25 October, 2024 | keystroke
The Three-Body Problem is a science fiction novel originally released in China by Liu Cixin before being translated to English by Ken Liu. It features multiple storylines taking place at different points in time; one with a disgraced astrophysicist after the Chinese Cultural Revolution and one with a nanotechnology professor seeking to uncover a conspiracy.
The foreword present in the copy I have was slightly off-putting, as it espouses that humanity should direct lots of its resources to space defence in case first contact was established. I kind of think that we should address the problems we actually know we have first before starting an arms race against an enemy we don’t know exists. It’s clear that the future in Liu’s novel is drawn from this belief, and the book sometimes comes off as an exercise in justifying it.
The novel opens during the throes of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and during this part of the book it is difficult to tell which parts are actually based in history, which parts are extrapolated from historical events, and which parts are completely made up. Without having studied Chinese history I found this confusing, however it ceases to be a problem past the first couple of chapters situated in the past.
When I received this book it was due to its status as a staple in the hard sci-fi genre. I can’t say I have a great amount of experience in the genre, but I consider The Martian and Andy Weir’s other books some of my favourite of all time. The Three-Body Problem felt nothing like that, the science is so advanced and theoretical it feels like it becomes closer to philosophy. The vibe it gave me was closer to Neon Genesis Evangelion than other sci-fi books I’ve read.
Despite this, at times it is very grounded in reality. The characters feel extreme but still real and anyone who is familiar with Posadism will recognise how some of the beliefs in this novel can appear.
Even though some nagging issues dominate this review (sorry), I nevertheless found The Three-Body Problem compelling enough to read through in the course of a couple of days. At its core it has a mystery with a strong through-line and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the philosophy behind science and how it can be taken to extremes in this fictional setting.
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