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mineofilms · 2 months ago

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3 Body Problem | Season One | Books vs Show (Netflix)

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How do you translate existential dread and astrophysics into something that fits neatly between snack breaks? If you’ve read The Three Body Problem series to the end, you already know human triumph, endurance, evolution forgets itself, becomes something else entirely—something a 21st-century Earthling might not even recognize. Liu Cixin doesn’t offer hope or heroes. He offers scale. The kind that makes you feel like a moth attracted to light that zaps you and evaporates all your internal fluids instantly. So when Netflix decided to adapt this cold, cosmic slow-burn on survival and insignificance into a polished TV drama with all the performative, algorithm-approved, societal checkboxes checked, I was... “Concerned…” You give it a Breakfast Club of scientist buddies. You trim the philosophy, flatten the existential, nihilistic themes and kill off the woman who doomed the planet off-screen. This isn’t a takedown—I liked the show, but didn’t love it. However, I loved the books, and somewhere in the transition from page to screen, a lot got lost in translation. Let’s talk about that.

Major Spoilers ahead for both the books and show...

3 Body Problem: Season One (2024) Writers: David Benioff, Liu Cixin Directors: Minkie Spiro, Jeremy Podeswa, Derek Tsang, and Andrew Stanton Stars: Jovan Adepo, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jess Hong, Benedict Wong, Mario Kelly, Sea Shimooka, Alex Sharp, Rosalind Chao, Saamer Usmani IMDB Rating: 7.5/10 Stars Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78% Runtime: Approximately 8 hours.

I have only one real issue with the shift in setting and characters and that is the Oxford Five or the Breakfast Club mentality of it. I have had problems with this in the past with other stories self-containing their open world universe or logic in which the story resides in. This isn’t about opposing ensemble casts—some of the best stories thrive on tight-knit groups—but in this case, that creative choice shrinks a story that’s supposed to feel big and cosmic.

—for me it is a coincidence cluster where the entire fate of the planet rests on one tight-knit group is what you'd expect from a Young Adult story, not a sweeping existential hard sci-fi epic. It ends up shrinking the scale of the story, ironically, when the Three Body Problem should feel big, messy, and global. It condenses itself to this small group who all seem to know one another intimately. The McGuffin here with this group is far too obvious compared to the randomness of the book and how it deals with the characters. In the book, the randomness of the characters—how they don’t know each other, how they’re chosen by circumstance or profession, not friendship—adds to the realism. The "Oxford Five" structure gives the show a kind of Netflix-approved checkboxed-template for assembling the storytelling, but at the cost of thematic richness and believability. It’s exactly how they did the Star Trek films. Confined galactic crises to one ship's crew or the handful of people on the bridge that we follow throughout the story opposed to using the open world environment to help drive the plot.

The book was inherently diverse without trying too hard, because it was rooted in genuine cultural contexts. I’m not against diversity—I’m against performative diversity that trades authenticity and complexity for visibility checklists. The show’s approach to representation feels more like a studio mandate than a natural outgrowth of the story. —just like the books were—but when that representation is assembled with an overly fixated feel, it comes off as inauthentic or fake. It starts to look like box-checking rather than genuine world-building and character building. The show tries so hard to be “universal” that it paradoxically becomes more narrow. I apply this more to that Star Trek mentality of confining the story, plot, characters.

I thought it was weird they shifted characters to; they all know each other, all came up together, all have a unique and important part in the plot. On a planet of 8-billion, these five, who all know each other, grew up together, went to school together, hang out together, are this important. It’s never even explained in the show why this is, where in the book it isn’t important because all the main characters come from all over. Even though the book is more focused on Chinese politics and told from a Chinese point of view in the confines of the story, the book version had more diversity than the show even though the show tries to be more diverse with its cast of characters. In the show it seems more forced.

