#the remembrance of earth trilogy

[gretchenzellerbarnes]

i get that 3 body problem is pretty fuckin' bleak (novels and netflix series alike) and there are all these different factions of humanity based on how they want to solve the problem of an alien race travelling 400+ years in space to exterminate us all but. my dude. my pal. my sibling in christ. where. are the monsterfuckers?

[book-quotes-and-moodboards]

One night, Ye was working the night shift. This was the loneliest time. In the deep silence of midnight, the universe revealed itself to its listeners as a vast desolation.

The Three-Body Problem (by Cixin Liu)

[interstate40]

losing my absolute fucking gourd over Death's End and I'm only 200 pages in

[glitteringdreamscapes]

since i finished reading the remembrance of earth's past series all i want to do is draw eyeballs in space

[tenrose]

I hate it when a book is fascinating and I have to stop reading to do things like being a reasonable adult who work 🙄

[floofhips]

Trisolaran biology :] from the "remembrance of earth's past" trilogy by cixin liu

[matt00794]

so I finished watching the netflix three body problem show over the weekend, I've only read the first two books so far so this is from the point of view of a partial book reader. That and coming from the point of view of a book fan who thought d&d did a horrible job of adapting a song of ice and fire into the GOT show. While it had some great moments through out and some changes did make for a better viewing experience over all I think they were just so interested in the big moments and made changes to make things easier for them rather than what narratively and thematically worked for the characters and the series as a whole.

The remembrance of earth's past trilogy unlike asoiaf series is not character focused at all each book has new characters each book, while there is cross over of characters its not like huge expansive character arcs. The series is far more interested in the science and the ideas being expressed. the science is complicated and the books take their time to explain them so that a non science person can understand them in a full more complex way.

This show on the other hand is far more interested in these characters they create called the oxford 5. These characters are meant to be the protagonists of the different books in the series. The issue is that to develop them and their relationships we are focused more on them than the actual plot of the show and the science of what's going on. I have no idea what they will do with book 2 seeing how crazy and different that book is than book 1. it has so much going on and there isn't much time to explore other characters that aren't in that book itself unless they want to cut storylines.

Another issue to bring up is changing it from China to England. I saw an interview where they said they talked with them and he said to make it they probably would have to make it a more global story and change the genders of some characters. While I don't have any issue with that but they do keep one character Chinese and they really change her and her story despite it being the start of the whole series. She's no longer the character she was in the book. The books are rather bleak and look at this whole situation as dark and scary. This show is more interested in compassion and love which is fine but why adapt this series then.

I've seen a lot of praise for this series so i'm in the minority here so I have to imagine we will get the rest of the series and there's some crazy moments I'll be interested to see how they do. I'm going to read the third book then watch the Chinese show which is apparently more book accurate but lower budget.

[fff777]

watched renjun and jisung talking about aliens on look at science!

based on the previews, they are getting DEEP into scifi which i am really excited about. ever since i finished reading the remembrance of earth's past trilogy by liu cixin (aka the three body problem trilogy) i've been thinking a lot more about space and humanity (whereas it used to be a topic that i avoided because it freaked me out lol). and i'm also reading the children of time by adrian tchaikovsky which discusses similar themes of humanity in space and such. anyway i am excited to see what discussions this group gets up to!

wow we have a few scientists on the panel. other than the host jung youngjin, we have an astronomer ji woongbae, a physicist kim beomjun, and a biologist/astrobiologist kim eungbin. i'm really excited haha. i'm such a nerd.

aw the scientists are so earnest, kim eungbin studied up on nct before this show.

aw they're discussing renjun's chinese name. i wonder if this is a topic that would be more popular among an older audience :P

spacemates <3

deep thinkers :3

aw jisung is a fan of the show!

oh you little cornball <3

first topic: do aliens exist?

yo jisung is getting DEEP. so he thinks there is other life in the universe, but humanity as a whole may not be able to interact with them by the time humanity even comes to an end.

the host jung youngjin is doing a lot of the facilitating which makes sense seeing as how he seems like a pretty easygoing speaker.

renjun's theory on aliens is that it probably won't be something we can really fathom because humans' impressions of things, and humans' imagination is based on what we know on this earth.

jisung is a fan :3

ji woongbae thinks that renjun and jisung have really deep thoughts about their theories haha. kim beomjun said that jisung and renjun have probably thought about this before.

it seems to me that renjun is more interested in the social aspect of science and science fiction which i think matches his personality

kim eungbin brings up a good point, he mentions that life forms might not exist at the same time as us. so maybe a civilization existed somewhere else, but billions of years before or after humanity has run its course. which also falls into the 'not being able to interact with them' theory that jisung was talking about.

