The first book in a trilogy by Chinese science fiction writer Cixin Liu, translated by Chinese-American science fiction writer Ken Liu.

This volume won a Hugo award, and I sort of half-seriously think that maybe it won in large part just for its sheer audacity and its surprise factor. Seriously, nothing about this book should actually work. The plot is a weird sort of puzzle whose answer is simultaneously kind of obvious (especially if you read the description on the back cover), but also completely bananas. It's grounded heavily in very real science, but the things it does with it are insane. The structure is a bit odd, at least to Western sensibilities, with lots of telling-instead-of-showing. There were a dozens of moments that had me going, "Wait... what? Does that even make any sense?" And there's a thread of cynicism and an air of impending doom all delivered in an almost matter-of-fact way.

And yet, somehow, the net effect of all of this is to produce just a really nifty read. One that kept me engaged all the way through, and did a great job of exciting my intellectual curiosity. Quite how it pulls that off, I have no idea. I suspect it's not something that will work for absolutely everyone – already possessing a certain level of science geekery in your soul no doubt helps a lot – but apparently for those it is for, me included, all that audacity does in fact pay off. Somehow.

Now I definitely have to go and order the next two books... ( )

I am a physicist, and following the scientific and mathematical bits was easy for me. I enjoyed reading the narration that takes place inside a video game, as that was quite imaginative, yet still interesting from a physics perspective. I didn’t care for the violence in the other parts of the book and generally wished to skip those parts. That was my subjective experience of this book. I don’t not recommend it. It just wasn’t entirely my thing. ( )

Take the Cultural Revolution - one of the most unprecedented phases in Chinese history, the actions of which could be easily labelled as an Orwellian.

Now add micro-dimensions (postulated dimensions existing beyond the normal four dimensions of space and time), first contact (debating on how humans will establish contact with aliens, and its consequences), and the three body problem (a famous classical mechanics problem which states that in a system of three bodies, it is impossible to predict any future configuration) to the already volatile mix.

Add in dry character development, and what looks like a clichéd plot at first glance. The result should have been an implosion - but thankfully, it is not. It is, instead, one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever produced. It is fine, distilled art in a hitherto unforeseen form.

There is no point in putting my words in this review - because it is impossible to write down the emotions evoked. Tranquility and anger to sheer, unbridled awe - this novel makes you feel them all, and more.

TL;DR - if you're a fan of hard sci-fi (tinged with a significant dose of reality, so not recommended for the casual reader) novels, or are thinking of getting into them, give this a chance. You'll never be the same again. ( )

The setting: an alien civilisation undergoing terminal decline detects a transmission from Earth, and aims to invade. Their advance preparation is to arrest our technological advancement by application of SCIENCE.
This is that rare example of science fiction where all the speculative parts still dwell within the known laws of physics. Takes a while to get from good to great, but when it did it fairly blew my mind. Science fiction doesn't get any better than this. Highly, highly recommended. ( )

This is an ambitious book. The ideas are wildly imaginative and perhaps ground-breaking. It tries to portray itself as hard science-fiction, which perhaps it is. Maybe worth of 4 or 5 stars. But the story, translated from Chinese, has two problems for me that kept me from enjoying much of it and knocking it down a couple of stars.
First, the human side, the story, comes across as clunky and old-fashioned and full of too much 'telling'. I never connected with any of the characters. They were all two-dimensional. And too many things happened because they were convenient to the story. I kept thinking that this was where something was lost in translation.
Second, some of the science stuff, especially the portrayal of an alien world and its culture, was so way out there that it came across more like fantasy than hard science fiction. The book tried to explain it all in such excruciating detail that even a nerd like me could feel my eyes glazing over.
The contrast between this and a series like The Expanse is palpable. The authors of the Expanse made their world full of real people with real motivations and emotions and then gave them inexplicable science problems to deal with. I have a feeling that whoever is adapting this to television is doing some heavy lifting in the area of story development. ( )