Netflix, like many modern studios, often leans into Diversity-Equity-Inclusion themes in a way that feels like branding rather than grounded storytelling on what is happening in society. In the realm of hard science fiction, themes like ideology, identity, and survival usually emerge from the plot and world, not the other way around. Ironically, science fiction authors tend to portray social dynamics and human diversity more organically than many studios can manage—because they’re writing from within the world, not from outside it with a checklist. For context, I’m not aligned with either political camp. I don’t buy into a lot of progressive dogma when it contradicts logic, law, or biology—but I also don’t support turning every critique into a culture war skirmish. My issue here isn’t with inclusion—it’s with storytelling shortcuts that treat representation as an end rather than a means. All these characters are all old friends and pivotal scientific minds and are emotionally entangled. Feels like the writers couldn’t let go of serialized prestige-TV formulas. The show plays more like a CW show pretending to be Contact.

Ye Wenjie’s life, ideological evolution, and influence on the fate of humanity are dramatically reduced in the show. In the book, she’s a deeply complex character—both a victim of cultural trauma and an intellectual radical whose personal choices shape the entire course of human civilization. We spend significant time with her on the mountain, fully understanding her psychological state and the weight of her decisions. Her transformation feels earned and haunting in the book. The show, while telling her backstory in a more fluid, cinematic way, through flashbacks, which is still the same as far as details go, but strips it down to the bare bones emotionally and psychologically. Her arc is flattened. Her moral ambiguity, intellectual ferocity, and long-view reckoning with her past are collapsed into something far more pleasant—and far less haunting. In making her more digestible, the show misses the whole point: that Ye isn’t meant to be liked—she’s meant to be understood. She’s treated more like a background figure, and by the end, her impact is diminished to the point of being an afterthought. This is especially frustrating because it’s Ye Wenjie who introduces the foundational idea of Cosmic Sociology—the philosophical seed that leads to the Dark Forest Theory. Her insight about the universe being a deadly, silent battleground is what gives humanity a fighting chance. That kind of influence shouldn’t be sidelined.

Worse, the show has her killed off-screen in Episode 7, not by a known faction or meaningful rival, but by Tatiana—a completely invented character who feels like a stock assassin cultist. In the books, Ye Wenjie survives long enough to witness the consequences of her actions and even comes to regret them, adding real existential weight to her arc. The show robs us of that. And then there’s Tatiana. She’s not from the books at all, and seems to be a stand-in for the kind of fanaticism the ETO cultivates, but without the philosophical depth. In the novel, the Earth-Trisolaris Organization is ideologically fractured—Adventists, Redemptionists, Survivalists—each with compelling (if disturbing) motives. In contrast, the show portrays them more like a Bond villain death cult. Tatiana's actions feel more like plot convenience than logical extensions of belief.

Even the presence of Sophon in the book—an AI avatar acting as the manipulative enforcer behind the scenes—is replaced in the show with these less convincing human proxies. It waters down the eeriness and otherworldly reach of the Trisolarans. Overall, Ye Wenjie’s portrayal in the show lacks the moral and philosophical depth that made her such a powerful figure in the novels. The Sophons, the great technological feet by the aliens are a single proton, enlarged to the size of a planet so a computer can be graphed onto it and then shrunk back down. The Sophon can travel faster than light, interfere with human technology at the subatomic level and imprint images onto human eyes. They basically can do anything they need to do, but their effects at the macro level are mostly visual. The book spends quite a bit of time explaining the Sophons and their creation but the show strays too far from the hard science fiction awe of what it is the Trisolarans are doing. In the show, it’s almost glossed over, and the alien menace loses some of that epic, existential, unknowable quality that makes the books so much better.

The renaming of the Trisolarans to the San-Ti is honest to the Chinese version of the book and is relabeled in the American translation of the books. Not necessarily changing the name. But for this review or discussion I will call them the Trisolarans. The organization that are the alien sympathizers is known as the ETO, Earth Trisolarn Organization, and is never mentioned in the show by name. In the book, Trisolaris reflects the triple-sun problem—chaotic orbital mechanics and environmental catastrophe. We call this the Three Body Problem. The inability to accurately predict three solar bodies orbiting one another. The book and show both throw a wrench on the concept by adding a planet that can support intelligent life but due to the unpredictability we see how intelligent life would have to evolve to escape this prison and prosper as a civilization. This is where the VR game comes into play.