jung youngjin @ scientists: ...y'all are sus

lawki = life as we know it

lawdki = llife as we don't know it

this is really interesting, because i guess the concept of lawdki implies that life exists in ways different to what we know on earth which is creatures who breathe, eat, consume energy, etc. but perhaps there is a kind of extraterrestrial who is sentient but shares nothing else in common with life on earth.

i went back into boda's channel and i noticed that the older videos don't have english subtitles. i wonder if they knew they'd get a large audience for this video and that's why they added subtitles lol.

second topic: is there a star you want to go to?

i looked up starwalk and it looks like it's a stargazing guide

jisung doesn't want to go to a planet with no oxygen or water ^^;;

jung youngjin: would you go to mars?

jisung: yes, definitely

jung youngjin: even if you couldn't come back?

rensung: !!!

jisung said he'd go to mars when he's 40...so he'll spend his youth here on earth i guess XD where the fun things are XD

taking a page out of mark's book (it's only just begun etc. etc.)

kim eungbin said jisung's a philosopher lol

renjun said he'd go to mars too :o i actually didn't expect that

LOL do it for the gram

i get what he means though, it'd be one of the most unique human experiences ever, going to mars as a human

i am with you my guy

moving the discussion on to earth-like planets in the universe. they exist, but of course they are all too far.

learning that it'll take 100,000 years go to go the closest star X'D that's with our current technology

so this star proxima centauri (that's 100,000 years away) is smaller and cooler, but the earth-like planet is closer to it

wait i need to wrap my head around why the kid will be 18 lol. the way i understand it, if you are on the other planet and you are looking at a 10 year old child on earth, then that child is actually 18 years old because if you view earth from the other planet, you're seeing earth from 4 years ago. so if you see a 10 year old on earth from the other planet, then the kid is actually 14 years old. and then it takes another four years to travel? please feel free to explain this to me because i want to understand XD

ok this second question about seeing light while travelling at the speed of light is just boggling to me

lmfao this is me. i am just thinking emoji always

host jung youngjin has a lot of really cool questions, though we probably don't have time to explore all of them

ji woongbae says that whether a planet is fit for life, and whether life actually exists there are two different questions

renjun asking about how objects that are sent into space can avoid collisions

third topic: what would you think if humanity discovered other life forms in space?

now we're going into discussions of what life forms on other worlds would look like. how would they evolve to suit their environment? entropy, ability to react, ability to learn/remember were brought up

renjun thinks confidence is important for a life form, and he's not wrong imo. all life involves risk, but i think confidence in this case means a creature understanding their abilities before they do a thing, whether it's getting food, scaling their terrain, etc.

LMAO biologist kim eungbin quoted jurassic park

jung youngjin keeps giving the scientists shit for being very agreeable with renjun and jisung XD i mean, i know why they do it, they don't want the fans to get on their asses ^^;;

now discussing how life evolved from microorganisms on earth

so all of these are hypotheses, but we still technically don't have an exact formula for how life came to be

me watching this show

i understood that reference (plato: all i know is that i know nothing)

fourth topic: what would you need for a spacecraft to travel in space for 5,000 years?

physicist kim beomjun mentions a book "i am schrodinger's cat" by won jongwoo where humanity passes several civilizations on a ship. i came across this concept as well in death's end by liu cixin.

omg in this short story, humanity has forgotten why they set out on earth ToT that's terrifying because what if they run out of resources and haven't found a planet yet ToT i tried googling this novel but didn't find much so it might be a novel that hasn't been translated to english.

big science fiction guy in the haus

lol what a poser, jisung hasn't even watched dune 2 yet XD (i know, he's a busy guy, i'm just giving him shit)

astronauts have to keep their bodies strong on their way to mars because their bodies may grow weak from the 7 months of zero gravity on their trip there. and mars does have some gravity, so if they don't keep their bodies in shape, they might not even be able to handle mars' gravitational pull.

astronauts on the space station spend a third of their time on working out! wow. brains AND brawn.

the reason why space stations in movies spin is because that is how they create artificial gravity (is it the centrifugal force?)

microbes are affected by gravity too :o

fifth topic: why do humans want to procreate? what is the survival instinct?

kim beomjun says that life doesn't particularly have any goals. he mentioned evolutionary psychology and how back in the day, people who didn't want children didn't end up having them, and that we only exist because our ancestors had children. that made me think that the reason why we think living creatures want to continue their bloodlines is confirmation bias. we only see the results of those who decided to procreate. maybe a lot of people didn't want to have kids back then, but we would not necessarily know.

