Three-Body Problem

by 刘慈欣 · 2008

The Three-Body Problem, the first novel in Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, follows nanotechnology professor Wang Miao as he is drawn into a baffling mystery of scientist suicides, a countdown of mysterious numbers, and a virtual‑reality game called Three‑Body. The game reveals a chaotic alien world on the brink of destruction, whose civilization has intercepted Earth’s signal and plans an invasion. Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, the story explores humanity’s response to an existential alien threat, the clash of factions that either welcome the superior beings or fight to resist them, and the profound scientific and philosophical questions that arise from first contact.