The book also spends a lot of time inside the game. I am not entirely sure if the game in the book and the game in the show are conceptually the same thing. In the show, to me, it seems like a recruitment tool for the Trisolaran sympathizer group on Earth. In the book it feels more like Trisolarans want humans to understand them. I am not entirely sure, if in the book and the show, if the Trisolarans are wanting to consume humanity from the start or not. In the show it seems like the aliens want to work with humans but once they learn of how humanity really is; with dishonesty and malice as an integral part of our civilization, they turn into wanting to wipe out most of humanity. In the book, the Trisolarans want to keep some alive as a human-like zoo project in Australia centuries later. The Trisolarans are cold and calculating. They see humans as ants, but they’re not vengeful. They want survival. The game is a way to explain their difficulty and test human potential. In the show, it does feel more like a recruitment tool, as if they’re trying to manipulate rather than educate.

Western storytelling, especially for mainstream TV, struggles with the kind of philosophical detachment and subtle emotional current that Chinese literature often embraces. Liu’s work doesn’t spoon-feed you drama—it reflects on history, suffering, insignificance, and collective fate. This westernized-adaptation trades that in for something more character-focused and emotionally “relatable,” but often feels like it cheapens the stakes. In Liu’s work, love is abstracted—people love ideas, humanity, the stars, not just each other. That’s part of the appeal. —without reading the books, many viewers will be lost to the more deeper themes. The concepts are too big, and the pacing too jumpy, for a cold viewer to fully absorb the stakes. The show definitely lacks the more existential tone of the books, but tries hard in pacing and switching the chronology of the story to make up for this. The show includes scenes or scenes that setup The Dark Forest (Book 2) and Death’s End (Book 3). It makes it harder to get this right because of the Chinese nature of the original writings. The Chinese tell stories differently. How they handle, love, affection, poetry is all different than how the United Kingdom and United States do it. The transition from source material to adaptable Americanized TV-show deviates far too much for me to love this. I do like it, and they do a decent job of trying to condense these huge concepts, but I also do not love it for that same reason.

While some of the characters from the show are written better than others. Other characters, specifically of the Oxford Five, are combinations of characters from the books. You will have two or three characters that have specific traits show up in the show as one made-character. I get this. I don’t exactly hate it, but at the same time traits that should be there are not there and traits that are there shouldn’t be there. I feel like Saul, who is supposed to be Luo Ji is written poorly. Instead of going weed smoking, womanizer in the show they should have gone with a more Elon Musk-type mentality. Someone more detached from social settings and thinks at a high level. This character seems more/less just to stumble around, but I guess has super genius qualities that we don’t really get to see and are usually setup as backhand comments rather than being someone that might be on the spectrum and just so happens to be a super genius. The book does this pretty well, but makes for a boring character. The show tries to spice this up by making him a everyday-man but who really isn’t everyday due to his physics knowledge? Yeah, I am not buying that one too well. Mike Evans, the radical ETO leader, is totally erased in the show in a sense—or his role is drastically minimized. He was a crucial figure in the book’s idea of misanthropic idealism. In the show he is more like a religious fanatic with money.

—there’s no perfect way to adapt The Three Body Problem without reordering and cutting major content. That’s not the core issue. The core issue is that the adaptation often misunderstands why things in the book worked so well. It would have been more satisfying to slow down and stick closer to the structure of one book per season, while letting each idea breathe more and only subtly mentioning aspects from the other books to setup future seasons, which they do –do in the show fairly well. I think it is a pretty good show, but it lacks the existential dread and pacing of the books. Also that hard science-fiction awe is missing and along with the Breakfast Club of scientists and main characters I can only give this a 7 out of 10. Its good by itself, but the book series is great. The series glimpses the dark forest, but it doesn’t linger there long enough to feel the fear—or the awe.

