3 Body Problem: Top 10 Differences Between The Book And Series 

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Death's end is so mind bending. I hope they end the show the way the book ends.

For the ones that read the books, keep in mind, it’s “Based on” not an “adaptation of”…. Even so, as someone that totally fell in love with the books (and author), I really enjoyed Netflix’s take on this amazing story and looking forward to it continuation.

As a fan of the books, I appreciate how the series captures the essence while offering fresh perspectives.

You can compare Netflix version with Chinese TV version which was more closely related to the original book.

as a reader of the books, I think everything is moving waaay too fast and the tone is nothing like the story should be, but I am just glad that the story is still respected. Hopefully season 2 slows things down and isn't afraid to take risks because, season 1 was the most "netflix-ified" example I've seen in a long time.

I think the problem with the series is the oversimplification of characters. Taking Ye Wenjie as example. She and her experience are the highlights of book one. Her desperation, her hope (example when almost dying giving birth to Yang Dong, then saved and kindly treated by the villagers), her regret (for starting the ETO and lost control, just like another mad culture revolution), her redemption (inspiring LuoJi). While now she becomes just a flat character filled with hatred. This book series has so much more to dig, that if they did it justice, it could hit a much higher level rather than now being just average, because they wanted to swallow too much in one go.

Loved the show. I immediately got online after finishing the last episode and read what happens in book 2 and 3 and holy shit does the story get absolutely fucking bonkers.

In case you don't know.. you can also watch Chinese Version of 3 Body Problem... It's more detailed and focused on the MC..

Thanks for useful and valuable video as always ❤❤❤

Having read the novels and watched the shows I think they did a good job of transforming it into a watchable TV series.

I see you, Samwell Tarly!!

I am halfway through the 2nd book and it truly is a difficult text to adapt. There are long dissertations about science, military strategies, mathematics or even love (Luo Ji and the writer), to summarize everything to turn it into film/tv language must have been hard. I don't like some changes that have been done, but I think it's a dynamic ans well crafted show. I still haven't seen the Chinese version.

Overall, I thought it was a decent adaptation. I was hoping to get a Sophon zoom meeting between old Ye and the original San Ti who tried to warn her. I really thought that would have been an amazing opportunity for a mountain top swan song conversation. Far better than just Tatiana. I really thought Tatiana was going to say "before you go, there is someone who wants to talk to you...."

I think re-imagining the characters was a good move so there is some continuity and characters to follow throughout the whole story. In the books almost none of the characters except for a handful (Wade, Lou Ji, Ye Wenjie, Cheng Xin, Yun Tianming) are really developed. A lot of characters appear for a bit and then vanish from the story never to be seen again. This would make for very confusing TV

I was skeptical about the 3 body problem, but fortunately my daughter recommended it to me. I am a big fan of science fiction, not science fantasy or even worse pure fantasy passed off as Sci-fi. This series impressed me! (Something that has not happened in a very long time.) They did not go light with the science part...when I had to explain the 3 body problem (Newton's problem) and what the WOW signal is, to my wife, that was a good thing. Now I hope that Netflix will continue with the series. I will read the book after that.

With all the adding, cutting, shifting, shuffling, etc. all the characters and events, I think the show is more appropriate to be labeled as "inspired by", not adaptation.

As a Chinese, I now understand how the French felt when they saw the movie Napoleon.

I watched the series and haven’t read the book. This is one of the most intriguing stories I have come across in this genre and a fascinating one. Although the last few episodes a bit slow in my opinion compared to the scintillating initial episodes, i binge watched it. I am all set to read the triology

Rooney such an awesome addition. The only 1 of the Oxford 5 to drop-out but is nonetheless successful. Probably the happiest one too.

In my university we have Chinese exchange students and I talked to some of them about this. They do not like the Netflix version and told me in china they made their own version and it is better

For people who liked the books or thought the tv went too fast or changed too much, try the Chinese series adaptation. It was much closer to the books and season 1 is 30 hours covering just the first book.

Simply mind blowing...

