The Three-Body Problem
Aliens! Physics! Deep and difficult questions about whether humanity is inherently evil! I have to admit that I was wary going in to The Three-Body Problem . It was a best-seller in China in 2009 and was just translated to English last year. I've heard a lot of people express difficulties about it. The language is stilted and the story seems to jump and focus on strange things. Some of that is cultural differences, others may be put down to translation. The point is that despite the great reputation of the book, I had some pretty low expectations. So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Yes, it does jump around a lot. There's a game that seems to come out of nowhere and initially put me in mind of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash , which I found difficult. The aliens are weird and you have to seriously suspend your disbelief to accept them. But the science side of things was awesome, and I absolutely loved one of the main characters, Ye Wenjie. It's ...