Probably one of the best book series or “the” best I have ever read. This would have been better served as a mini-series, four to six, two-hour episodes, than an eight episode, one-hour series we got. I still want to see Season two, but I hope the showrunners recognize the narrative gravity of what they're adapting. If they plan to take on all three books, they'll need to commit to the depth—not just the spectacle. There are moments in the later books—especially one involving a storm that doesn’t move and a kind of ‘magic’ born from the wreckage of higher dimensions—that simply can’t be filmed in any literal sense. Not because of budget, but because our perception of reality isn’t built for that kind of awe. If the series ever gets there, I wonder whether it will hint at that existential impossibility, or just render it as another visual effect and move on.

While the fourth book is considered canon by the author it is mostly looked at as fan-fiction, but in its defense, it is rare for fan-fiction to get a stamp of approval by the original author, creators of the original source material. I have written about Three Body in the past, but I only just now watched the show in the hopes that I would be interested in it enough to watch season two. I am. Its good. But it isn’t great. It’s not cheaply made, but I do not believe on the writing-side of this, enough care was taken with the source material. However, it is better than its Chinese counter-part. A thirty-hour series just focusing on the first book, but heavily edited and recreated for Chinese audiences. I’d think the reasons would be obvious. Let’s not paint the Chinese as creating a human through their own tyrannical government processes that ends up taking it upon herself to destroy all of human through her original reply. “Come, we cannot save ourselves…”

“The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds other life—another hunter, an angel or a demon, a delicate infant or a tottering old man, a fairy or a demigod—there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them. In this forest, hell is other people. An eternal threat that any life that exposes its own existence will be swiftly wiped out. This is the picture of cosmic civilization. It’s the explanation for the Fermi Paradox.” ― Cixin Liu, The Dark Forest

3 Body Problem: Season 1 vs The Book(s) by David-Angelo Mineo 4/17/2025 2,986 Words

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jamieroxxartist · 1 year ago

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Why We Should NOT Look For #Aliens - #TheDarkForest Theory.

This of course is all Speculative, AND it has one flaw, it Assumes that Extrarestial Intelligent Life would behave in some way that we have seen Life here on Earth behave. And we all know what happens when you Assume something, well you make an ass out of U and Me.

Look there is nothing at all that should lead us to believe that Life that developed in a Completly different environment would be (or act) anything or any way like us at all.

#Youtube

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disaster-scribbles · 3 years ago

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Back after over a year to furiously tell people about my Hawkfrost AU.

Think about it. AU where Hawkfrost fails to kill Firestar and Brambleclaw, but Brambleclaw ends up sparing his life as he can’t bring himself to kill him. I will go into this a lot more, but as a brief look at how the plot could be:

Hawkfrost is kicked from RiverClan after the truth comes out about his plan. However Brambleclaw doesn’t want him to become an outcast from the clans and, knowing that Tigerstar’s manipulation is at least partly to blame, believes that Hawkfrost can change. Hawkfrost doesn’t understand, therefore, when he is allowed to be a member of thunderclan.

Thunderclan is naturally hostile to him, but Firestar trusts Brambleclaw’s judgement. Brambleclaw informs him of the Dark Forest, and so Firestar warns thunderclan of the danger that could be in their dreams. Meanwhile, Hawkfrost hates being in thunderclan and being watched constantly, and so plans to leave.

However this doesn’t happen once he realises that Brambleclaw still cares for him a lot, volunteering to teach him how to hunt in thunderclan territory. His enthusiasm and daring attitude reminds him of tadpole. He eventually makes friends with some other clan mates through plot that I will write someday (this is a very rushed explanation, please understand my sped up pace here). This falls into him becoming a second judgement that challenges Brambleclaw/star’s choices.

