The Three-Body Problem

This book has all the grand visions of science and philosophy that the best classic sci-fi stories had, but with a far grimmer and more brutal perspective, making this a very unique and cool read. The science in this book is cutting-edge and complex, but applied to the story in an undeniably cool way. Another telling old-school trait is the focus on concepts over characters; all the characters are uber-competent professionals lacking any notable personalities . I have mixed feelings over the author's choice not to make the characters relatable, because though I respect the focus on the grander ideas within the book, I don't think giving the characters a bit more depth would have hurt the story.

Speaking of scale, I absolutely love the way the author integrated the work of philosophers and scholars from Eastern and Western history. I gushed at the way some of my favourite historical figures came to life, and became very curious about the ones I didn't know. Using these characters in the “game” portions of the book, in combination with the cutting edge science of the modern era, this book covers old science in unique and fun ways, and at the same time, comes up with incredibly unique ideas for how current theoretical science in applied ways, all while not feeling overwhelming or overly academic.

Finally, there is the cultural colouring of having the story take place around revolutionary and post-revolutionary China. This definitely created a dark and somewhat nihilistic tone over what could easily have been a story of triumph and hope. While an impending apocalypse is typically met with resistance, many characters in this story welcome it with open arms. My instinct was to think that as an unrealistic reaction, but when you think back to the brutality of the revolution portrayed in the opening chapters and scattered throughout, it starts to make more sense than I would like it to.

UPDATE: I originally omitted mentioning another less than admirable old school trait in this book: his female characters are notoriously shallow and in the case of the main character's wife, straight up cringe-worthy. I thought that since there was at least a respectable spread of smart female characters, harping on this when really all his characters are somewhat two dimensional was overkill.
But this problem gets much worse in the sequel, as does his more odd sociological ideas.
Consider this a warning. If, like me, you loved the scientific theories, and cool takes on history and historical figures, then leave the series now, because the sequels had none of that as far as I read. It's all about tricking the aliens and their sophons. So if you like the author's odder philosophies and the concept of sophons, read on, otherwise, stop now!