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The Three-Body Problem is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The book is the first in the trilogy with the same name. Though the storyline is intertwined with events from different eras, for the sake of describing the plot briefly, I will start chronologically. The story first takes place in the backdrop of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During the revolution, novel, especially western ideas such as the relativity theory are rejected by the Chinese government, and those who clung to the ideas are persecuted. Disappointed in human nature seen in the revolution, Ye Wenjie, one of the protagonists of the novel, sends a signal to the universe to ask for intervention from an extraterrestrial civilization. The message is intercepted by the Trisolaris civilization located in Alpha Centaur Galaxy, the closest galaxy from Earth. The civilization was suffering from, as the book name suggests, the three-body problem, where the trajectories of the three suns in its galaxy are unpredictable and constantly threaten to destroy the civilization. Noticing Earth as a habitable place from the signal, the Trilosaris begins to invade Earth; however, only getting to Earth would take four hundred years. Meanwhile, on Earth, different groups start forming, planning to either help the Trilosaris take over a world seen as corrupt or to fight against the invasion.

The Three-Body Problem has so far been my all-time favorite science fiction. One of my favorite things about the book is the ingenious plot idea and the logical hypothesis of the cosmic civilization. The valuable thing is that the author's ideas have a strong reasoning logic and convincing realistic meaning, not just a pie-in-the-sky work. Though I am not an expert astrophysicist, personally, I think that some of the ideas even have realistic reference value for human exploration of outer space and extraterrestrial civilization. From this point of view, I believe Liu Cixin is not just writing a mere novel but is using science fiction to express his ultimate thinking about human beings, about society, about the universe, about the relationship between cosmic civilizations, and even about the meaning of our exploration of the universe today. This also brings me to my second point. Unlike many other science fictions, The Three-Body Problem, besides its epic and vast plot, presents a discussion of deep humanistic views as well as many heavy issues such as morality, ideals, and religion intersperced within. This is evidently seen in the various responses to alien invasion, which I will leave to the readers to explore. 

While Liu Cixin has been critiqued for the lack of character development in his works, which I think is true, I have to also argue that the role of the protagonists in the book serves more as an observer of the extensive plot Liu creates; including too much about the individual character would be a distraction from that focus.

The first of the trilogy, the book focuses more on setting the scene that will be expanded much more in the second and third part of the trilogy, which I also recommend. The book is also significant as the first English-translated Chinese science fiction. For the lovers of science fiction, this book is definitely worth your time. Though for those who have never read science fiction, reading this book does require some conceptual knowledge of astronomy and physics; however, I don’t think they are abstract to the point of incomprehensible. Additionally, with the aid of footnotes, which should be in most editions, it should not be difficult to understand the concepts referred to in the book. Since part of the story plays out in the backdrop of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the readers might be puzzled at first at the setting of the novel. But again, with the aid of footnotes and clear writing in the book, it should be easy to understand.

Check out The Three Body Problem from the Newport Beach Public Library.