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A review by roz1ta
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The last 150 pages or so of this book I found to be a slog in a way I felt the rest of the book wasn't - pretty much entirely due to the scientific explanations that felt indulgent and didn't help further my understanding.
I found this book baffling and a bit strange to be in at times.
The secretive military operations and facilities were my favourite aspect, and gave a tangible representation of how important the work they were doing was. The cumulative effect of the mystery of the numbers appearing in the protagonist’s vision, the suicides, the other protagonist’s past, and Shi Qiang, was deeply fascinating.
The past and present switching gave the book, world, characters implications - its best trait.
The characters are strange as they just feel like people, but not overly realistic, and a bit samey due to the intertwined roles they play. I was fond of them despite this. The grandiose everything else of the book is made better by the modest characters.
The Three Body Problem game itself was very disorientating to be in, and I found those sections to be a bit extraneous, but once they were recontextualised by the ending, I was thankful for both the fact that it had served its function and the fact it was done.
It is promising, and a great set up for what I anticipate to be an excellent series. The ending was potent and imbued in me the hype I'd felt intermittently throughout the book, after that strange, out of character stretch of being less riveted - but I feel a lot of that is my fault and not the story’s. This book feels like reading an important government document that, when the effects of it accumulate, will be life changing.
I found this book baffling and a bit strange to be in at times.
The secretive military operations and facilities were my favourite aspect, and gave a tangible representation of how important the work they were doing was. The cumulative effect of the mystery of the numbers appearing in the protagonist’s vision, the suicides, the other protagonist’s past, and Shi Qiang, was deeply fascinating.
The past and present switching gave the book, world, characters implications - its best trait.
The characters are strange as they just feel like people, but not overly realistic, and a bit samey due to the intertwined roles they play. I was fond of them despite this. The grandiose everything else of the book is made better by the modest characters.
The Three Body Problem game itself was very disorientating to be in, and I found those sections to be a bit extraneous, but once they were recontextualised by the ending, I was thankful for both the fact that it had served its function and the fact it was done.
It is promising, and a great set up for what I anticipate to be an excellent series. The ending was potent and imbued in me the hype I'd felt intermittently throughout the book, after that strange, out of character stretch of being less riveted - but I feel a lot of that is my fault and not the story’s. This book feels like reading an important government document that, when the effects of it accumulate, will be life changing.