LMAO jung youngjin, what a guy. he was saying how perhaps we live because we imagine that amazing things can be attainable.

'why' in science is more akin to 'how'

biologist kim eungbin references philosophers a lot eh. he says that according to plato, the two ways that people leave memories is either through offspring or through great achievements. he also says that because we are mortal, we make every day count.

jung youngjin is saying that the meaning to life will change when renjun has a child haha. renjun was the one who brought up the meaning of life, and the direction of civilization. and jung youngjin counters that here with the fact that the protection instinct of parents towards their children is the instruction manual.

lol drag him

renjun brings up the topic of cloning vs offspring, and whether offspring is necessary if we can just clone ourselves. yes and no. if we can clone at will, then perhaps we might not need offspring. but the point of offspring is that the ones who carry our best traits will live on, so that each generation after us will be more able to survive in their environment via natural selection.

jung youngjin looks at this more from the emotional side, about how there's beauty in variety. i think it does come back to sociology a bit. with variety, then you have people who are good at different things, and they can all make the group stronger in different ways.

ah yeah, jung youngjin brings up the point i made earlier, about how civilization wouldn't advance if we were just cloning ourselves

oh interesting, so even microorganisms who reproduce by splitting (mitosis?) don't make exact copies of themselves 100% of the time.

even germs have herd mentality of caring for the young ones :o

hardcore fan

wait what. i too did not know that eggs are a single cell lol.

sixth topic: is there a creature that doesn't need water?

renjun going full neo culture technology and imagining AI as a civilization. i was thinking along the lines of a being that would survive on another chemical/substance.

kim beomjun brings up a good point. water is very unique because it can exist in different states very easily. it melts at zero degrees celsius, and it evaporates at 100 degrees celsius, both temperatures that we can attain easily naturally

jung youngjin: can alcohol replace water?

ah right, i remember polar molecules from chemistry...a long time ago lol. but i think the idea is that alcohol can't really change states naturally like water can.

ji woongbae explains that water is easier to find anyway, as it's a pretty simple molecule (H2O)

seventh topic: can humans live with AI in the future?

ah so the scientists agree that depending on the definition, AI could be defined as a living creature because it fits some criteria, such as being able to react to stimuli

oh man this is in kim eungbin's wheelhouse haha. he's saying that defining life itself is a challenge. they can't even decide if a virus is alive. and they also have to define life in order to be able to define death as well.

lol smoothie promotion time. it feels so random now.

aw jisung got interested in science and philosophy because of his dad and his dad likes the channel too :3

hi dad :3

jung youngjin: to nct fans watching this, please don't just watch the rensung supercut

this was a lot of fun!!!!!!! space and science are topics that interest jisung and renjun personally. so because they were so immersed in the discussion, i was as well. in addition, i appreciated that the scientists explain things well. it was a really interesting discussion!!!!

[heavenlyyshecomes]

can you please ecommend your most well-loved sff books? 💙

remembrance of the earth's past trilogy, cixin liu tr. ken liu + joel martinsen

the broken earth trilogy, n. k. jemisin

the green bone saga, fonda lee

sea of tranquility, emily st. john mandel

annihilation, jeff vandermeer (part of the southern reach trilogy but i haven't read the entire thing yet)

piranesi, sussanna clarke

spirits abroad, zen cho

blood over bright haven, m. l. wang

invisible planets ed. ken liu

the paper menagerie and other stories, ken liu

rolling in the deep, mira grant

the memory police, yoko ogawa tr. stephen snyder

the luminous dead, caitlin starling

severance, ling ma

[phenakistoskope]

what i appreciated about the remembrance of earth's past trilogy was the desecration of humanity's place in the world, dimension, and universe. aspects of humanity are brought to the fore; resilience, weakness, cruelty, kindness, responsibility, wonder, and discarded like leaves into the vast river of time. the best part, however, was the fourth dimensional tomb that solemnly proclaimed "i am a tomb".

[1solone]

3 BODY PROBLEM – Are you watching this show? If not, you should be. It has the intelligence of Oppenheimer and the wonder of HEROES. The writing is so BRILLIANT. An American TV series based on the book was released by Netflix, with David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo writing and executive producing.[58] It was released on 21 March 2024. Thank you to Renie Oxley, who is taking my 6-Week Teleseminar, for telling me about it. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss share that the show is about people finding a community and family that is not their biological family. They do such a fantastic job of grounding it through the characters.

