Megan Fox

Ok, talk about The Three Body Problem is cropping up again, so:

If I got completely bodied by the Chinese cultural history and ended up lost inside the first few chapters, if I just push through, does it get better? Is it like other sci-fi where you're meant to be confused and then by the end you get what's going on, only this time it's real history/culture instead of confusing fake org charts and technobabble?

I bounced off that AND This Is How You Lose The Time War around the same time, albeit for different reasons, and felt bad. 😭

Jun 28, 2023 at 10:31pmWeb
Show threadMegan FoxJun 28, 2023
I am enjoying The Laundry Files a lot still, and that literally is basically all fake org charts. Just spiced up with cosmic horrors.
Show threadMax Legroom ☕️Jun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg This so much! I’ve had it on my kindle for years and I try to get in and never do. I’ll be following along closely to the responses🕵️‍♂️
Show threadRon Gilbert (GrumpyGamer)Jun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg I never made it through the first 1/4.
Show threadKona GoodhartJun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg Yeah, most of the book is set after those events. No promises about it being clearer, but there's less about the Cultural Revolution
Show threadJosh JersildJun 28, 2023

@glassbottommeg It definitely is intended to be confusing at the start (the central mystery is basically "what the fuck is even going on"), and it definitely got easier as I went (the cultural stuff was interesting backdrop, and mostly the footnotes are there to describe background that the reader was expected to know innately, but I found it didn't affect the story too much)

I really liked the way the plot resolved, and I even more loved the absolutely WEIRD places books 2 and 3 went (I haven't read the fourth book but it's literally fanfiction that got the blessing of the original author to publish because he thought it was a good continuation)

I really loved those books, but it absolutely took me a bit to get into the first one.

YMMV obviously :)

Show threadMichalJun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg I didn't gel with the 1st book at all, friends convinced me to keep going and the next two books were exponentially better.
Show threadkevin 🆖Jun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg I read both to the end. I didn't like TIHYLTTW because I found the prose overly dense without much reason and the payoff not that great, but I loved the 3 Body Problem series. The characters are mostly archetypes, and characterisation is not helped by large time jumps, but some of the ideas are wonderful. Once it hooks you it will keep you until the end.
Show threadStarr HorneJun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg the first book is slow but it’s worth it for the payoff of the third book.
Show threadCharles RandallJun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg So, I absolutely loved the series, it really is some of the best big-brain hard sci-fi I've ever read. But it's a tough read and the second book has an awful translation, and I can't in good conscience recommend it because A) the author's truly stunning level of misogyny shows clearly though, and B), the author works for a tech company in china dedicated to making software to help track (read: eradicate) Uyghurs.
Show threadMegan FoxJun 29, 2023

@charlesrandall oh

fucking ewww

Show threadCharles RandallJun 29, 2023
@glassbottommeg Yeah. I mean, the best part of the book can be had by reading this wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_forest_hypothesis
Dark forest hypothesis - Wikipedia

Show threadCharles RandallJun 29, 2023

@glassbottommeg I mean, it is absolutely masterful storytelling in how it goes about revealing the truth of that hypothesis, and what the actual concrete meaning of it is. It also does the amazing Forever War thing where there are big time jumps for humanity, and it's interesting to see how that is extrapolated.

But if you go into it, know what you are getting into imo.

Show threadsilentwJun 28, 2023
@glassbottommeg the Three Body Problem doesn't get any better. It keeps the lubrigous pacing, endless digressions into plot-irrelevant minutae, and faux-intellectual attitude towards confusingly simple things all the way to the end. I really don't understand what book people were reading when they were impressed by it...
Show threadchristopherclesJun 30, 2023
@silentw I’m guessing you weren’t a fan of Project Hail Mary?
Show threadsilentwJun 30, 2023
@christophercles I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. It struck me as a really transparent cash-in on The Martian without any real 'why' behind it
Show threadhybrid havocJun 29, 2023
@glassbottommeg
Was 100% confused for a while, but it does get better.
Show threadPatrick (he/him) 🥑Jun 29, 2023

@glassbottommeg I did love the first book, but I'm used to sorting through proper noun soup (and although I don't particularly know the cultural history well, I can piece it together from family lore about how my Chinese side ended up here).

I see a lot of folks liked 2 and 3 in the replies so take this as a minority opinion, but I liked 1 the best. It got really weird with gender by 3 in a way that either is a translation issue or seemed very negative about femininity.

Show threadPatrick (he/him) 🥑Jun 29, 2023
@glassbottommeg Barring that last bit, 1 also felt more sci-fi mystery which I absolutely love as an Isaac Asimov addict.
Show threadMarc LepageJun 29, 2023
@glassbottommeg Certainly the latter parts of the first book are intriguing (even if you don't find the first parts to be so), but IMO the first book is nothing compared to the second and third. Push through for those!
Show threadBrian JeffearsJun 29, 2023
@glassbottommeg I can only tell you the donghua went in an odd direction that I'm not sure if anybody really understood or enjoyed after the first few-some eps---let alone if that was just seen as the first encounter with the lot.
Show threadSKUNK 🏳️‍⚧️Jun 29, 2023

@glassbottommeg The book really does feel like it's just an introductory prequel where the sequels get a lot better in regards to sci fi storytelling.

It does change up pretty significantly later on, though I still don't think it quite hits the same notes that your average sci fi novel does. I personally enjoyed it much more once I switched to reading it as an audiobook.

I'm not sure if the first act is meant to be confusing but it does become a lot clearer later on what the book is about.

Show threadCharlie RJun 29, 2023

@glassbottommeg I've only read the first book, but enjoyed it. I kind of liked the cultural history. It sets up some motivations. But it's definitely slow in the beginning. The book has some tonal changes, some of it is a bit bizarre. Actually the slowest parts aren't even the beginning IMO. But what made me stick with it was the sci-fi. I almost feel like another author could have told the story better, but Liu Cixi's ideas and sci-fi were absolutely top notch!

I'd say it's worth continuing.

Show threadLordMortisJun 29, 2023

@glassbottommeg it fits in the same place in my mind as Asimov, or maybe E.E. Doc Smith. I agree that the misogyny readings of parts of the trilogy are pretty valid, although I got something different out of those things.

They are not happy books.

Show threadghosttieJun 30, 2023
@glassbottommeg I hated the Three Body Problem all the way through but I loved This Is How You Lose The Time War so I dunno what to tell you
Show threadMegan FoxJun 30, 2023

@ghosttie I didn't hate Time War, I actually liked it, I just had this "this is it?" feeling reading it heh.

Like every back and forth was just, ok? A love letter? I didn't find it engaging. Cute idea though!

Show threadghosttieJun 30, 2023
@glassbottommeg well with that one you do kind of have to wait for the twist
Show threadMegan FoxJun 30, 2023

@ghosttie wait there's a twist? So it WAS going somewhere?

Goddddsssss dammit

Show threadchristopherclesJun 30, 2023
@glassbottommeg I know I’m late, but I do think it’s worth it. If you like Asimov (especially foundation) and don’t bounce off that kind of thinking, I don’t understand why you would with the three body problem. That being said, there are cultural differences in the other books that wouldn’t make sense to western audiences