Now, lots of the plot stays the same, only I fully believe Hawkfrost would help Leafpool and Squirrelflight in their plan after knowing what it feels like to be an outcast in his own clan due to him being the son of a loner. He has a habit of observing (*cough* spying *cough*) the cats in thunderclan and overhears about Leafpool being pregnant. Rather than tell anyone, he confronts her slyly and says he will aid them for a price - a price which he never follows up, but rather just a front of him wanting to help without saying so. He only asks who the father is, and keeps their secret as they leave.

the plot of the third series remains mostly the same, only Hawkfrost finds himself cornered by Ashfur, who says his plan outright. Hawkfrost never ratted on Ashfur as he didn’t care at the time it was relevant, then believed he would be able to spot if he was going to do something. Hawkfrost pretends to be in with the plan, but says privately to bramblestar to keep an eye on Ashfur. Though the secret of the kits still gets out, bramblestar is there to hear it as he takes hawkfrost’s advice. So he doesn’t get the news thrown at him at a gathering, which is a little nicer I suppose.

Hawkfrost manages to talk Hollyleaf out of trying to freaking murder Leafpool, talking about his own life and experiences. So hollyleaf never runs into the tunnel and gets crushed.

haven’t made up my mind too much from here, still in ramble mode, whoops. But Hawkfrost will 100% see through Sol’s shit, outright laughing at him for his stupid attempt because come on Hawkfrost has class, unlike this guy.

When the dark forest cats come to the living world, Hawkfrost ultimately kills tigerstar after he tries to persuade him to join their side, stating some big speech about how he was wrong whilst also insulting him I guess.

You can bet when Bramblestar tries to turn down helping the sisters Hawkfrost glared at him until he changes his mind, because his mother was in the same position as the sisters and he’d be damned if he turns them away.

I kinda want a role for Hawkfrost where he becomes an unofficial spy for the clans due to his skills in persuasion and manipulation, doing things like joining the kin - a way that makes him seem like he’s unchanged to many cats, but actually intends to silently protect the kits and apprentices from making the same choices he had, and feeling the way he had.

So yeah, sorry for this very underwhelming ramble, though it would be nice to see any expansion on the basic ideas I put out there. I always like to see what would happen if a single character in a story lived.

#warrior cats #warrior cats au #hawkfrost lives au #hawkfrost #thunderclan #riverclan #bramblestar #firestar #au idea #what if #warrior cats rewrite #thedarkforest #ramblings #my thoughts #i just like Hawkfrost and his vibes bro #needs more attention #this dude was stuck with the worst arc of the series like come on #I want to see him have an antihero storyline #Warriors

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maademadeer · 3 years ago

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hwakfrost

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#hawkfrost #Riverclan #Warrior Cats #myart #fanart #thedarkforest #dark forest

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squirrelflightislife · 5 years ago

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Flametail, baby boi

#flametail #shadowclan #thunderclan #warriorcats #tawnypelt #rowanclaw #rowanstar #warriors #cats #starclan #thedarkforest #tigerheart #tigerstar #jayfeather #dawnpelt #wc #erin hunter #reallifewarriors

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tired-tumbleweed · 4 years ago

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What happens to Cats who disappear from the afterlife completely?

People have asked this question multiple times, and I'm going to try my best to simplify my answer for them: When a cat fades from both The Dark Forest and StarClan, they are sent 'Beyond death.' I don't believe that anyone can really disapear forever, but I do believe that, for example, when Spottedleaf died for the second time in The Last Hope, she stopped existing in all three dimensions. Beyond Death is probably an endless void of nothingness, and perhaps they'll just continuesly fall for enternity.

