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A review by robotowilliam
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
2.0
It was a very interesting book. Reading fiction by a Chinese author is a new experience, and its setting and characters were different to anything else I've read. I had a bit of a hard time understanding the context of the characters lives, as someone who isn't very knowledgeable (or interested, really) in history and sociology.
My main gripe, however, is that the whole book felt like reading an article about a historical situation and that ultimately there wasn't, really, any plot. It felt kinda like a prequel, I guess, in which the actual story is the thing which follows and this is just an expanded account of the background.
Also, the whole thing is called "The Three-Body Problem" when that element could literally be replaced by any random contrivance or, honestly, none at all. Do we need to know why the aliens want to conquer Earth?
Anyway, after a great deal of time reading the setup for the story, I shall now soldier on and read the next book which hopefully contains the actual story.
My main gripe, however, is that the whole book felt like reading an article about a historical situation and that ultimately there wasn't, really, any plot. It felt kinda like a prequel, I guess, in which the actual story is the thing which follows and this is just an expanded account of the background.
Also, the whole thing is called "The Three-Body Problem" when that element could literally be replaced by any random contrivance or, honestly, none at all. Do we need to know why the aliens want to conquer Earth?
Anyway, after a great deal of time reading the setup for the story, I shall now soldier on and read the next book which hopefully contains the actual story.