Reading Order
Three-Body ProblemRemembrance of Earth's Past Reading Order
Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem (2008; English translation 2014) is the first volume of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy — the most celebrated science fiction novel to emerge from China, beginning during the Cultural Revolution and expanding to encompass first contact with an alien civilization and the fate of the solar system. Liu Cixin is the bestselling science fiction author in Chinese history; Ken Liu's English translation won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015, the first time a translated work won the Hugo. The trilogy is one of the most ambitious works of hard science fiction of the last twenty years and the most visible example of Chinese SF in the international market.
Where to start
The Three-Body Problem
Complete Three-Body Problem Book List
- 1Buy
The Three-Body Problem
Liu Cixin·2008·Volume 1 — the Cultural Revolution, Wang Miao and the Three Body virtual reality game, the first contact situation, the discovery that Earth has announced its existence to a hostile universe. - 2Buy
The Dark Forest
Liu Cixin·2008·Volume 2 — the Wallfacer Project, Luo Ji, the Trisolaran invasion fleet approaching over four centuries, and the revelation of what makes the universe so terrifyingly quiet. The most widely praised individual volume. - 3Buy
Death's End
Liu Cixin·2010·Volume 3 — the most ambitious and most science-fictionally extreme of the three volumes, spanning billions of years, Cheng Xin and the fate of the universe, the culmination of the trilogy's physics speculations.
Three-Body Problem — Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Dark Forest theory in The Three-Body Problem?
The Dark Forest theory is the central philosophical proposition of the second volume — Liu Cixin's answer to the Fermi paradox (why the universe is silent if civilizations are abundant). The theory holds that every civilization in the universe is a hunter hiding in a dark forest, because: resources are finite; civilizations expand to use resources; any civilization that reveals its location to another might be destroyed before it can destroy the other; and the risk of communication is therefore annihilation. The rational strategy is to stay hidden and to destroy any civilization you discover before it can destroy you. This is why the universe is silent: every civilization that announces itself is eliminated.
Do I need to read all three books of The Three-Body Problem trilogy?
The Three-Body Problem works as a standalone novel with a complete story, though it ends with the main conflict unresolved. The Dark Forest (volume 2) is widely considered the best and most complete individual volume. Death's End (volume 3) is the most ambitious but also the most demanding. Many readers read all three; some stop after The Dark Forest and feel satisfied. If you find the Cultural Revolution sections of Volume 1 slow, most readers say the novel picks up significantly in its second half and through Volumes 2 and 3.
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