The Three-Body Problem

For some reason, this book reminded me of Andrew Weir's Martian, and because I liked that book, I guess that other people who liked Martian would like this one. There is a lot of technical details and physic theory, but knowledge of these is not required to enjoy this book.

Anyway, this is a really refreshing take on science fiction and first contact scenarios, with a cultural backdrop that was very unfamiliar and almost as alien as the actual alien society in the story.

From the author's postscript:
“I've always felt that the greatest and most beautiful stories in the history of humanity were not sung by wandering bards or written by playwrights and novelists, but told by science. ... Only, these wonderful stories are locked in cold equations that most do not know how to read.”