The Three-Body Problem (novel)

The Three-Body Problem () is a 2008 novel by the Chinese hard science fiction author Liu Cixin. It is the first novel in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. The series portrays a fictional past, present, and future wherein Earth encounters an alien civilization from a nearby system of three Sun-like stars orbiting one another, a representative example of the three-body problem in orbital mechanics.

The story was originally serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 before it was published as a standalone book in 2008. In 2006, it received the Galaxy Award for Chinese science fiction.Clute, John. "Yinhe Award" , Science Fiction Encyclopedia, 3rd edition. Accessed November 21, 2017 In 2012, it was described as one of China's most successful full-length novels of the past two decades. The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor Books in 2014."Three Body ." Ken Liu Official Website. Retrieved on July 29, 2015. That translation was the first novel by an Asian writer to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel;Chen, Andrea. "Out of this world: Chinese sci-fi author Liu Cixin is Asia's first writer to win Hugo award for best novel." South China Morning Post. Monday 24 August 2015. Retrieved on 27 August 2015. it was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

The book has been adapted into other media. In 2015, a Chinese film adaptation of the same name was in production, but it was never released. A Chinese TV series, Three-Body, was released in early 2023 to critical success locally. An English-language Netflix series adaptation, 3 Body Problem, was released in March 2024.

Background Liu Cixin was born in Beijing in June 1963. Before beginning his career as an author, he was a senior engineer working at a power plant in Shanxi province. In 1989, he wrote Supernova Era and China 2185, but neither book was published at that time. His first published short story, Whale Song, was published in Science Fiction World in June 1999. The same year, his novel With Her Eyes won the Galaxy Award. In 2000, he wrote The Wandering Earth, which also received the Galaxy Award and was adapted into a film in 2019. When the short story Mountain appeared in January 2006, many readers wrote that they hoped Liu would write a novel. He decided to concentrate on novel-length texts rather than short stories. Outside of Remembrance of Earth's Past, Liu's novels include Supernova Era and Ball Lightning. When not otherwise busy, Liu wrote 3,000–5,000 words a day; each of his books reportedly took about one year to complete.

Plot

During China's Cultural Revolution, astrophysicist Ye Wenjie witnesses her father beaten to death during a struggle session. A political outcast, Ye is initially sentenced to a labor camp but is then recruited to "Red Coast," a secret military initiative attempting to search for and communicate with extraterrestrial life.

At Red Coast, Ye discovers a method to amplify radio frequency transmissions using the Sun, with which she secretly broadcasts a message. Eight years later, she receives a reply from the alien planet Trisolaris, which warns her not to make any further communications to avoid the Trisolarans learning the location of Earth and subsequently invading. Disillusioned by humanity's inability to live harmoniously with itself and nature, Ye invites the Trisolarans to Earth to settle its problems.

After China's reforms, Ye encounters Mike Evans, heir to the world's largest oil company but also a radical environmentalist who shares Ye's ideals and disappointment in humanity. Ye discloses Trisolaris' existence to Evans, who founds and finances the secret Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO) as a militant fifth column for Trisolaris, with Ye as the ETO's leader.

Through Trisolaris-ETO communications, Trisolaris is revealed to be a planet orbiting the ternary star system of Alpha Centauri. Because of the three-body problem, the three stars' movements (and Trisolaris' position relative to them) are chaotic and unpredictable. As a result, Trisolaris experiences great climate extremes, alternating between temperate "Stable Eras" during which civilization thrives, and "Chaotic Eras" of climate catastrophes. The worst such catastrophes are civilization-ending. Hundreds of Trisolaran civilizations have risen and fallen, each attempting but failing to develop an accurate calendar that can predict and help prepare for Chaotic Eras.

Upon reception of Ye's broadcasts, the current and technologically advanced Trisolaran civilization identifies Earth as a colonization target, which will permit the Trisolaran civilization to escape their inhospitable and ultimately-doomed home planet. It dispatches an invasion force on a 450-year journey to Earth.

However, the Trisolaran leadership is concerned that Earth's accelerating technological developments will outmatch the invasion force by the time of its arrival. Therefore, Trisolaris develops "sophons" (minuscule supercomputers embedded in single protons) in order to arrest Earth's technological development by interfering with its scientific experiments.

By the late-2000s/early-2010s, the sophon-induced apparent breakdown of science on Earth has prompted the suicides of prominent scientists. This alarms Earth's governments, who form an international task force to investigate, recruiting nanotechnologist Wang Miao and detective Shi Qiang. As part of his investigation, Wang plays the virtual reality video game Three Body, which is a simulation of Trisolaris created by the ETO to identify potential recruits and to garner sympathy for the Trisolaran plight.

Wang's successes in Three Body result in his induction into the ETO, where Ye reveals to Wang the full extent of the conspiracy. Wang also witnesses the schism between the "Adventist" faction of the ETO, which views humanity as irredeemable and promotes its complete destruction by Trisolaris, and the "Redemptionist" faction, which aims to save the Trisolaran civilization by developing a solution to the three-body problem and producing an accurate calendar.