The mediums of episodic tv on screen and published novels are very different and require ‘adaptation’. I always use the example of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Yes, they are different and the film made changes to the book. But as a result, they are each superior stories, within their own mediums.

It’s really annoying that this wasn’t well researched enough to include the fact that Jack is absolutely a character in the books. Tianming has a friend from college that owns the beverage company. Y’all need to watch Quinn’s ideas … the differences between the show in the bucks cannot be pointed out in 13 minutes. There also is multiplayer mode in the game , what are you talking about ?! my biggest issue with the show is that the cop isn’t playing the game like he is in the book. Tatiana is shen yufei

I find it interesting of the alterations Ken Liu made in translations. For example, the title of the 3rd book was translated as "Death's End", but the direct translation of the original title is "God of Death Lives Forever". The meaning is vastly different, and I think the original title fits the story better.

Watched the 1st episode, ended up binging the whole season. Really incredible concept

I personally think this movie is made for people like me, and my friends, who can't really understand all the science part. My sister and I, for example, couldn't really understand what happened in Auggie's scene when she shut down the lab, what was nanofiber, etc. We only understood it in episode 5. Maybe it became more difficult since English isn't our mother tongue. But for ppl like us, despite our limited understanding, we enjoyed the plot. I personally looked up for more explanation online and it didn't take away my initial enjoyment of the show.

the general consensus seems to be that people who read the book think the show is trash because they changed it up a bit. but anyone who hasnt read the books think the show is amazing. i think people need to get over the fact that not everything has to be a 1 to 1 adaption. that would make things boring.

Can’t wait to start watching it after the series wraps up.

Having read books; I think show is amazing. No movie/show can be an exact copy of a book, and nor should it be! A great job in aligning timeline and consolidating story lines & characters, but essence & magic remain! Brilliant!

Tldr - the book has important philosophical ideas, big thinking and almost reads like a sci-fi horror unlike any other. The author takes some liberty with fringe science but has put alot of thought into how things might play out like a 'what if' sci-fi scenario and the answers tend to be logical and terrifying. The TV series is more like a good action sci-fi interspersed with drama. It removes alot of the philosophical aspects and simplifies the hard science. It is a different experience altogether. I would say the TV series simplifies the books alot let's say from a level of 10/10 down to a level of 3/10. This is why book readers feel the show is not good. It also gives it a Hollywood feel which removes a sense of realism the book delivers. This is unfortunately just a safe play on what Netflix viewers want. Big actors big explosions and CGI. It's entertainment for TV and not meant to be fan service anyway. Takeaway: if you like big ideas, esp sci-fi please read the book first. If not, the TV show is good enough to explore core concepts from the book. (but you'll need to pay attention as core concepts are sometimes mentioned or explained very briefly - eg. My wife missed a min of dialogue and completely misinterpreted the rest of the episode. Even the important events happening to important characters sometimes aren't acted out in a scene but just mentioned in dialogue between other characters so it's easy to miss.) I think if the TV series started of as a thriller mystery, evolving into horror and then the struggle against hopelessness and dread... That would better convey the book. The best style would be that of Hannibal, contact, and Chernobyl series. Maybe a little bit of that xfiles vibe at the start when it was still a mystery before the antagonists were revealed.

As a long time book fan, I loved the show It does everything I could ever hope for in a tv adaptation❤

I've read the first book and watched the show. I do like the show brought in additional characters in the show. Making the show true to the book with only 2 people would not have made for a very good show in my opinion. I really didn't like jumping all over in the timeline in the book, i think the linear in order way works much better. The additions Netflix has added is what makes the show more entertaining for me.

I highly recommend reading the books, they are deeper and make more sense. To be honest, the Netflix adaptation of the Three Body Problem seems very simplified to me, with flat characters and atrocious dialogue. Everyone who says it's just a few changes hasn't read the books at all.

The quality of the episodes drops off around 4-5. It feels like it was suddenly directed, edited, and written by a completely different group of people. One scene in particular had insane microphone peaking on one character.

Haven't seen it yet but I did put it in my list. I really didn't know what it was about from the previews, but I have a better understanding now after watching this video. Cheers 🍻

I love the show. And now it makes me wanna read the book.

