The Three-body Problem by Cixin Liu presents me with an interesting dilemma. No, that’s not what I mean. I just like saying interesting dilemma. It makes me thoughtful. Full of thoughts. I wonder if I like it because it’s Chinese and therefore nifty for being different. Do I like it because math? Math is an excellent reason to like things.
It does hit a LOT of my buttons. Math/physics in fiction. Murder mystery vibe. Hard bitten detective types. Foreign society to try and figure out. Space sciency stuff. A puzzle. A puzzle I haven’t solved early. I’m not smart with puzzles and am easily duped but if I figure it out I put the book down usually. I read for “what happens next”.
Also I’ve had to struggle to slow down. I so BADLY want to know what it is. What the secret is. Why everything. I’ve put the book down several times because… I was OVER excited. And once I put the book down because a character’s name is a homonym to a euphemism. And I’m five apparently.
Cixin reminds me a lot of Stephenson (Ananthem) and that guy who wrote Jurassic Park…. I’d look his name up but that defeats the point that I couldn’t remember his name but I knew he wrote about dinosaurs, raptors, deadly space viruses, killer gorillas, and a sphere. Anyways the fiction is a lot like that.
I don’t like Stephenson. Well I like him, I like his stories and I like his pacing and I burn through his books…and don’t read them again. I’ve read the cryptography one and Ananthem? I’m not sure I’m spelling that right. And those two were –amaze- but when I see him I’m like…ick I’m not sure I want to read that. So I haven’t tried anymore. I think it’s because his books set my brain on fire. I end up all fidgety and excited and full of thoughts and I’m not sure I like that.
For comparison, Harry Blackstone Coppersomething Dresden doesn’t exactly tax my brain. But it triggers all the feels and is warm and comforting like cocoa mixed in coffee.
Cixin is like coffee. No, like expresso. I’m super hyped just reading a bit of him but I’m not sure I’m comfortable with how excited I am. Makes me feel all weird and hyper aware without being hyper aware for real.
But I really like him. Well so far at least. I’ve gotten loud and excited and chatty about how much I like him to all my family/friends.
I do that.
Herself doesn’t always appreciate that aspect of me. The thing where everything in life is HYERBOLE. But at least I didn’t buy a sad book. Then I’d be all terrible to live with.
This isn’t a sad book. Well okay the first bit…that bit was sad. But only if you empathized with the characters and weren’t busy struggling not to speed read and find out WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT.
I want to know so bad.
That thing…where he..and then that other bit. This better not be a Sagan book where in the end we never went anywhere at all. That was so dumb.
I’m hoping the big reveal lives up to its hype.
Kinda like… oh that biologist series with the girl with the red hair on the cover on ice where the tenticles… no no no not like that… ick. The one where the things eat worlds dead with acid. I loved that one.
I’m hoping this book turns into that.
Now, I’ve been looking for this book for a while. But it got it confused with another book I’m looking for and I couldn’t find it. The other book I was looking for is about a linguist who is important in space. Yes, the guy at B&N said that didn’t help much either. But I got three-body confused with it and thought I’d found it and then realized I hadn’t but was still happy with my purchase.
Tada.
Because I’m trying to find a new series to read.
I’ve read all of Malazan.
All of the Wheel of Time.
All of Vlad Taltos. And finally about the third time I’d read through the series to the point where it is now I realized I was saying his name wrong.
All of Dresden.
And I’m out of books. I’m tempted to try Patterson, J but he’s all mystery murder and I’m the guy who gets frustrated by Castle.
I tried Jaqueline Carey but ran into a conundrum. First, she’s like ROMANCE. All caps. Second, the vocal person for Namaah’s Kiss and I don’t agree. Which is sad because I think, we might possibly be best friends at some point, but maybe not and I just couldn’t dig it.
I read a very nice series about Mercedes Tomson Tomsen, Tomphson. Her. That both me and Herself really enjoyed until there was this scene where some kids die involving a water spirit and we were both like “DONE.” And never picked it up again.
I tried the Aztec/Norse God futuristic series but really didn’t like it. I’ve tried Ringo and don’t like his writing. Eric Flint and Weber and the guy who writes Imager are all too… preachy? Predictable? Staid? I don’t know. I like them all on their days but not in the past two or three years.
So I was following authors and Scalzi pointed at Neil who pointed at @TinyTempest who had a list of non-traditional? Authors. And I’m a middle kingdom fanboy so Cixin Liu.
Which is how I ended up here. Reading this book. That I’m telling you about.
The one in which Physics isn’t real. Despite Physics being a main character.
It’s like a three-body state situation. Physics is, isn’t and both. 0 1 and inbetween.
Very quantum except I’m using that wrong.
Anyways.
Good book. I plan on buying the sequels when they get translated.
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I wrote this about 70% into the book. I plan on writing a more in-depth look at the book and my thoughts of it once a week or two has passed.
Wordsremember 