Tipped-off by Wang, Shi and the People's Liberation Army raid the meeting, arresting Ye. An international military force then seizes the converted oil tanker housing ETO's communications with Trisolaris. From these actions, Earth's governments directly learn of Trisolaris' existence and the approaching invasion force. Wang and his colleagues resolve to fight in Humanity's defense.

English translation In 2012, Chinese-American science-fiction author Ken Liu and translator Joel Martinsen were commissioned by the China Educational Publications Import and Export Corporation (CEPIEC) to produce an English translation of The Three-Body Problem, with Liu translating the first and last volumes, and Martinsen translating the second. In 2013, it was announced that the series would be published by Tor in the United States and by Head of Zeus in the United Kingdom.

Liu and Martinsen's translations contain footnotes explaining references to Chinese history that may be unfamiliar to international audiences. There are also some changes in the order of the chapters for the first volume. In the translated version, chapters which take place during the Cultural Revolution appear at the beginning of the novel rather than in the middle, as they were serialized in 2006 and appeared in the 2008 novel. According to the author, these chapters were originally intended as the opening, but were moved by his publishers to avoid attracting the attention of government censors.

Characters

Ye family Ye Zhetai () Physicist and professor at Tsinghua University. He is killed at a struggle session during the Cultural Revolution. Shao Lin () Physicist and wife of Ye Zhetai. She denounces her husband in an act of self-preservation. Ye Wenjie () Astrophysicist and daughter of Ye Zhetai and Shao Lin. She is the first person to establish contact with Trisolaris while working at Red Coast. She marries Yang Weining with whom she has a daughter, Yang Dong. She later becomes the spiritual leader of the Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO). Ye Wenxue () Ye Wenjie's younger sister, a Tsinghua High School student and a zealous Red Guard. She is killed during factional violence at some point after the collapse of their family.

Red Coast Base Lei Zhicheng () Political commissar at Red Coast Base. He recruits Ye Wenjie and oversees her work. He is murdered by Ye Wenjie after he discovers her secret communications with Trisolaris. Yang Weining () Chief engineer at Red Coast Base, once a student of Ye Zhetai, later Ye Wenjie's husband and murdered by her alongside Lei Zhicheng.

Present-day Wang Miao () Nanomaterials researcher and academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is tasked with investigating the ETO as well as the recent spate of suicides among well-known scientists. Wang Miao becomes immersed in the virtual reality game Three Body, through which he learns about Trisolaris. Yang Dong () String theorist and daughter of Ye Wenjie and Yang Weining. She commits suicide shortly before the present day events. Ding Yi () Theoretical physicist and Yang Dong's partner. He provides key insights to Wang Miao during his investigations. He was previously featured in Ball Lightning, another of Liu's works. Shi Qiang () Police detective and counter-terrorism specialist, nicknamed "Da Shi" (; "Big Shi"). He has a crude demeanor but is highly dependable and often demonstrates keen insight. He assists Wang Miao in exposing the ETO. Chang Weisi () Major-general of the People's Liberation Army who leads China's response to the ETO. Shen Yufei () Chinese-Japanese physicist. A leader of the "Redemptionist" faction of the ETO, she aims to develop a solution to the three-body problem that will save the Trisolaran civilization. She is murdered by her factional rival Pan Han. Wei Cheng () Math prodigy, recluse, and Shen Yufei's husband. With Shen's support, he develops a possible solution to the three-body problem. Pan Han () Biologist, acquaintance of Shen Yufei and Wei Cheng. A leader of the "Adventist" faction of the ETO, he murders Shen Yufei to prevent the solving of the three-body problem, which will remove Trisolaris' incentive to invade Earth. Sha Ruishan () Astronomer, one of Ye Wenjie's students. Mike Evans () Radical environmentalist who supports "pan-species communism", also son of an oil magnate. After meeting Ye Wenjie, he founds the ETO and provides its main source of funding. He leads the "Adventist" faction of the ETO, which views humanity as irredeemable and promotes its complete destruction by Trisolaris. Colonel Stanton () Officer of the U.S. Marine Corps and commander of Operation Guzheng, which captures the ETO's communications with Trisolaris.

Inspiration In Liu's early childhood, when he was three years old his family moved from the Beijing Coal Design Institute to Yangquan in Shanxi, due to his father changing jobs. He also spent a part of his childhood in the countryside around the ancestral hometown of Luoshan, Henan. On 25 April 1970, Dong Fang Hong 1—China's first satellite—was launched. Liu remembered the launch as a pivotal event in his life, recalling a deep sense of longing on witnessing it.

Several years later, Liu found a box of books under his bed in Yangquan, which included an anthology of Tolstoy, Moby-Dick, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Silent Spring. Upon beginning to read Journey to the Center of the Earth, his father told him: "It's called science fiction, it's a creative writing based on science". This was his first encounter with the genre, and he later remarked: "My persistence stems from the words of my father." At that time, such books could only be safely read privately by individuals: "I felt like being alone on an island, it is a very lonely state".

Analysis While the novel features several characters, its primary focus is on geopolitics, both in Mao's China and present-day civilization.