Just my 2 cents....
Eddy A Eddy A I have trouble separating themes in the first book from in the later books, but I can confirm that the series as a whole does not approach the world as science v anti-science. My interpretation of the theme was that science is the way forward for humanity as a whole, and we as part of human society, should invest more in scientific advancement/research. Also, that means the focus is not that science is truth, rather that we should continue to pursue scientific discoveries as a means of benefitting society/humanity.
Sure there may not be a consensus on the topic, there are arguments for and against the current understanding of how gravity works (General relativity vs MOND), how COVID evolved or should be cured, life emerged, how the climate, or our brain or mind works, etc.
But the vast majority of scientists do not think the Earth if flat. The vast majority of them do not think Evolution is a hoax, or vaccines cause autism, or the virus is just a flu, or some crazy shit like that.
Disagreement in science is not the same thing as anti-science by conspiracy theorists. Scientific answers may not be written in stone, but there are answers which we definitely know are wrong.
@@nikolatasev4948 I agree that some things have a general consensus among scientists. But the point I was trying to make, being a part of that world, is that the average person would be AMAZED at how few things there is consensus about. Even many things that the average person THINKS are common scientific fact, are often still highly debated (amongst legitimate scientists.... I am NOT including fringe pseudoscience when I use the term "Scientist"). And I wish more people would understand this and realize exactly how little we actually know about the world around us (And I would use what has been evolving over the past 5 months with the Virus as an microcosm of this.... Many studies have been released stating definitively how it effects kids, or how it spreads (airborne vs droplets), or how is the most at risk, or how long it can live on certain surfaces, etc.... but then new studies come out and completely debunk those things. Another example is how for decades medical science said that smoking was good for us. It cleared the airways, and helped us in various different ways. Our understanding of Science is always evolving. And if you study the history of science, you will find that very few things we take for granted are not still being studied and debated among scientists)
PS - I am in no way justifying idiotic "pseudoscience".
1. How would humanity react to the existence of an extraterrestrial civilization ?
2. If there are many civilizations in space, why haven't we met them yet ? Is contact between different civilizations possible ?
3. What impact did civilizations have on the universe ? Are the laws of physics universal ?
Overall : should humanity go to space and is there any place for their morality there ?
these books blew my mind, I especially loved the Dark Forest, book 2!
Love your video reviews! Awesome job. I’m a regular listener.
I loved the book and read all 3. I found them to be very interesting and ,like you said, full of topics and themes that you don't normally see in media (even on sci-fi).
***Spolier***
However, I found it to be very optimistic, cause even thou mankind is outmatched, (it's basically an ant colony vs the US Army, humanity being the ants) they find a way to survive. Yeah, they never achieved a total victory like in Independence Day or those kind of movies, but even when all feels lost and all solutions are exhausted, they seem to find a way, the best example of this is the ending of the second book. I hope more people read the book cause that kind optimism is rare nowadays and consequently people might have a more cynical view of the world. This 3 books can be a cure for that for sure!
I was actually trying to search this book a few days ago because I remember you mentioned it in a fantasy (sci-fi) news episode a while back. I held off on buying it because I was unsure if I'd found the right one, but now I can go ahead and order it. Thanks!
Who are here after watching the Netflix series?
@@NischalManandhar I haven't watch yet since I have started reading this before the series released.
Watched it a few months ago.
If you want some hard Sci Fi in the vein of Asimov/Clarke I can wholeheartedly recommend Alastair Reynolds
Zima Blue and other stories is a good jumping off point via short stories, I particularly love House of Suns and Pushing Ice as standalone novels
His big project is the Revelation Space universe, Starting with either Revelation Space or The Prefect is recommended!
As a sci-fi (and fantasy) lover, you must read Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It is a sci-fantasy retelling of The Canterbury Tales, and it's largely considered to be one of the greatest sci-fi works of all time.
Love Hyperion! Got me into sci fi. To be fair I read Olympos first and was a bit bemused
When it came to TTBP, I really enjoyed the mystery and how the story was neatly wrapped. But I soon came to realize that TTBP is just the introduction to a greater series when I read TDF. The books cosmic feeling created a terror for the unknown that inspires me and my art. In the final book that goes deeper, and when I finish(HALFWAY through) I will make sure to update this.
Sn: don’t hold me on that, I probably won’t.