The Three-Body Problem (Chinese: 三体; lit. 'Three-Body') is a story by Chinese science fiction author Liu Cixin. It is the first novel in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.[1] The series portrays a fictional past, present, and future in which Earth encounters an alien civilization from a nearby system of three sun-like stars orbiting one another, a representative example of the three-body problem in orbital mechanics.

The story was initially serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 before it was published as a standalone book in 2008.[2] In 2006, it received the Galaxy Award (Yínhé Jiǎng) for Chinese science fiction.[3] In 2012, it was described as one of the genre's most successful novels of the previous two decades.[4] The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor Books in 2014.[5] That translation was the first novel by an Asian writer to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel;[6][7] it was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel.[8]

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Problems with 3 Body Problem? Experts discuss physics, mathematics

The science fiction television series 3 Body Problem, the latest from the creators of HBO's Game of Thrones, has become the most watched show on Netflix since its debut last month. Based on the bestselling book trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past by Chinese computer engineer and author Cixin Liu, 3 Body Problem introduces viewers to advanced concepts in physics in service to a suspenseful story involving investigative police work, international intrigue, and the looming threat of an extraterrestrial invasion.

Yet how closely does the story of 3 Body Problem adhere to the science that it's based on? The very name of the show comes from the three-body problem, a mathematical problem in physics long considered to be unsolvable.

Virginia Tech physicist Djordje Minic says, "The three-body problem is a very famous problem in classical and celestial mechanics, which goes back to Isaac Newton. It involves three celestial bodies interacting via the gravitational force—that is, Newton's law of gravity. Unlike mathematical predictions of the motions of two-body systems, such as Earth-moon or Earth-sun, the three-body problem does not have an analytic solution."

"At the end of the 19th century, the great French mathematician Henri Poincaré's work on the three-body problem gave birth to what is known as chaos theory and the concept of the 'butterfly effect.'"

Both the novels and the Netflix show contain a visualization of the three-body problem in action: a solar system made up of three suns in erratic orbit around one another. Virginia Tech aerospace engineer and mathematics expert Shane Ross discussed the liberties the story takes with the science that informs it.

"There are no known configurations of three massive stars that could maintain an erratic orbit," Ross said. "There was a big breakthrough about 20 years ago when a figure eight solution of the three-body problem was discovered, in which three equal-sized stars chase each other around on a figure eight-shaped course. In fact, Cixin Liu makes reference to this in his books. Building on that development, other mathematicians found other solutions, but in each case, the movement is not chaotic."

Ross elaborated, "It's even more unlikely that a fourth body, a planet, would be in orbit around this system of three stars, however erratically—it would either collide with one or be ejected from the system. The situation in the book would, therefore, be a solution to the 'four-body problem,' which I guess didn't have quite the right ring to use as a title."

"Furthermore, a stable climate is unlikely even on an Earth-like planet. At last count, there are at least a hundred independent factors that are required to create an Earth-like planet that supports life as we know it," Ross said.

"We have been fortunate to have had about 10,000 years of the most stable climate in Earth's history, which makes us think climate stability is the norm when, in fact, it's the exception. It's likely no coincidence that this has corresponded with the rise of advanced human civilization."

[pinejay]

so i've been watching the three body problem tencent show with my mom and read thru the wikipedia synopsis of all 3 books in the trilogy (remembrance of earth's past), and liu cixin is a certified genius. really beautiful plot, really fascinating and fresh scifi concepts. gonna buckle down and actually try to read it again now that i know it's legit so fucking good. i'm actually way more impressed by the 2nd and 3rd books rather than the first, which seems more driven by the core mystery. it's just so hard to get thru a translated text, i mean i tried reading and listening to this book several times now and it's just so weak, no driving narrative voice. wish i had beyond a 4 year old level of chinese so i could read the source text instead. and i know it's not the author's problem bc i had actually read one of his scifi short stories (the village teacher) several years ago and loved it, still sticks in my mind to this day

[mostlynotwork]

“I don’t have much to say except a warning. Life reached an evolutionary milestone when it climbed onto land from the ocean, but those first fish that climbed onto land ceased to be fish. Similarly, when humans truly enter space and are freed from the Earth, they cease to be human. So, to all of you I say this: When you think about heading into outer space without looking back, please reconsider. The cost you must pay is far greater than you could imagine. " - Cixon Liu, Deaths End

‘Death’s End’ is the conclusion to the ‘Remembrance Of Earth’s Past / Three Body’ trilogy by Cixin Liu. The series is a sci-fi epic in both the time frame of the series and the content it seeks to cover. The original book covers a period of more than fifty years of Earth’s history, while the second book covers hundreds of years. As for the third, well I’ll just call it a timeframe that the human mind struggles to comprehend. 

