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[eBook] The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu Book 1 (Hugo Award Winner) Kindle Daily Deal - $1.89 @ Amazon AU

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Kindle daily deal.

Read the award-winning, critically acclaimed, multi-million-copy-selling science-fiction phenomenon – soon to be a Netflix Original Series from the creators of Game of Thrones (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss).

Reviews

'This is the first of a trilogy that begins in the Sixties and reaches a shattering climax 18,906,416 years later, by which time the war for Earth has, quite literally, acquired new dimensions' - The Times.
'Cixin Liu began his massively ambitious trilogy with this dazzling work of SF … Hard to sum up in a few short lines, but one you read it you'll be doing your best to tell everyone else to follow suit' - SciFiNow.
'Even what doesn't happen is epic' - London Review of Books.
'China's answer to Arthur C. Clarke' - The New Yorker.
'A marvellous melange of awe-inspiring scientific concepts, clever plotting and quirky yet plausible characters' - TLS.
'A milestone in Chinese science fiction' - New York Times.
'Wildly imaginative, really interesting … The scope of it was immense' - Barack Obama.
'A unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation, politics and history, conspiracy theory and cosmology' - George R.R. Martin.

About the Author

Cixin Liu is China's #1 SF writer and author of The Three-Body Problem - the first ever translated novel to win a Hugo Award. Prior to becoming a writer, Liu worked as an engineer in a power plant in Yangquan.

Book 2 - The Dark Forest - $4.39 - https://www.amazon.com.au/Dark-Forest-Three-Body-Problem-Boo…
Book 3 - Death's End - $8.06 - https://www.amazon.com.au/Deaths-End-Three-Body-Problem-Book…

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closed Comments

    • +5

      Nooo…d&d will butcher my fav novel like what they did with Got, for all I care they can produce anything but not three body problem, like 2020 can’t get any worse…

      • +7

        I'm looking at the coming Netflix release with dread for the same reason. I don't understand why having the GOT producers doing it is reported like its a good thing.
        Funnily enough, George R.R. Martin loves the series though.

      • +3

        They were good when they had books to work out their story and chracters. I found the last 2-3 seasons of GoT to be pretty disappointing. So if these books are finished, maybe they will do a decent adaptation. Remember that the first 4 seasons of GoT was the best a book has been adapted to TV.

      • +1

        D&D get way too much flack in my opinion
        They are great at adapting existing work for the screen, what they aren't good at is writing original material (aka GOT S5-8). We can't know for sure whether the final product will be like but I'm confident they will do a good job of it.

    • +36

      First, no idea what your comment has to do with the deal.

      Second, you're linking to an article that trashes the author based on two sentences he stated. I think this is a bit unfair.

      I do not support or condone the CCP's treatment of the Uyghur people but unfortunately extremism in Xinjiang isn't a fiction (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_conflict#2007%E2%80%9…). I think from the point of view of an ordinary citizen living under the CCP it is reasonable for a person such as the author to hold views that express a belief that the CCP is working towards de-radicalisation of Muslim extremists.

      In my humble opinion, for those of us living in liberal democratic nations the issue is not to critique individuals that may express support for their own government but rather to be critical (in the most literal sense of the word) of the actions of the CCP. As a willing participant and benefactor of globalisation, I do think the CCP owes it to the world to be more open as to how these detention facilities are run, on what grounds people are arrested and the extent of 're-education'. Should we abrogate and start personal attacks on individuals because of their 'views' we run the risk of derailing the narrative and failing to achieve any real change.

      • +21

        Very well put. Reality is a lot more complicated than what media feeds you.

        China came under the limelight because it's playing big boy's game with US just like how the soviet did in the cold war but with a much stronger economy.

        Don't get me wrong I absolutely hate dictatorship and want nothing more than a more fair/opened world for everyone (or to an extend everything).

        However, whenever US, China or Russia "expose" atrocities from the others it's all just a hypercritical crown show for the non-critical thinkers.