#Warriorcats #Books #Starclan #Thedarkforest

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razmerry · 6 years ago

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The “living” is from an AU MAP I hosted, in case you’re curious

Also I love she

#warriors #warriorcats #warrior cats #ivypool #thunderclan #thedarkforest

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lilyarcheron · 6 years ago

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One of my most cherished dreams finally came true! I feel so happy and grateful! I want to thank my family and friends who supported me on this journey, no matter how difficult it was! You are priceless! I believe the best is yet to come! I hope you all enjoy my book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Unearthly-Iliyana-Todorova/dp/1096636832/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1573749736&sr=8-1

#thedarkforest #dark fantasy #book #writer #fairytale #mystery #love #mystique #adventure #folklore #dreams #family

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coeur-d-artichaut · 6 years ago

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{ Shout out to my brother @th3gorr3 for being the best and bringing these two awesome books from the @banq_officiel 😍 I can't wait to read them, I've heard only good reviews and I'm in such a sci-fi and fantasy mood. Have you read one of them? Or are they also in your TBR? Let me know💬 • • • #thedarkforest #theplotters #cixinliu #unsukim #torbooks #doubledaybooks #currentlyreading #bookaholic #bookstagram #libros #librosmiadiccion #currentlyreading #librosymaslibros #bookworm #booknerd #bookobsessed #bookish #booklove #bookaddict #bookishcanadians #bibliophile #cequejelis #livreaddict #livre #lecturedumoment #yalit #bookhaul #library #librarylove } (à Rimouski, Quebec) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwe44D7HO8H/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8tum1nsb9ujr

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mineofilms · 2 years ago

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Non-Spoiler Review of Remembrance of Earth's Past

Remembrance of Earth's Past or known as (The Three-Body Trilogy) by Liu Cixin • Book 1: The Three-Body Problem • Book 2: The Dark Forest • Book 3: Death's End • Book 4: The Redemption of Time (written by Baoshu) (Optional)

The opinion by many out in the world is that the “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” is the greatest science fiction series every written. Written by Liu Cixin, a Chinese computer engineer and science fiction writer. Liu Cixin is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award. In 2015 Liu Cixin won the Hugo Award for his novel “The Three-Body Problem” as well as the 2017 Locus Award for “Death's End.” Liu Cixin also won the Chinese Nebula Award. In English translations of his works, his name is given as Cixin Liu. He is a member of China Science Writers Association and the vice president of Shanxi Writers Association. He is sometimes called "Da Liu" (Big Liu) by his fellow science fiction writers in China.

The “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” is the first Science Fiction series to hit the national spotlight in China’s history. It is so popular China holds the series in high regard as a National Treasure. The book series was published from 2006-2011 and translated into English by Ken Liu starting in 2014 to 2019. American audiences are only now discovering this masterpiece of Science Fiction and Existential Horror. Netflix has a show planned for 2024 for “The Three-Body Problem,” the first book. It is uncertain if all the books will be converted for the show or if they are only doing the first book. The main trilogy take place over a few hundred years starting in and around the aftermath of World War 2 and go up to the year 2400+ to another 18 million years into humanity’s future. The optional 4th book which isn’t officially part of the canon but has the permission from Liu Cixin. I personally count the fourth book as part of the canon, but it is also ignored by other readers of the series. It is totally optional and to me does not hurt the story, plot or characters. It just gives the series a proper end rather than the ambiguous ending left at the end of “Death’s End.”

This BLOG serves as a NON-Spoiler introduction to the series. Here we are just going to describe the basic plots of the four books and some thoughts about them. The hope is I grab your interest enough so that you all go and either read these books or listen to them on audiobook. The audiobooks were very well produced and have that radio/theater quality and style to them. Very few science fiction novels actually change how I think. This series absolutely did that with its concepts of first contact, the dark forest theory, game theory, nihilism, time, relativity, relativistic time, reality possibly being an infinitely long loop, love, death, infinity, multiple-dimensional realities, macro and micro quantum reality, religion not being real and existentialism.