If you haven’t read my comments on the previous two books, you can find them here:

‘The Three Body Problem’

‘The Dark Forest’

In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I’ll keep the plot very high level.

In the early 21st century, humanity is faced with a threat from an incredibly advanced alien race. During this crisis area, a multitude of unique ideas are explored to try and prepare for the inevitable day when this threat must be faced. The novel explores the difficult choices society and individuals must make in the crisis era, and the ramifications of those choices in the years that follow.

More of the good stuff, more of the same challenges

As I’ve noted in the previous reviews, this series sits in the ‘hard sci-fi’ genre. There’s an emphasis on making the science elements of the world building both plausible and consistent. Some elements of the story are still quite fantastical. As a reader you’re willing to go along with them though because you’ve been on this journey with Cixin Liu long enough to just accept Clarke’s third law “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Where the first book spends a lot of time on scientific puzzles, ‘The Dark Forest’ and ‘Death’s End’ lean heavily into philosophy, politics and cosmic sociology. If you can push through the long winded speeches and set-ups for key events, it’s an amazing experience. Even more so if you’re able to decipher some of the clues laid out through the novel

‘Death’s End’ though comes with some of the same challenges as the earlier books - long monologues and info dumps. But these are magnified by a sense that some don’t advance the overall plot.

The conclusion to the novel may not be to everyone’s liking. I’ve seen people argue it should have wrapped sooner (after the most climatic event in the novel), while others take the view that the conclusion was rushed and could have explored the post-climax events more fully. My personal take is the conclusion was the inevitable compromise between a shockingly abrupt ending, … or writing a conclusion that could almost have become a novella by itself.

Who is this book for?

For casual readers and those who tend to go “eh” when it comes to sci-fi, this probably isn’t the series for you. 

On the other hand, this is definitely one for lovers of hard sci-fi. The trilogy is a vehicle for exploring some fascinating and at times confronting themes. It’s worth the investment of your time if you enjoy sci-fi based around detailed world building and big ideas.

[distantlaughter]

Hello! For the ask game:

14, 29, 37!

Hi!

14. if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?

I probably have an actual answer for this but I just walked in the wind and I can’t feel my face so I’m going to say COSTA RICA!

29. whats the worst thing you have ever done? 

probably ignore people in a time of need. I regret it a lot and try to be Better about reaching out and being there now but it’s a thing I know I’ve done a lot before

37. do you read a lot? whats your favorite book?

sadly. I hardly read at all these days. But I can't say I've tried very hard to either :/ my favorite book of all time forever and always is constantly oscillating The Dark Forest or Death's End, both by Cixin Liu. Right now it's pointing towards Death's End but honestly all the books in the remembrance of earth's past trilogy are my favorites

[fugitivehugs]

People you'd like to get to know better

Tagged by @lisatelramor Ty for the tag! It's been a while since I did one of these! ^^

Three ships: Kosuke Niwa/Kei Hiwatari, Fukami/Yuu/Taize ot3, and Saehara Family/Getting Dragged Into Magical Plotlines.

First ship: Kagome/Sesshomaru, I think. Inuyasha was the first fandom I looked up fics for at least!

Last song: I Only Dance With You by O-Town. Noooo you caught me at a nostalgic moment…! orz

Favorite color: Yellow, from canary to mustard. Greens and oranges are great too!

Currently watching: Three Body, but at a snail's pace because I want to pay attention, which means no drawing at the same time...

Last Movie: I think I rewatched/listened to The Martian for the hundredth time, but it was a while ago hmm...

Currently reading: Lots of fanfiction~ I've also been tiptoeing into the last of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. The second ended on such a high note and I'm afraid the third will destroy me.

Sweet/savory/spicy: Spicy, but I'm weak so not impressively spicy. =v=

Currently consuming: Black ginger peach tea. I'm more of a green tea person but this tastes great and… okay, I got it for the cute tin.

Currently craving: Macarons, please. I'd love something sweet and brightly colored right now.

Relationship status: Single. Same, I'm fine with whatever happens!

Last web search: "How much tylenol is too much" for my grandma because she didn't trust that the bottle said her tiny dose was safe lol.

Currently working on: WHUMPTOBER. When that no longer consumes me, I'd like to go back to working on my DN fanfics. I've also been making a bird watching art journal thing where I paint my lifers with gouache. It's really satisfying.

Tagging: @keikotwins, @niwatari-rei, @octilery, @shiro-the-fan-theorist, @peachsunset, and @memoonlemon Do this if you feel like it! /o/