''The Three-Body Problem'' () is a 2008 novel by the Chinese

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...

author

Liu Cixin Liu Cixin (, pronounced ; born 23 June 1963) is a Chinese computer engineer and science fiction writer. In English translations of his works, his name is given as Cixin Liu. He is sometimes called "''Da'' Liu" ("Big Liu") by his fellow sc ...

. It is the first novel in the ''

Remembrance of Earth's Past ''Remembrance of Earth's Past'' () is a science fiction novel series by Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The series is also popularly referred to as ''Three-Body'' from part of the title of its first novel, ''The Three-Body Problem (novel), The Three- ...

'' trilogy. The series portrays a fictional past, present, and future wherein Earth encounters an alien civilization from a nearby

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...

of three

Sun-like Solar-type stars, solar analogs (also analogues), and solar twins are stars that are particularly similar to the Sun. The stellar classification is a hierarchy with solar twin being most like the Sun followed by solar analog and then solar-typ ...

stars orbiting one another, a representative example of the

three-body problem In physics, specifically classical mechanics, the three-body problem is to take the initial positions and velocities (or momenta) of three point masses orbiting each other in space and then calculate their subsequent trajectories using Newton' ...

orbital mechanics Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to rockets, satellites, and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and the law of universal ...

. The story was originally serialized in ''

Science Fiction World ''Science Fiction World (Sci-Fi World; SFW)'' (, Kehuan Shijie), begun in 1979, is a monthly science fiction magazine published in the People's Republic of China, headquartered in Chengdu, Sichuan. It dominates the Chinese science fiction magazi ...

'' in 2006 before it was published as a standalone book in 2008. In 2006, it received the Galaxy Award for Chinese science fiction.Clute, John
"Yinhe Award"
, Science Fiction Encyclopedia, 3rd edition. Accessed November 21, 2017 In 2012, it was described as one of China's most successful full-length novels of the past two decades. The English translation by Ken Liu was published by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

in 2014.Three Body
" Ken Liu Official Website. Retrieved on July 29, 2015. That translation was the first novel by an Asian writer to win a

Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year by the World Science Fiction Society for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is ava ...

; it was also nominated for the

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; ...

. The book has been adapted into other media. In 2015, a Chinese film adaptation of the same name was in production, but it was never released. A Chinese TV series, '' Three-Body'', released in early 2023 to critical success locally. An English-language

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series adaptation, '' 3 Body Problem'', was released in March 2024.

Background

Liu Cixin was born in Beijing in June 1963. Before beginning his career as an author, he was a senior engineer working at a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

province. In 1989, he wrote ''Supernova Era'' and '' China 2185'', but neither book was published at that time. His first published short story, ''

Whale Song Whales use a variety of sounds for communication and sensation. The mechanisms used to produce sound vary from one family of cetaceans to another. Marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are much more dependent on sound tha ...

'', was published in ''

'' in June 1999. The same year, his novel ''With Her Eyes'' won the Galaxy Award. In 2000, he wrote ''

The Wandering Earth ''The Wandering Earth'' () is a 2019 Chinese science fiction film directed by Frant Gwo, loosely based on the 2000 short story of the same name by Liu Cixin. The film stars Wu Jing, Qu Chuxiao, Li Guangjie, Ng Man-tat, Zhao Jinmai and Qu ...

'', which also received the Galaxy Award and was adapted into a film in 2019. When the short story ''Mountain'' appeared in January 2006, many readers wrote that they hoped Liu would write a novel. He decided to concentrate on novel-length texts rather than short stories. Outside of ''Remembrance of Earth's Past'', Liu's novels include '' Supernova Era'' and ''

Ball Lightning Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as Luminosity, luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is repor ...

''. When not otherwise busy, Liu wrote 3,000–5,000 words a day; each of his books reportedly took about one year to complete.

Plot

During China's

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, astrophysicist Ye Wenjie witnesses her father beaten to death during a

struggle session Struggle sessions (), or denunciation rallies or struggle meetings, were violent public spectacles in Maoist China where people accused of being "Five Black Categories, class enemies" were public humiliation, publicly humiliated, accused, beaten ...