The Three-Body Problem (Book 1):

“Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, the greatest scientists around the world start to commit suicide, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-problem#?ref=nav_brws

The Dark Forest (Book 2):

“Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion — four centuries in the future. The aliens' human collaborators have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, supercomputers printed on protons. These subatomic particles allow the Trisolarans instant access to all human information in real time. They have the ability to disrupt Earth’s ability to create technologies greater than the Trisolarans. This all means that Earth's defense plans are exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23168817-the-dark-forest

Death's End (Book 3):

“Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay. Earth enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge. With human science advancing daily and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations will soon be able to co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation. But the peace has also made humanity complacent. Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer from the early 21st century, awakens from hibernation in this new age. She brings with her knowledge of a long-forgotten program, “yhe Staircase Program,” dating from the beginning of the Trisolar Crisis, and her very presence may upset the delicate balance between two worlds. Will humanity reach for the stars or die in its cradle?” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25451264-death-s-end

The Redemption of Time (written by Baoshu, Book 4):

“Set in the universe of “Three-Body Problem trilogy,” “The Redemption of Time” continues the events from the end of “Death’s End.” This original story by Baoshu―published with Liu’s support―envisions the aftermath of the conflict between humanity and the extraterrestrial Trisolarans. In the midst of an interstellar war, Yun Tianming found himself on the front lines. Riddled with cancer, he chose to end his life by entering “the Staircase Program,” only to find himself flash frozen and launched into space where the Trisolaran First Fleet awaited. Captured and tortured beyond endurance for decades, Yun eventually succumbed to helping the aliens subjugate humanity in order to save Earth from complete destruction. Granted a healthy clone body by the Trisolarans, Yun has spent his very long life in exile as a traitor to the human race. Nearing the end of his existence at last, he suddenly receives another reprieve―and another regeneration. A consciousness calling itself “The Spirit,” later, “The Master,” has recruited him to wage war against an entity that threatens the existence of the entire universe, “the Lurker.” However, Yun refuses to be a pawn again and makes his own plans to save humanity’s future…” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36262251-the-redemption-of-time

My Opinion:

I will do a bigger BLOG-breakdown of the series with heavy spoilers at some point in the future. This BLOG is for people who have not read or listened to the series and have seen my posts using quotes from all four novels for the past three months. I tend to post quotes from the book I am listening to when I do my workouts, nature walks or treadmill atmospheres. This book series is nothing but brilliant. It’s no wonder China has been trying to adapt this to visual media. As of the writing of this BLOG there are five listings for this on IMDB.com for different kinds of visual media for this property. The only one I think I will have access to, that I can actually watch, will be the 2024 Netflix show on the “Three-Body Problem.” Depending on if you read the optional fourth book, “The Redemption of Time,” the meaning of these novels take on their own meaning.

• What Is Real? • Is Reality Real? • Do We Even Know The Difference If Any of “This” Is Real? • Does Anything At All Have Actual Meaning? • Does Anything Actually “Matter?”

The phrase "This has all happened before, and it will all happen again" is a line from the reimagined science fiction series "Battlestar Galactica." In the context of the show, it reflects the idea of cyclical history and the recurrence of events. The idea is that history repeats itself, and the same patterns and conflicts reoccur throughout time. This is a theme over the course of the four novels that is heavily explored.

