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The Three-Body Problem

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The Three-Body Problem

Written by: Cixin Liu, Ken Liu - translator
Narrated by: Rosalind Chao
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About this listen

This program is read by Rosalind Chao, who stars as Ye Wenjie in the Netflix adaptation, 3 Body Problem.

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

Over 1 million copies sold in North America

“A mind-bending epic.”The New York Times • “War of the Worlds for the 21st century.”The Wall Street Journal • “Fascinating.”TIME • “Extraordinary.”The New Yorker • “Wildly imaginative.”—Barack Obama • “Provocative.”Slate • “A breakthrough book.”—George R. R. Martin • “Impossible to put down.”GQ • “Absolutely mind-unfolding.”NPR • “You should be reading Liu Cixin.”The Washington Post

The Three-Body Problem is the first novel in the groundbreaking, Hugo Award-winning series from China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu.

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

The Three-Body Problem Series
The Three-Body Problem
The Dark Forest
Death's End

Other Books by Cixin Liu
Ball Lightning
Supernova Era
To Hold Up the Sky

The Wandering Earth
A View from the Stars

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

Asian Creators First Contact Genre Fiction Hard Science Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Fiction China Astronomy 21st Century War

What the critics say

A breakthrough book . . . a unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation.” —George R. R. Martin, on The Three Body Problem

Extraordinary.” —The New Yorker, on The Three Body Problem

“Remarkable, revelatory and not to be missed.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on The Three Body Problem

"A must-read in any language.” —Booklist, on The Three Body Problem

"A meditation on technology, progress, morality, extinction, and knowledge that doubles as a cosmos-in-the-balance thriller.... a testament to just how far [Liu's] own towering imagination has taken him... forever into the canon of science fiction. - NPR, on Death's End

"The best kind of science fiction, familiar but strange all at the same time." -- Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Three Body Problem

Continue the series

The Dark Forest cover art
The Dark Forest Written by: Cixin Liu, and others
Death's End cover art
Death's End Written by: Cixin Liu, and others
The Redemption of Time cover art
The Redemption of Time Written by: Baoshu, and others
All stars
Most Relevant
I must beg to differ with the Oof review.
I came at the audiobook after having watched the 1st season of the Netflix's dramatisation.
This pre knowledge allowed me to easily orient myself in the web of characters, crisscrossing naturatives, deepen the essentials and keep going.
Being dyslexic when tackling the written word, audiobooks have opened up a universe of literature hitherto inaccessible to me.
I could not help but admire the arduous task of translation from the Chinese, and the quality of the audio rendition, clearly the work of a professional.
If you are curious to flesh out your understanding of 3 Bodies, please do not deny yourself access to this monumental piece of work.

A different perspective

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The story will change your perspective - specifically how we imagine discoveries are yet to be discovered when the reality is they may already be apparent.

Great performance, I appreciate the sound effects.

Brilliant provocation

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Very good listen, I found the narrators voice nice to listen to.
Being an English speaker I had difficulties following all the Chinese names but that’s my problem and not the author or narrator.

Fascinating story

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With it being ‘hard’ sci-fi I expected it to be dry, but I was hooked right away and it held my attention all the way through. The setting of the cultural revolution added a lot of drama and tension, and was a really interesting perspective. The performance and production is also excellent.

I thought it would be dry. I was wrong

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Full of chapters where absolutely nothing happens. Dialogue is stiff and unrealistic. The TV series is nothing like the book. The historical context is the most interesting part; the rest is very predictable and uneventful.

Flat performance, boring story

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