I started this book without knowing what to expect. And I was pleasantly surprised.

  The one thing that I want to say about this book is that it is a book of contridictions. I guess this should be expected from a book that was first released in the East, not the West, and most likely the reason for somewhat mixed criticisms of the book.

  What do I mean by this? In most books I read, fiction mostly, they are about characters first. About the individual. How the individual can change the world. How the individual grows through hardship. How they come to realization. Yet, in this book, it was the opposite. The “character” in the book felt like a tool. A tool to build the plot. The characters were in the background, a piece to build a larger machine that is the Three Body Problem.

  Yes, there is the character Wang Miao. But to be honest, I found myself questioning him throughout the book. It seemed that he was an unbiased viewer of events. Yes, he sides with the government and the world against invasion. Yet I don’t particularly feel it from him. The chain is as strong as the weakest link, and Wang played an integral role in deterring the aliens. But for some reason it wasn’t as resounding as Harry Potter saving Hogwarts. This is not necessarily a bad thing though.

  Another contradiction I noticed in the book was its idea of global philosophy when civilization comes into contact with intelligent extra terrestrial life. Maybe I have only seen popular media for an example of this, like the Avengers. When faced with external threat, humanity bands together to defend earth, right? But Liu explains the exact opposite. When encountered with aliens, humanity’s existing conflicts and divides are exacerbated. The possibility of aliens only makes earth more divided. A very cynical world view, maybe, but also very realistic. What makes people think that humanity’s conflict can be resolved so simply. It has to be more complex than the Avengers.

  Overall, I’m a fan. These contradictions have brought a fresh perspective on sci-fi and fictions works in general. Hoping for more like this in the upcoming books.