This series is sometimes referred to as “existential horror.” This isn’t to imply horror in the traditional sense. Like, say, the existential horror of aliens invading Earth, like in, “Independence Day,” a monster on the ship “Alien,” or the everyday reality we live in not being real at all, “the Matrix.” It is more existentially terrifying from concepts it raises and how those concepts are dealt from the different perspective of these ideas coming from the different cultural perspective of a computer engineer in China rather than our standard Western way of telling a story, dealing with characters and the existential themes of the nature of our Universe. How this series deals with these questions in our everyday society. An example I will pull from, that really isn’t a spoiler, but how love between two people is dealt with here. China handles these things much differently, culturally and artistically, than say, how American writers tend to write about love in a fictional story. Once you get used to how the information is being displayed in the confines of the story and characters; the easier you get lost in the existential terror of the events as they unfold. To me, listening to these books was like how I saw “The Matrix” for the first time or “Alien” for the first time. That it was more than just a monster movie or insane visual action. You get lost in the concept of “what if” this could all be at play in some point in Humanity’s near or perhaps distant future. That “what if” this is all some sort of simulation or video game where the plot is so fixed that any choice you make has no impact, imprint or evidence on the outcome of the game. That no matter what you do in the game; you end up at the same boss fight at the end, with the same life, the same weapons, the same everything. It's these types of environments where the lack of realism is felt and where we eventually realize that something is not right with said reality. Human beings possess a kind of intuitive alarm in our minds. We hear a voice that isn’t a voice. It is a thought, but we describe to others as a voice. Others do not hear what you heard. They only know of it because you described it to them. However, they do not actually know for themselves. An example would be; we trust when we look up at the Moon that it is there, but you, I, most, have never been there to touch, see, step foot on it to know it if is actually there or not. Granted, we do know that it is there. We see it from Earth, we see its impact on the tides. We feel its gravity. Our mind alerts us when something doesn't feel real. That is usually how we know we are in a dream. Some things seem real, some seem normal and then you see a giant spider in the sky where the Sun should be. Eventually the brain will tell you what is real and what is not real. It is when our realities are flipped upside down and inside out, like a tesseract, that feelings on reality become existential horror. If we were in a simulation of reality and everything was so perfect that we’d began to perceive the artificiality of our surroundings.

Reality is never perfect in the concept of what we humans think of as perfection. In reality perfection and infinity are one-in-the-same. That; “on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything. You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You are not a unique snowflake. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world...” ― Chuck Palahniuk, “FIGHT CLUB.” Granted this is not the Universe of “Fight Club.” However, it could be. Some of the quotes in Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” and “Choke” speak to me in a way that his characters tend to live in a reality-bubble where the main character is always questioning whether or not the reality they are in is a real one. “The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide. Self-improvement is masturbation. Maybe self-destruction is the answer.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, “FIGHT CLUB”

If reality seems too good to be true or too erratic to be natural it can lead to dissatisfaction and rejection of that reality. That is why I say if you do not want your reality shattered. If you do not want to think of humanity, you, us, everything, every moment, every lover, every taste, touch, smell, sight seen or idea in your mind as just another grain of sand on an infinite beach and that grain having no effect whatsoever, no impact, imprint or evidence on the outcome of the collective sand on that infinite beach. That no matter what you do as a grain of sand on the beach you end up with the same life, the same job, the same woes, the same loves, tastes, fixations, disappointments, depressions, disappointments; the same everything. Then do not read these books. If you believe in God. You might not anymore at the end of these books. If you believe all life is precious you also may not believe that anymore. That is how impactful this series can be. However, if you are just a science fiction junky, like myself, and want your mind blown by an amazing story, I implore you to read or listen to these.

The Three-Body Series explores the grandeur and mysteries of the universe. It underscores the contrast between human mythologies and the scientific understanding of the cosmos. The vastness of space, the insignificance of humanity in the face of cosmic forces, and the pursuit of knowledge and scientific truth. The series invites readers to contemplate the Universe's enormity and complexity, highlighting the importance of scientific exploration. Liu Cixin's work combines science, philosophy, and storytelling to convey a sense of wonder about the Universe, which forced me to question our place in the cosmos. This series will intersect with science, philosophy, and human existence, making it a compelling read for those who appreciate profound intellectual exploration in science fiction literature.This series not only offers a riveting science fiction story, but also encourages readers to contemplate the nature of knowledge, the mysteries of the universe, time, and the implications of our place within it. It's a compelling invitation to embrace the wonders of science and the unknown, making it a must-read for those who appreciate both intellectual depth and an engaging narrative.

“The creation myths of the various peoples and religions of the world pale when compared to the glory of the big bang.” Liu Cixin, “The Three-Body Problem”

Non-Spoiler Review of Remembrance of Earth's Past Also known as "The Three-Body Trilogy" by David-Angelo Mineo 10/25/2023 2,514 Words

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