The Three-Body Problem

By: Cixin Liu, Ken Liu - translator

Narrated by: Rosalind Chao

Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

This program is read by Rosalind Chao, who stars as Ye Wenjie in the Netflix adaptation, 3 Body Problem.

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

Over 1 million copies sold in North America

“A mind-bending epic.”—The New York Times • “War of the Worlds for the 21st century.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Fascinating.”—TIME • “Extraordinary.”—The New Yorker • “Wildly imaginative.”—Barack Obama • “Provocative.”—Slate • “A breakthrough book.”—George R. R. Martin • “Impossible to put down.”—GQ • “Absolutely mind-unfolding.”—NPR • “You should be reading Liu Cixin.”—The Washington Post

The Three-Body Problem is the first novel in the groundbreaking, Hugo Award-winning series from China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu.

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

The Three-Body Problem Series

The Three-Body Problem

The Dark Forest

Death's End

Other Books by Cixin Liu

Ball Lightning

Supernova Era

To Hold Up the Sky

The Wandering Earth

A View from the Stars

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

©2014 Cixin Liu (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“A breakthrough book . . . a unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation.”—George R. R. Martin

“Remarkable, revelatory and not to be missed.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A must-read in any language.”—Booklist

love it!!!

I am a novice at physics, but the descriptions and analogies made it easier to understand. love the story!!!

Very Average Story

I honestly don’t understand all the love for this book. It rambles and lacks a clear direction. The narrator is good, but the story is SO BORING. If you enjoy books just because everyone else seems to love it, you will be happy with this book. If you are an intelligent and independent thinker, be prepared to be disappointed.

Simply the best

I’ve read this series multiple times and with the Netflix show now out, it was time for another dive. Loved this audiobook, great narration by Rosalind Chao, who btw is excellent as Ye Wenjie in the show. The 3BP trilogy is hands down my favorite SFF series of all time.

A Chore

The ideas presented were interesting, but the characters weren’t flushed out, and everything convenient happens. For instance, this is the hardest thing, only an expert can do it; the character did it the first time with no practice, amazing. There is a lot of that. Half way through, I thought I should just stop, but I pushed to the end. Get this is some free means, so you can put it down.

An amazing story

It was an amazing story while narrated by Roslyn Chao … the Netflix adaptation leaves so much out that this covers it so good highly recommend

Compelling but confusing

The science is beyond me. The story is good. I liked this narrator better than the other one. Tv series will be interesting.

even Rosalind Chao can't save this one

The performance is as good as it can possibly be, but the book is still a slog... too much physics (even for a former physicist like me), too little attention to plot and characters. One great scene (if you've seen the tv series you know which one). This is a case where the tv adaptation is (for me, at least) a vast improvement on the source material.

Science Fiction Through a New Set of Eyes

The story is clever and breathtaking as you understand this is the start of an ambitious trilogy. It is with a listen for the story, but also for the cultural context of a Chinese writer. It's cadences and choices are different than a Western Sci-fi story. (such as just as the action is seemingly building a head of steam, the author spends a long chapter from the Trisolaren perspective that goes into great and even numbing detail of key science concepts, derailing the action) What is perhaps most interesting is how the author never buys into and even actively undermines the concept of a hero or even a protagonist.

, confusing

this probably deserves another listen though my first listen didn't yield positive results. The story seemed a little confusing, especially after watching the show. nothing really lined up and didn't seem like it had. a good flow

Fantastic Story

The Three-Body Problem is more than just a sci-fi adventure; it's a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human in a vast and unforgiving universe. It's a strong contender for one of the greatest hard science fiction trilogies of all time, and a must-read for anyone who wants to be shaken to their core and have their perspective on humanity's place in the cosmos irrevocably altered.