      • +5

        "In my humble opinion, for those of us living in liberal democratic nations the issue is not to critique individuals that may express support for their own government but rather to be critical (in the most literal sense of the word) of the actions of the CCP. "

        Very well put. Guess it's just convenient to associate China as a whole.

        People often forget the Chinese people don't exactly get to choose their leaders.

        Getting 'bargains' for the past 50 years at reduced labour costs surely hasn't made that solution easier - but it has bought 400 million people out of the poverty line.

        Alas, no worries, as the labour costs of China explode, there are plenty of up and coming Asian and African countries with a lower labour costs to make our bargains. But that is the free market and capitalism.

        Just as the CCP 'educates' we should do the same and not shun the individual.

        • People often forget the Chinese people don't exactly get to choose their leaders.

          You mean:

          People often forget the Chinese people don't get to decide their dictator

          They're in a very unfortunate situation where plenty of unreported protestors in front of government buildings end up with them being arrested

        • +11

          Nor is it an excuse to start a land war in two countries, start a proxy war in another, kill hundreds of thousands and displace millions more. Unfortunately, governments act in their own interests.

          No one is suggesting that detainment of innocent people is justified. As you rightly put it, a spade is a spade. However, I think it naïve to think that you will change the fate of the Uyghur people by simply pointing that out. It seems a lot of people are willing to jump on the bandwagon using Hong-Kong and Uyghur's as a platform to impose sanctions that pretty much amount to a cold war on China but do you really think any of these things will benefit Hong-Kongers and Uyghurs? We've already seen how China responds with the advent of the national security law, further marginalising the rights of these minorities. Perhaps, it's time to stop yelling at the top of our lungs and stop with the idiotic notion that any form of de-escalation is 'kow-towing' to China. Unless you honestly think that a cold-war, or god forbid, hot-war, will result in some form of improvement for these minority groups.

          What we need is understanding and nuanced diplomacy, not further marginalisation of groups and echo-chambers of thought. It will be a slow road to achieving rights for the marginalised groups of China but unfortunately, there is no quick fix.

          • +2

            @Dsquall: Much wisdom in this one. Give him a coupon.

          • @Dsquall: I'm responding directly to you downplaying the CCPs treatment of Uyghurs. You can't say "I don't condone it" but then go on to parrot the talking points "oh but there's extremism" and "who knows what's really going on, we need more information".

  • +17

    It's a great book in many aspects. Very worthy read even you're not a geek.
    Judging a book by who wrote it or what language it's written is nothing different from the country in question.

  • +7

    Be warned, if you read the first book, you will have to get the rest which cost more.

    • +1

      Or wait until they go on special too :) I put links to books 2 and 3 at the bottom of the description just in case.

    • +2

      Actually, I reckon the first book is just so-so, and quite boring in the first 2/3, only becomes interesting in the end, but second is better, and third is best.

    • Oh. I had no idea there were following books. Time to get reading!

    • Worth checking out what e-books your local library has. I read a couple of books in the series that way, and cost $0.

  • +11

    This is one of the best "Hard Sci-Fi" books of all time, as well as one of the most realistic and rational depictions of how encountering "Aliens" would actually play out.

    "The Wandering Earth" is child's play compared to this series.

    • Have you watched/read The Expanse? Could you give a quick comparison? I'm generally averse to translated works but seems worth a shot at this price.

      • +5

        I love both series. Expense is great at a geopolitical and human level. This is more about high concepts and plays out at the most epic of scales.

        I struggled with the first half of this book then things started clicking in and just kept ramping up in the next books.

        Well worth the read.

        • +1

          Red rising saga is my new favourite series… while we are talking about sci-fi series worth reading

        • Thanks for the info. The Expanse is one of the best hard scifi imo. I'll definitely check out this series now.

      • +1

        I love expanse. After finishing few of Expanse books I picked up three body problem. Absolutely loved it. Immediately got the other 2 in the series. All three books are great. I have even read the Fan fiction "The redemption of time" which is not in the same level but not bad either. Just recently finished "Ball Lighting" too.
        Three body problem is very slow in the beginning but stick with it. It gets better.