I read the OG chinese version. The author struggled with storytelling and character development until the third book. Considering it was his debut work, I can forgive this, especially since his strength lies in explaining physics, which I love. Although Netflix excelled in storytelling, but fell short in explaining most of the concepts behind alien technology, which the book delves into with great detail.

As a bug, I just had to read the trilogy first...then I watched the Netflix series. The books are so much more detailed and demanding, keeping my curiosity at a fever pitch. The screen version changes lots (grrr) and spoon feeds the narrative (but I still liked watched season one).

Both are good. Actually like the show more. My only gripe is how localised all the characters are. Would have preferred to see the story spread across the globe.

Read the books when they first became available. I perfer the Chinese Version over the Netflix one.

I think this show was a cool way to adapt the books. I love them, but this difference take is a great way to make the show fresh for readers, while keeping the ideas in tact.

To me it seems they really only made three significant changes but that did cause some ripple effects: i) they "UKified" the characters and location, ii) reorganised the story so it's mostly chronological and iii) made some minor changes to help the audience with some of the physics and political explanations. Better than a lot of book adaptations and in some ways a definite improvement for a wider audience.

Have not read the books, but watched the story on Netflix. I can hardly wait for the second season. I may read the books after the last season.

I have one question still lingering in my mind after finishing the Netflix series... What REALLY happens when the "countdown" reaches zero? Does the affected people die or gets killed? Auggie stopped at 1 minute, but when she restated the nanofibre project, the countdown disappears. And the final scene with Wade in the plane hints at torture, but death?

IMO, In the TV show, some characters are too fragmented, the pace of storytelling is too fast that some scenes needs more emotional build up. And some details I think it’s not necessary. Break up Wang Miao into couple of different scientists is a cool idea. But the downside is, it’s really hard for the audience to memorize and relate to so many different characters all at once. Another character I think it’s not adapted well is Yang Weining, Ye Wenjie’s husband. In the book, he loves Ye, and he is probably one of the few people who truly cared about Ye and remind her of the good side of humanity. Thus, when Ye killed him, you can tell there is a struggle and conflict in her action. Which made both characters deeper and gives more dimensions. However, in the TV show, Yang seems to be another person who betrayed Ye by stealing her discovery about the sun. Which in my opinion made the character much more boring and cliche. I also don’t like they added that little NPC girl in the VR game. She keeps screaming “save me” that at some point it becomes annoying. I guess the Show is trying to tell us how cruel the three sun problem is, but I think everyone gets it, and keeps repeating that girl is just not necessary. Another detail I noticed is, in the scene when the universe winks at you, the show took it quite literally, by just flicking the stars. Which seems a little cheap as if you are playing a PPT slides. While in the book and Chinese TV show, the so-called universe winks is actually a wave or radiation that only can be detected by using scientific methods and equipment. Which I think it’s much clever and also will shock scientists even more.

Having read the books and not knowing any of the science, I have to say the tv series is super enjoyable. Im not into details and explanations, which the book had a lot of. I did get confused on trying to match the characters to the ones in the book though. Great adaption for americans!

This series is an incredible storytelling achievement. It takes you on an amazing journey that stays true to its original story. More than just an adaptation, it deeply explores what the future could hold, including the chance of meeting beings from other planets. It asks big questions about whether we should try to contact aliens and what we need to think about if we do. The series also brings a unique kind of fear, not from scary things but from the huge, mysterious universe around us. This fear, mixed with wonder and the unknown, makes the show more than just entertaining-it's a thought-provoking look at what lies beyond our world and how we fit into the vastness of space.

First 4 episode were very good. Last 4 were a bit uneven. I’m definitely intrigued to see where it goes. Never read the books.

The description of the original work is far more shocking and reasonable than Netflix series.

Sophon is my favorite character, her voice makes me to relax.

I think to tell a good adapted story, we need to move away from 8 episodes a season! The least should be 10 and maximum 12 or 13. Packing too much in too few episodes is usually a series killer😢

i've read the books and as you said there are lots of differences but for the show i liked the adaptation. it was a hard work to do and they've done it. Producers did well. Second season will be much much harder imo. i hope they can complete it.

