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metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Colonisation, and War
kamela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
In the beginning, I almost put it down because of how brutal the opening scenes in the Cultural Revolution were. If it had gone on much longer, I wasn't going to be able to deal with it - I didn't want to spend all that time in a world where these intensely violent and head-twisting things were being depicted one after the other. But it did cause me to feel attached to Ye Wenjie, and I was quite disappointed when the rest of the book didn't focus on her. Her every appearance in the book added intrigue and pathos, but I truly wish Liu had made her the protagonist, to the extent this book has one.
Because honestly...it really doesn't. It mostly has a bunch of characters whose purpose it is to react to huge, physics-related happenings that are difficult to feel much about. There's an incredible underlying thread here, about the way systematic brutality and having your mind beaten down repeatedly
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicide, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail
uranaishi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This Hugo Award Winner is truly unique(for me, as a sporadic Sci-Fi reader >..>) and beautifully written!
We follow Wang Miao -an nanomaterial engineer- as he tries to figure out why scientist and physicists alike die under mysterious circumstances. He gets wrapped up in the strange game named The Three-Body Problem;he tries and mostly fails to work with an insufferable cop named Shi Qiang and visits Mrs. Ye Wenjie to find confort from her daughter's inexplicable passing. >..>
Content Warning: suicide off-page; suicidal thoughts; murder of an individual in moderate detail; harmful political agendas and actions on page; examples of re-education on page!; sensitive content regarding religion and belief (for those of you sensitive to atheism and )
This novel is complex blend of genre: obviously we have science fiction, but elements of historical fiction and thriller get the spotlight regularly here! ^^
I really enjoyed how Liu Cixin started this novel. I feel we needed to understand Ye Wenjie and the other scientist who went through the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1950's and 60's, in order to see why The Three-Body Problem(the game referred in the book) became what it is today AND to get an idea why China's elite is so behind in specific research areas.
Wang Miao was a good protagonist...not great, not bad...good. He was a vessel for us to interact with this alternate reality; and I must confess...I didn't care why he was soooo moved by Ye Wenjie daughter's passing...after all his life is separate from them up until he is requested to join the investigation. On the other hand...his banter with Da Shi was GREAT!!!!!>..< I thought I will HATE Da Shi after 50 pages...but Oh boy was I wrong...in the end I think my favorite interaction of this novel are between Miao and Shi Qiang :)
In order to address some words to the women in this book..I don't know if the author preferred to write them in this way specifically to avoid a bad representation, or if he had a greater scope...but ALL WOMEN are depicted as unfeeling...robotic and incapable of surpassing their childhood trauma.(they have an engraved rage onto their soul, a hunger for ultimate justice 0_0) Maybe this is why I gave only 4 stars to the book...I get why some characters needed their anger at the world and complete lack of sympathy for the human condition in general in order to take the actions they did..but characters like Shen Yufei don't have a reason to be so detached.
Speaking of Yufei...her husband Wei Cheng was intriguing to say the least...and his role in the story!!!0_0..hope to see him in future books!!! >..>
Another great part: Trisolaris...the chapter dedicated to it....amazing! I especially loved how the author choose to mirror an earlier section. That time one soul pressed with trembling fingers a button of doom, while this time...an alien went against his very nature!^_^ Hope to see listener from station 1379 again!!!
Regarding plot: I feel this was a great start for what it tried to be...the mathematical problem of the Three-Bodies is greatly explored here not only with action and suspense, but with hard and cold physics (we get through a clever plot device multiple tries to solve this well-known dilemma in the world of mathematics! ^^ I truly loved the civilisations and the minds the game used, so that our protagonist is guided in the direction they needed him to go ). All these are mixed in with the investigation, Miao's slow descent into madness and Ye Wenjie's story. I cannot wait to read the next book! ^^
Overall, the atmosphere is more of a thriller (Miao is tormented to find out the truth while also bizarrely attracted to the unique game he accidentally discovered) with elements of hard sci-fi mixed with subtle anti-propaganda messages.^^
You'll definitely want to find out what happens; who's behind all the murders and suicides and how all these connect with this random characters >..>; all the while waiting with baited breath for the moment the aliens make first contact! 0_0
In my opinion, this book also has un underling message regarding the Chinese communism and the harmful actions it had on the scientific community over time, but don't take my word on it. After all, I'm just an outsider reading a sci-fi :)
In the end, I highly recommend you give this a try if you enjoy hard sci-fi with thriller elements!!! >..>
Enjoy
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
nsn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Classism
Moderate: Gore and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicide and Murder
becksusername's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
katrinarose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Torture, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting