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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

#11

Post by pavlov »

infruset wrote: post #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?

I guess such recent works as Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness and J. G. Ballard's The Drowned World, among others. Who knew that sci-fi could be something else than alien invasions and scantily clad women in pulp covers?

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

#12

Post by infruset »

pavlov wrote: post #11
infruset wrote: post #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?

I guess such recent works as Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness and J. G. Ballard's The Drowned World , among others. Who knew that sci-fi could be something else than alien invasions and scantily clad women in pulp covers?

Thanks! For a while I've had this notion that the best way to understand differences in gender is to picture some situations of everyday life with reversed genders, and then I thought while reading this, maybe there's a sci-fi book doing exactly that? Turns out this is slightly different, but it seems interesting, I'll give it a try.

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

#13

Post by brianwillis »

I'm reading through the sample on my Kindle now. His similes are a little forced ("battles like this one raged across Beijing like a multitude of CPUs working in parallel, their combined output, the Cultural Revolution"), but he does know how to tell a story. By the end of the second chapter I was sold.

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

#14

Post by pavlov »

infruset wrote: post #12
pavlov wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess such recent works as Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness and J. G. Ballard's The Drowned World , among others. Who knew that sci-fi could be something else than alien invasions and scantily clad women in pulp covers?

Thanks! For a while I've had this notion that the best way to understand differences in gender is to picture some situations of everyday life with reversed genders, and then I thought while reading this, maybe there's a sci-fi book doing exactly that? Turns out this is slightly different, but it seems interesting, I'll give it a try.

Both Le Guin and Ballard are absolutely worth it!

To clarify, the snark in my post was not directed at you, but rather the original author's suggestion that these are somehow recent themes in science fiction. It sounded like he had just been revived from cryogenic sleep where he'd spent the last 50 years with a dusty Heinlein novel in his stiff hand :)

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

#15

Post by hackuser »

brianwillis wrote: post #13

I'm reading through the sample on my Kindle now. His similes are a little forced ("battles like this one raged across Beijing like a multitude of CPUs working in parallel, their combined output, the Cultural Revolution"), but he does know how to tell a story. By the end of the second chapter I was sold.

Metaphor might not translate easily, either linguistically or culturally.

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

#16

Post by walterbell »

mojoe wrote: post #2

I began reading this last night, and was struck by how the analogies and metaphors the author uses make the book feel much different than the American/European science fiction that I'm use to reading. I'm enjoying it a lot.

You may be interested in the work of R.A. Lafferty (http://ralafferty.org) who has a Japanese following (http://hayakawa-online.co.jp/product/books/721412.html).

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

#17

Post by stoolpigeon »

hackuser wrote: post #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/boo…

Scalzi ran a "Big Idea" post on it. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/11/11/the-big-idea-liu-cixin...

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

#18

Post by emilng »

infruset wrote: post #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?

For more recent examples, check out work by Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler. If you can wait, Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam series is also apparently getting developed as a TV series for HBO.

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

#19

Post by imron »

DaNmarner wrote: post #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 :)

Do you have any another Mandarin SciFi that you can recommend?

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

#20

Post by mojoe »

DaNmarner wrote: post #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 :)

So you would say that the article is correct about the lack of science fiction authors in China? Are there any other Mandarin SF novels that you would recommend, even if they don't measure up to the level of "The Three-Body Problem"? I grew up reading exclusively western SF (Asimov, Clarke, Niven, Heinlein, Vinge, etc) and reading SF is still one of my favorite pastimes. I took some Mandarin language classes in College, and I'd like to try reading some Chinese SF.
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