I just finished watching the series yesterday. I went blind. I have not read the books, I'm not even much of a sci-fin fan but I really liked this series. I totally understand and respect that some book readers may have found this a little too fast-paced. But honestly, with me having issues with very short attention span, I really liked its pacing. It's no bullsh*t straight to the point. As a regular audience, I don't care about the deep diving tidbits, that will surely make me bored. Hope this gets Season 2 and get to the end.

Love the show. Its pretty damn accurate to the books all things considered, not a 1-1 direct translation but all the story beats are there. Damn im glad they didnt fuck it up. DnD may be shit at writing completely new stuff (game of thrones late seasons) but they can adapt books pretty damn well.

I 100% agree with the changed made in the Show, this makes it easier to relate and also more coherent.

What I want to know is what are the top differences between videos I’d watch and this one

I liked the adaptation of Tianming into Will, the connection with Jin and Jack's testament. It makes more sense than the book version, which feels very forced.

I LOVED THIS SHOW SO MUCH!!!!! I´m definitively going to get the books! 😍😍😍

I think the first season is meant to be a hook to get people interested before throwing complex explanations on them. Kinda like what Dark did. The first season was more of a mystery-thriller than an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic sci-fi series. Establish the world and the characters first and tell the story through their perspectives and explain things after. I haven't read the books but i think Saul would be the one making sense of things for audience. He didn't have a big role in the first season but his character was setup pretty nicely for things to come.

its got a fair rating now but I'm sure it'll go down soon to 60s or 50s. the book was hard to get into, but I tried.

Personally as someone who didn't know about the original book, I really like the way how they changed and directed it. It was a lot of fun to watch and some characters were entertaining. Only downside for me was the last episode that had almost no story or meaning at all. I understand that they should keep story for the other seasons but it felt quite pointless.

LOVE IT - so Netflix had bloody better continue!

I like how they’ve split the key characters from the novel series into the Oxford 5 and makes the adaptation such that I think they can keep these characters in future series. Whereas the books introduce new charatcers for different things since the timescales in it are large. And I love da shis dry humour which is similar to the books

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when Netflix producers take another brilliant book series and transform it into a visually stunning but intellectually stunted TV series. Fortunately, we have a growing art form that provides an alternative: the audiobook as performed by talented voice actors. Faithful to the book, yet providing an extra dimension that complements one’s own reading of the books. The recording (and translation) of the Tri-Solaris books by Macmillan Books is brilliant in every way that the Netflix version is disappointing.

I can’t wait to read the book !

those are some changes, I'm gonna need to watch the joseph quinn's ideas videos

I like listening to how all you English-speaking people struggle to pronounce the X sound in Chinese

Where should i start reading after finishing season 1??

You missed out the single most important point: the inane and contorted “joke” that Saul is told at the end. That was most avoidable. I does not capture the nuance of the axioms used in the books which are based on game theory and the Fermi paradox: humanity’s need for survival in the backdrop of a chain of suspicion, and technological explosion coupled with a need to expand within a universe with finite resources. Together they form the basis for cosmological sociology and set the groundwork for guessing at the nature of the dark forest. The joke is stupid and contains only one aspect of the problem: if you make yourself known then you will be attacked. Retrofitting it to what later happens in the books is like trying to desperately fit a square peg into a round hole. One must ask the question: why do show runners and wannabe writers think they can write better than an award-winning author?

