2.2 KiB
[RT][HSF] The Three-Body Problem
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Author: u/hyenagrins *
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Score: 2
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Created: 2014-11-12T16:27:22
Post:
Comments:
u/lehyde [+3] Nudist Beach (6 hours later)
Do you mind telling what you liked about it?
u/hyenagrins [+2] (9 hours later)
It's a fairly old book, age close to a decade. I read the original Chinese version when it came out, so my memory is a bit fuzzy. Have not read the English version yet, but the Amazon reviews seem to praise the quality of the translation.
On the novel itself, it has a resemblance to the golden age hard science fictions stories from Asimov and Clarke. The story centers around a well-know problem in physics and added enough spice and twists to make it both informative and thought-provoking. For instance, one of the "gimmicks" is using a online game as a context, with a virtual cast including historical philosophers and scientist (up to Einstein and Von Neumann) and document their efforts in tackling the three-body problem. Some of these scientists did contribute to the problem historically, and others who haven't also got a chance to make their remarks and attempts in a believable fashion - usually in a style closely related to their IRL breakthrough contributions in science. To me this was the most interesting piece in the 400-page story.
The three-body problem itself is also cleverly woven into the story and setting, the reader slowly discovers that three-body problem is not merely a intellectual exercise, but something critical whose solution determines the very fate of human science and civilization.
Last but also most relevant to the sub, the characters in the book in fact behave rationally. The protagonist is a physicist himself and tries to solve both the mystery/conspiracy and the three-body problem with scientific methods. The main antagonist was even better portrayed, she condemned humanity in cold blood with totally realistic motivations and proper character development.