The Problematic "Three Body Problem" Problem 

Thanks Bob

Definite agreement, the things was a treat!

Moid is the three body problem.

That whole thing was so weird and offputting. I though it was probably trying to show what would likely happen if any normal person was given unlimited resources, but the wallfacer plot device gives you carte blanche to be like "that was all part of his plan" which I don't love. I did enjoy the series overall, but the first one was by far the weakest for me, and that whole bit was a significant contributor to that! The prose, too.

@@jaspertandy Can someone explain why three body problem gets so much flack for prose, characters and sexism, but Asimov's and Arthur C Clarke's novels which are arguably much, much worse in those aspects (and ideas as well) get a pass? The protagonist in Rendezvous with Rama has like 3 wives and it's portrayed as normal for any American man of 2200's

the part of "... falls in love with woman he imagine" shows Lougi's talent. He imagined a girlfriend, and imagined that he falls in love with her, He is capable of being a wallfacer to close off himself from the outside world to devise a plan, deceive everyone including San-Ti, and execute it well.

what a coincidence that the best take is the one you agree with. not to attack you but a reminder that we should always watch our biases

I feel silly for not seeing this lol.

I wrote before I noticed others saying the same sort of thing I did, have to agree, very engaging video!

Thank You

Same. The Three Body Problem was good, The Dark Forest was okay (had some interesting ideas but it was erratic pacing wise.) Death’s End was just bad.

100% agree

Yet he didn't want to just come out And hate it, he gave it a chance but you can tell he didn't love any of these books. I think it's geared toward less experienced sci-fi enthusiasts

I thought the style had some humor to it that most people missed. This is after 100 pages long setpiece of alien technology completely obliterating the solar system in the final book, after all that, this paragraph literally made me laugh out loud at work while I was reading: "They screamed, they cried and here came the final voice of the human race from the solar system: " Aaaaaaaaaaa" Also it's really weird how westerners completely forgive/ignore the dryness of Arthur C clarke's or Asimov's characters and writing style, yet Liu Cixin's style which is at least 50% more interesting gets a lot of flack from the same readers who ignore the same (let's be real: worse) problems of western authors. Just really really weird how that is, sure it has nothing to do with [REDACTED]? 🤔

nothing at all is lost in translation. ken lui is by far the best you could want and a better scifi writer himself. i didnt really get snything chinese out of it other than the robotic characters that you care little to nothing about and are expendable … to the story of course but irl to the fascist chinese government.

Eh don't buy it, he was a fan of Asimov and Clarke so I don't think it's that big of a gap that people make out to be.

It is worth noting that "Chinese" is a flexible meaning. Most popularly, it refers to the Han Chinese, who were the conglomeration of various competing tribes, the Huaxia, along the Yellow and Yangtse rivers, though not the oldest culture. China pretends these wars and expansions were not imperial in nature, but when one takes over another and the tribe flees? It is a series of conquests. Modern China ignores the distinctions, but ancient Chinese historian like Sima Qian wrote of the differences as a 'chasm' between them and the not-them Chinese, the Hua-Yi conflict--which itself ignored the different tribes that made up the Han that existed prior. Unified rule is what allowed anti-warlord Confucian philosophy to arise and the ideal of civilized behavior (if you behaved like Han and recognized the Emperor as supreme). Because of this prejudice, in 350 CE, three of the five recognized Chinese barbarian groups were targeted in the Wie-Jie genocide, led by usurper Emperor Ran Min. Various near Han Chinese took on and competed over the identity of Chinese, sinicisation, some for the purpose of ruling. There was a recognition of different but equal of dynasties. Arguments went back and forth, one emperor argued in favor of equality, another recalled all manuscripts because he thought they made the government look bad, etc. The idea of culture over race turned plain racist in the late 19th century, but would end most recently with a declaration that all groups inside China were Chinese, rather than barbarian. How does this apply to the Dark Forest theory? In Chinese history, they were the threat in the forest until they sought peace because they won. This is how the cycle goes.

Thank You

I was hoping the humans would try an antimatter attack against it. Like the sophons, for me the teardrop relied too much on narrativium.

I hope that the Netflix series will be good (I am not very optimistic). I saw a chinese adaptation of the first book : it's easy to adapt the plot, but more difficult to adapt the idea, or the sense to be a "lucky witness".

Thank you Jared

Fame at last, Jimmy

@@MediaDeathCult My mother is going to be so proud

Herbert is unfairly bashed for his prose imho

@@WeWereTheStormbooktube really likes to trash the prose of every book in existence that isn't written by Mccarthy or Faulkner.

actually i strugled with translation of 2nd but i liked it more than other

Thank you

Still stoked to read the rest of the trilogy though!

Nah that's just how he writes as I have asked Mandarin speakers who have said.

Thanks Big J

I had to DNF after less than 30 pages - the writing is borderline not English it's so poor. Unsure how anyone could read it.