三体（三部曲）-sci fi, 刘慈欣

[zhxlier]

I see you guys discussed 球状闪电 before. Well, this is by the same author 刘慈欣。The last book of this trilogy is published last month (or this month?). I am never a sci fi reader but my husband talked me into reading this - and it's worth it. People seem to regard the trilogy as the best Chinese science fiction so far. So you science fiction fans, check it out.

三体：http://www.kehuan.net.cn/book/santi/

三体II 黑暗森林：http://d.ream.at/wp-content/share/3bodyii.pdf

三体III 死神永生：you probably should buy the book. If you can't, there's a scanned PDF version (emule): http://www.verycd.com/topics/2868145/

Please be warned that the trilogy is not politically correct.

[Gleaves]

Thanks. I think some other folks here have read 三体 as well.

I am reading 流浪地球 right now, a book of short stories by the same author, 刘慈欣. I find the Chinese in some of the stories very tough/technical at times. How tough are the 三体 books? I plan to read them sooner or later, especially since the trilogy is now complete.

[Outofin]

Just finished book 1. It's very gripping and easy to read. It won't take more than one weekend to read.

The story started in Cultural Revolution. A girl's father died. She went to Northeast for re-education... It's depressing and un-cool, isn't it? But she soon discovered a military base in nearby mountain that was obviously doing some top secret project. The story then jumps to the present time...

I don't have much experience with sci-fi. To me, the book has many creepy ideas that I could never imagine. It's a fantastic material for making a trilogy film. But I don't think Chinese film industry is ready to tackle needed special effects yet. Doomsday of a planet, war between civilizations, I think it could one of the best when the story is shown on a big screen.

[zhwj]

The story started in Cultural Revolution

There are two versions in circulation online. Three Body I was originally serialized in Science Fiction World, and the Cultural Revolution content was put first to get it out of the way (it was the 30th anniversary of the CR). The standalone edition is better-paced, with an opening that throws the main characters directly into the weird physics problems that drive the rest of the story, and the CR scenes are included later in flashback.

[Outofin]

There are two versions in circulation online.

I didn't know that. The beginning of the original version sucks. I thought I was reading a wrong book, until the big radar appeared, which made me feel "here we go".

I think Chinese sci-fi, to my very limited experience, are often based off some real scientific theories, and then vigorously exaggerated and distorted. I hope the author can add some love stories. My favorite is Robotech (the very old trilogy from the 1980s). That's absolutely epic.

I'll start book 2 next weekend. Having read book 1, I think joining a cult is really cool. Any recommendation?

[Outofin]

Book 2 is very slow. It no longer feels like a sci-fi, but a soc-fi (societal fiction). I feel bored and I think I'll give up reading it.

[zhwj]

The trilogy expands in scope with each volume, and the amount of back-story Liu has to deal with increases to match. The story in the second volume has a more abstract goal, making it less of a thriller, but at least for me the pacing didn't flag too much -- there are a few judiciously-placed hibernations to accelerate the narrative, and I'm a fan of sociological SF over the hardcore stuff anyway.

In the third volume, Liu resorts to a Galactic Encyclopedia-style infodump, interrupting the narrative proper with excerpts from some future history of the events. He's spoken about this issue, and while I understand the problems with other approaches, it's not an entirely satisfying solution. I'm halfway through, and the story's finally begun to pick up speed.

[skylee]

The novel has just got the Hugo Award. Not the first choice, though.

http://www.thehugoawards.org/2015/04/two-finalists-withdraw-from-2015-hugo-awards/

[Walkerfly]

I've read the trilogy for abt three times, one of my favorite science fiction books, especially book 3. I think 刘慈欣 follows many classical science fiction elements, and also has his own imaginations, themes and emotions, mostly based on the Chinese history, culture and environment. Will read it again, and now I m reading Spin 

[Geiko]

The translation into Spanish of 三體 is going to be published by the end of the month, and next 17th October 劉慈欣 will be in Barcelona signing books! I've already bought the trilogy in Chinese, l'm not a huge SF fan, but books signed by their writer are cool Anybody wants to join?

Link in Spanish: http://novalibros.com/2016/09/sesion-firmas-cixin-liu-gigamesh-barcelona/

Facebook event: https://m.facebook.com/events/276784596039428/

[WKC]

Fascinating.  I love things that are not politically correct.

[Geiko]

And I finally got my autograph the queue for the book signing was longer than I would've expected, he didn't have much time to talk to people, but it was fun.

[skylee]

That is nice.

[Lu]

Geiko that is awesome. I've been trying to interest Dutch publishers, but no luck so far (also I got busy with other projects and haven't taken any action lately). I think Dutch scifi readers tend to just read the English edition when they want to read something.