Both and no, I don't think it's trash. Because unlike the wheel of time the people involved did everything they could to make it as truly the book is possible. The main problem people don't get is transferring a book or books onto TV and to hook an audience and hasn't read it. You can't be as cold and unattached to characters. To make up for the lack of narration and knowing what's going on before the characters do as you do. You read, they have to bring it parts of the storyline from the next book or the third for it to make sense cuz you don't have the all-knowing viewpoint of a reader

Jack is the stand in for Yun tian Ming’s successful businessman friend that gave him enough money to buy Chang Xe a star which comes into play later

I JUST SAW ONLY NETFLIX SHOW. IT WAS WONDERFUL AND I LOVED IT. ❤❤I HOPE NETFLIX WILL NOT CANCEL THIS SHOW😢

I read the books then watched the show. The show is way more digestable. Those are good changes that simplify storytelling without changing the story itself. Can't wait for the dark forest theory to pop up ;d

Thanks for this review. I read all three books and loved them so much! 📚 Fascinating story telling. 👍 Looking forward to watch the series, but I hope, they did not ruin it. Probably hard to live up to the books.

The book is simply mind blowing and one of a kind. I use the TV series as visual images which I think NF has done a good job of.

I recommend watching the Chinese movie series (San Ti / Three Body) with 30 episodes, covering the 1st book. It's much more detailed than the Netflix series, with many scientific explanations, and the events follow the original book, I think this is the new king of sci-fi! It's a pity Netflix provided money for only 8 episodes, this was not enough to tell the story properly, it was just scratching the surface, they could not go into details, depths of the phenomenal story.

How will the story proceed? Are there more books?

I'll say that the series is not that faithful to the books in terms of a few things but the ideas and I think they did a good job at recreating it. I would like to describe the show as terrifyingly beautiful!

Honestly, Netflix did really well. Liked this show.

Show was dope!!

i liked all the changes and combinations. Cleaner and easier. I did, however, really disagree with changing Vera's father and the fact that her mom killed her dad, kind of. it adds true meaning to the scene at the end where she's going to throw herself off the same cliff.

ugh, I knew they were going to take it out of China. That was my biggest reservation to this show. I knew they were going to make it more western.

"I am here til the lights go out boss!"

Can't wait till the Sun-Tea arrive.

tried the books, but struggled with the chinese names. have to give it a nother try, after i saw the show. want to know more and how it will go on.

I refuse to watch because D and D will just screw it up like they do everything else. I don't want to be disappointed.

The show is pretty good. I enjoyed it as a regular sci-fi series. I tried to forget about the books while watching it. The show is like Americanized Chinese food. It comes with the American flavor everyone is familiar with. Nothing wrong with it, but the book though, it's f__king mental.

I just hope they don’t change the way the wallfacer meets his with cause in loved how he described her in the book so the detective could finde her.

I want to know how the Santi looks like. They can read people's minds so they can't lie/ don't lie and are highly advanced.

How and when they put the bombs

The fact that the show barely touched on the human computer, omitted the formation of the moon and the creation of the Sophons is just bizarre. These were incredibly cinematic moments that I assume were left out because the creators thought the audience was “too dumb”.

Would’ve liked the non linear storytelling, adds flavour imo

In the book the flicker of universe is not in visible wavelength, but only observable in frequencies. Here they made it flickering to human eyes LOL

I loved the books because they took on amazing scientific ideas and really made me think about them as I read. The shortcoming of the novels is that they had poor character development. The Netflix show fixed that.

As currently China has issues with espionage, cyber attacks and mass spying It’s hard to swallow a Chinese military leader as 1 of 3. Also the space effort without either Russia, or NASA/ JPL makes it a hard swallow. I was hoping that risking Cho would stay. Her character was refreshing and strong.

is this talking about only season 1, because i dont spoilers of anything after season 1

The books were much better!! The randomness of human thoughts and loneliness is what defined the books for me. The whole journey is lonely, it is hard science fiction not soft. You cant give a five minute monologue instead of 100s of pages of detailed writing. Why are they rushing? Why are all characters friends from the start? Are they the chosen ones? Lisan al Gaib? Not even 1 time jump has happened in the series and yet we have all heroes already. We arent supposed to stick with most characters in the books, they are just there to explore ideas. The books are very long, but the ideas are explored much better there. Rest is as they say, your wish... what you wanna consume. I am just very glad I read the books first, imagination is 100% times better for this sort of stuff, IMO And China is barely explored here. The chick who calls aliens doesnt even understand her own feelings in the books, that worked so well. Here she had a sudden 180.

I loved this series