  • +15

    Highly recommend this. Best to go in blind, it's a really epic saga.

    • +4

      Is it available in braille?

  • +3

    The best sci-fi series out there.

  • +2

    Been meaning to read this! Ty OP

  • +4

    Awesome series, I read it without knowing anything about it. If you like scifi you need to read this.

  • +1

    Thanks so much for sharing this OP!

  • +6

    I didn’t really like it.

    • +4

      …because?

      • +8

        When the sun shine, we shine together
        Told you I'll be here forever
        Said I'll always be your friend
        Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end

    • +5

      It's an unpopular opinion, but I gotta agree with you. It felt overly pretentious, like the author just wanted to impress everyone constantly with their knowledge. It was fun for a while, but just didn't go anywhere for me. I also didn't give a shit about any of the characters and that killed it for me.

      • Interesting to hear an opinion like yours, it’s always helpful to see both sides.

        • +2

          There's not really a "both sides" here, there's my opinion and your opinion and everyone else's opinion.

      • +1

        Read the first book, also didn't like any of the characters. Found the flash back to be a more interesting topic, wish he wrote more on that. I'll wait for TV show

        • Yep. The cultural revolution stuff was way more interesting.

      • Well, ironically the central character didn't give a shit about the human race! ;-)

    • +1

      I also didn't enjoy it and had to force myself to finish it. I liked the hard science and the concepts make for an interesting story although not ground breaking, I don't think it was particularly well written and I didn't find the characters engaging or well developed. Perhaps I just didn't 'get it' and need to give it another go but I don't see what the hype is about. Perhaps some of the nuance of the story is lost in translation?

    • +1

      Yeah, I've been working my way through iconic scifi novels and this one was a bit of a let down in comparison to many others which I really enjoyed. It covered some interesting ideas, but for me it lacked any real cohesion: the characters were decidedly average, and the plot felt like a physics lecturer's fever dream. Because it's a translated novel the prose is more on the utilitarian side.

      Still an interesting read, but falls short of the other Hugo award winners I've read. I feel like buying an Ian M Banks or Arthur C Clark novel would be a safer bet.

  • All three used to be available as paperbacks for $8 each at Book Grocer, but doesn't appear to be on their website at this point. Only just started reading it yesterday, seems interesting so far.

  • Also likely available at your local library.

  • +3

    just echoing what's already been said, this is a really really great 'hard sci-fi' story with great characters and a novel take on aliens, worth reading all 3 in the series.

  • +1

    Great series, the second book in the series particularly so.

  • +1

    Thanks!!! This has been on my to-read list after finishing the Bobiverse trilogy.

  • +1

    Surprised how popular this book is, I really didn't like it. Not sure if it was badly written or just poorly translated though. Felt like a cheesy teenage novel, definitely not hard sci-fi :(

  • +5

    I thought this was a textbook for the three-body problem in physics.

    • +3

      I think the three-body problem was solved in the Kama Sutra.

  • +1

    Best sci fi series of all time

  • +3

    i will wait until its on sale for $0.00

  • Best hardcore sci-fi in my opinion!

  • +4

    This saga was originally written in my mother tongue and I just can't recommend it enough. It literally reconstructed my understanding to this universe, as well as the way I see the meaning of the world and life. The span of the multi dimensions across which the author's imagination travels is so vast that when I read the story, sometimes I feel my brain nerves have actually been "stretched" like never before and it feels so good. The only struggle that I had was once started, I wanted to finish the whole trilogy at once but so long a saga it was that absolutely made this wish a mission impossible.

    • +3

      I read it and enjoyed the series.
      Part of the enjoyment was also the view into Chinese society, which was refreshing compared to the cultural norms that a lot of American sci-fi presents.

      • Same here, made the story more interesting, though I had to google to find out what "struggle sessions" are and what "reactionary" meant in the Chinese political/historical context.

