Josh
As one of the most well regarded hard Science Fiction written in the last decade I was quite excited to read this. In some ways it lived up to those lofty expectations and in others it didn't. I quite enjoyed the themes of the book. Those centering around Science, religion, and human nature. The first and third being the stronger themes in my opinion.
I was invested in the book from the start, because the backdrop of the first chapters it that of the Chinese revolution. I absolutely love historical fiction so this was an unexpected bonus. In the middle of the book the author lays out a vision for the Three-Body Problem. I don't want to spoil anything, but suffice to say I found both the visual representation painted and the Science presented very compelling and at this point I was absolutely hooked...or so I thought.
In the latter chapters of the book they are almost entirely an info dump that personally I found very hard to follow. Not just because the concepts themselves are advanced, but because there's just so much information being presented in a short time. This left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth at the book ending. While it ends on hopeful note, this did little to alleviate the disinterest the handful of chapters previously had brought about. Still not enough to damper the joy I had with reading about the actual Three-Body Problem.
The biggest issue I have with the book though isn't specific to any one part of the novel but rather it's the characterization. The characters come across as very flat and devoid of emotion for the most part. I can understand why the author chose the particular style he did in 3rd person, but for someone who is as character driven as they are story driven, it leaves something to be desired to say the least. Characters and even prose suffering in hard Science is not unusual. Often times it feels like the scientific ideas take front and center over everything else. That's something I do think this novel runs into as well.
It's definitely good enough that I'll be checking out the next book in the trilogy at least, but with as praised as it is within the Sci-Fi community, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed.
As one of the most well regarded hard Science Fiction written in the last decade I was quite excited to read this. In some ways it lived up to those lofty expectations and in others it didn't. I quite enjoyed the themes of the book. Those centering around Science, religion, and human nature. The first and third being the stronger themes in my opinion.
I was invested in the book from the start, because the backdrop of the first chapters it that of the Chinese revolution. I absolutely love historical fiction so this was an unexpected bonus. In the middle of the book the author lays out a vision for the Three-Body Problem. I don't want to spoil anything, but suffice to say I found both the visual representation painted and the Science presented very compelling and at this point I was absolutely hooked...or so I thought.
In the latter chapters of the book they are almost entirely an info dump that personally I found very hard to follow. Not just because the concepts themselves are advanced, but because there's just so much information being presented in a short time. This left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth at the book ending. While it ends on hopeful note, this did little to alleviate the disinterest the handful of chapters previously had brought about. Still not enough to damper the joy I had with reading about the actual Three-Body Problem.
The biggest issue I have with the book though isn't specific to any one part of the novel but rather it's the characterization. The characters come across as very flat and devoid of emotion for the most part. I can understand why the author chose the particular style he did in 3rd person, but for someone who is as character driven as they are story driven, it leaves something to be desired to say the least. Characters and even prose suffering in hard Science is not unusual. Often times it feels like the scientific ideas take front and center over everything else. That's something I do think this novel runs into as well.
It's definitely good enough that I'll be checking out the next book in the trilogy at least, but with as praised as it is within the Sci-Fi community, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed.