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Liu Cixin's “The Three-Body Problem” Is Published in the US

nytimes.com

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Re: Liu Cixin's “The Three-Body Problem” Is Published in the US

#3
I grew up reading SciFi in both Mandarin and English. In my impression, though not flawless, this series is the only long-form novel produced in China that can stand among the best SciFi literature in the west.

It deserves to reach a larger audience :)

Re: Liu Cixin's “The Three-Body Problem” Is Published in the US

#4

I grew up reading SciFi in both Mandarin and English. In my impression, though not flawless, this series is the only long-form novel produced in China that can stand among the best SciFi literature in the west. It deserves to reach a larger audience :)

As a native English speaker fluent in mandarin, I agree.

Re: Liu Cixin's “The Three-Body Problem” Is Published in the US

#8
I read Liu's short story collection "The Wandering Earth" recently, and rather liked it. My roots are in Clarke, Baxter, Niven, etc, and Liu fits right into that denomination. His stories are often a little less refined than in contemporary western SF - plots are often obvious and straightforwardly developed - but the scope and detail of his imagination is fantastic.

I would definitely say Liu's writing has a different feel to it than western SF - it feels like the story is always really about the society rather than the individuals who may happen to be the protagonists. However, i knew as i was reading it that he was Chinese, so i can't rule out the possibility that this is confirmation bias. Or, er, racism i suppose.

Anyway, i thought "The Wandering Earth" was well worth reading, and highly recommend it.

Re: Liu Cixin's “The Three-Body Problem” Is Published in the US

#9
> The series is likely to be a change of pace for science-fiction fans in the United States, where many leading contemporary writers in the genre are rejecting classic alien-invasion plots in favor of those that take on real-world issues like climate change or shifting gender roles.

Does anyone know what books the author is referring to?

Re: Liu Cixin's “The Three-Body Problem” Is Published in the US

#10
I was just looking into this book recently; these links may be of interest to everyone:

* An essay by the author on Chinese science fiction and his trilogy's place in it (in English):

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/05/the-worst-of-all-possible-u...

* A very interesting review by a blogger:

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-of-three-bod...

* A couple professional reviews:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cixin-liu/the-thr...

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7653-7706-7

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