The Three-Body Problem

So glad to have read this gem!

I guess one of the main questions of this book is, if you can save humanity, why would you?

This book is not heavily character driven and I would say, there is not much character development either HOWEVER, that is not the point. The thing is, this book (and series) isn't a one man show as most books/movies about the same plot/problem tend to be where it's a handful of heroes who saves the day.

I think it's taken the gargantuan task of making it feel like saving the world is being done by... the world. Some people might find a problem that the series lacks a “main character” who is always somehow in the center of things. But that is the refreshing take that T3BP does. Sure, we do have one or several main character (sort of) whose POV we follow so that events make sense but technically, there is no main hero. These characters serve to represent ideas instead. Even the “villains” are not someone I completely disagree with and the book has done a great job at laying out each character's reasons for the things they do that I ended up sympathizing with their REASONS but not their actions. The human “antagonists” do not feel like caricatures who do the things they did simply because EVIL. Surprisingly even is the lack of heroics despite “saving” the world. And Liu does a splendid job of making us see that.

I would say this is one of the few science fiction books I've read where the SCIENCE is hardly fiction. And that makes it scary, so prepare yourself for some existential horror because the book makes a compelling case of being in the realm of possibility.

I found this series to be deeply philosophical and had to pause several times and take a break simply because I must ponder.