  • +2

    Worth picking up for $1.89, but I didn't enjoy it. I actually went back and re-read it thinking that maybe it would have grown on me after a couple of years. Nope. It's so repetitive and just unintentionally silly at some points.

    I do look forward to the Netflix series though, I think it could translate well to the screen if they cut out enough of the rubbish.

  • Loved the first two books. The third book I felt tried to do too much so was (relatively) a letdown.

  • +4

    This is the first book in a trilogy and its a pretty solid scifi story with some pretty cool ideas and premises. The central theme of the series is a resolution the Fermi Paradox; why we can't see evidence of aliens despite it being almost a certainty given the amount of Earth-like planets in the Universe. The book's answer to the paradox and how the actors respond to this is amazing and realistic at the same time.

    The second book is one of my favorite works of fiction ever with an fantastic ending. In it, the main character has to tackle one of the most unique problems I've seen presented in fiction. Its definitely the superior to the first.

    The third suffers from weird pacing and unrelatable characters although its sci-fi concepts are the strongest out of the three books.

    • spoilers

      • I didn't give any. Or did you mean you want me to give you some?

  • Its a strange book, one that admittedly I didn't actually finish yet. But at that price I'd still recommend picking it up and seeing what you think. A lot of people really love it

  • What, not free?

    • No, $1.89.

  • -2

    No longer free of charge. Please update

    • It doesn't say it's free - it never said it's free. It's a Kindle Daily Deal - it's on special for $1.89.

      • I thought it was free and thought the free was expired, I was searching for thread expired comment then I found this.

  • +1

    soon to be a Netflix Original Series from the creators of Game of Thrones (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss).

    Oh god no. These guys made a great show into the biggest fall from grace I've ever seen. It's no coincidence that it didn't start going downhill until they ran out of content to adapt and had to go solo. When they had material to work with, it was great. When they had to come up with their own material they fumbled it hard.

    I have zero expectations for anything they work on.

    • +2

      I wasn't a big fan of the later seasons of Game of Thrones either but why do say you have zero expectations when you also think they made a great show when they had material to work with? Here they have material to work with for the whole series

      • +1

        these hacks have put me off forever. The taste they left in my mouth is that bad. I Will wait for reviews before I even think about it.

  • +1

    I've never seen this many upvotes for a non-free ebook. Is it really that good?

    • +1

      First Asian novel to ever win the Hugo Award for Best Novel. 4,000 Amazon reviews 4.3/5.0.

      I didn't realise it would be this popular when I posted the deal as I haven't read it myself (yet), but seems there's an interest in quality sci-fi on OzBargain :)

    • +1

      It is always each to its own taste but it is more than a sci-fi. It is not perfect but good enough to get me reading the 3rd time now. I don't enjoy every bit of it but it is one of the best.

  • waiting for movies

  • -2

    Showing as $1.89 for me.

    • +1

      Yes, it will - that's the damn price. Read the title. Lol.

      • Damn haha. I'm so used to these being free. My bad.

        • :)

  • No longer available? Or Amazon problem? I’m getting an error that Kindle books aren’t available at the .com.au store!

    • Still available - I'm not getting any errors - check again?

  • I've got a dumb question - do I need a Kindle to be able to read this?

    • +2

      No - you can download the Kindle App on various devices and read it there.

  • +1

    BTW the book’s translator, Ken Liu, is an accomplished English-language author in his own right.

    His short story “The Paper Menagerie” won the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

    (Link to the story below - sorry, could no longer find a non-AMP link with no inline ads)

    https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/io9.gizmodo.com/read-ken-liu…

  • +1

    will the Netflix series be whitewashed? In other words, the chinese characters be replaced with white actors?

    • +1

      No cast have been announced as yet

      • +1

        but it most likely will be whitewashed. It has to be. Not enough western audiences would watch it otherwise.

        • +1

          Perhaps reserve judgement until a cast is announced.

          • @Ori0n: i'm willing to be a house on it. You in?

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