Three Body Problem

[karanguni]

Just wrapped up Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem and that was a bloody fine read. Some really good, thought-provoking bits and baubles of physics – theoretical and applied! – and some of the finest damned description of multi-dimensional thinking I've ever read packed into delicious historical context with lots of sideways look at the progression of science as a social phenomenon. In a sci-fi book! In a sci-fi book! I haven't enjoyed myself this much in ages.

Going to pick up the second book now, and just unwind. It's been a long-ass 2016 already, but... Not bad. Busy, but not bad. Not doing too good on my original/fic writing resolutions, but work is going – well. I can't really internet anymore because I'm so tired coming back from the job, but I think it'll start to... burn in.

I still want to get more social goals fulfilled, but for now? This is... all right. It's been a while since life was... all right.

Comments

[sarasa_cat]

Just took a look at this on amazon. I am in need of a fine read that mixes enjoyable escapism with thinky thoughts *and* I am on semi-vacation for the next two weeks, starting now.

[beatrice_otter]

I tried to read it and bounced off it HARD. Well before I actually got into any of the science bits. The history was kind of interesting, but the characters in the first bit--I couldn't make myself care about them (and I tried), and there was too much random jumping of location and characters, none of which I could get at all interested in, and I was genuinely trying, because I'd heard such good things about it. Then we got into the present-day section, and the detective guy is investigating those scientist deaths or whatever, and none of the motivations they were coming up with made ANY sense or had ANY relation to any scientist or researcher I've ever known, studied, or heard of. I mean, the earlier characters might not have appealed to me, but at least I understood who they were and why they did what they did. At that point, I figured that I'd read enough of it to be able to tell that the things that bugged me were getting worse not better, and so I gave up.

Which was disappointing! I wanted to get to the physics!

[extrapenguin]

I read all of it, though it was a struggle. I disliked all the characters, and spent all of the Trisolaris bits going NO ORBITAL MECHANICS DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY. (Also, they were solving a four-body problem; the planet counts as a body!)

Though I've also heard that the translation is a mess. Apparently the translator changed the order of some chapters and mistranslated some stuff; Melannen's DW had a few comments on it back when she was going through the voting list of the last Hugos.