. A political outcast, Ye is initially sentenced to a labor camp but is then recruited to "Red Coast", a secret military initiative attempting to search for and communicate with extraterrestrial life. At Red Coast, Ye discovers a method to amplify

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the u ...

transmissions using the Sun, with which she secretly broadcasts a message. Eight years later, she receives a reply from the alien planet Trisolaris. Disillusioned by humanity's inability to live harmoniously with itself and nature, Ye invites the Trisolarans to Earth to settle its problems. After China's

reforms Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

, Ye encounters Mike Evans, heir to the world's largest oil company but also a radical environmentalist who shares Ye's ideals and disappointment in humanity. Ye discloses Trisolaris' existence to Evans, who founds and finances the secret Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO) as a militant

fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

for Trisolaris, with Ye as the ETO's leader. Through Trisolaris-ETO communications, Trisolaris is revealed to be a planet orbiting the ternary star system of

Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri (, α Cen, or Alpha Cen) is a star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus (constellation), Centaurus. It consists of three stars: Rigil Kentaurus (), Toliman (), and Proxima Centauri (). Proxima Centauri ...

. Because of the

, the three stars' movements (and Trisolaris' position relative to them) are chaotic and unpredictable. As a result, Trisolaris experiences great climate extremes, alternating between temperate "Stable Eras" during which civilization thrives, and "Chaotic Eras" of climate catastrophes. The worst such catastrophes are civilization-ending. Hundreds of Trisolaran civilizations have risen and fallen, each attempting but failing to develop an accurate calendar that can predict and help prepare for Chaotic Eras. Upon reception of Ye's broadcasts, the current and technologically advanced Trisolaran civilization identifies Earth as a colonization target, which will permit the Trisolaran civilization to escape their inhospitable and ultimately-doomed home planet. It dispatches an invasion force on a 450-year journey to Earth. However, the Trisolaran leadership is concerned that Earth's accelerating technological developments will outmatch the invasion force by the time of its arrival. Therefore, Trisolaris develops "sophons" (minuscule supercomputers embedded in single

protons A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' ( elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an electron (the pro ...

) in order to arrest Earth's technological development by interfering with its scientific experiments. By the late-2000s/early-2010s, the sophon-induced apparent breakdown of science on Earth has prompted the suicides of prominent scientists. This alarms Earth's governments, who form an international task force to investigate, recruiting nanotechnologist Wang Miao and detective Shi Qiang. As part of his investigation, Wang plays the

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

video game ''Three Body'', which is a simulation of Trisolaris created by the ETO to identify potential recruits and to garner sympathy for the Trisolaran plight. Wang's successes in ''Three Body'' result in his induction into the ETO, where Ye reveals to Wang the full extent of the conspiracy. Wang also witnesses the schism between the "Adventist" faction of the ETO, which views humanity as irredeemable and promotes its complete destruction by Trisolaris, and the "Redemptionist" faction, which aims to save the Trisolaran civilization by developing a solution to the three-body problem and producing an accurate calendar. Tipped-off by Wang, Shi and the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

raid the meeting, arresting Ye. An international military force then seizes the converted oil tanker housing ETO's communications with Trisolaris. From these actions, Earth's governments directly learn of Trisolaris' existence and the approaching invasion force. Wang and his colleagues resolve to fight in Humanity's defense.

English translation

In 2012, Chinese-American science-fiction author Ken Liu and translator Joel Martinsen were commissioned by the China Educational Publications Import and Export Corporation (CEPIEC) to produce an English translation of ''The Three-Body Problem'', with Liu translating the first and last volumes, and Martinsen translating the second. In 2013, it was announced that the series would be published by Tor in the United States and by Head of Zeus in the United Kingdom. Liu and Martinsen's translations contain footnotes explaining references to Chinese history that may be unfamiliar to international audiences. There are also some changes in the order of the chapters for the first volume. In the translated version, chapters which take place during the

appear at the beginning of the novel rather than in the middle, as they were serialized in 2006 and appeared in the 2008 novel. According to the author, these chapters were originally intended as the opening, but were moved by his publishers to avoid attracting the attention of government censors.

Characters

Ye family

;Ye Zhetai () :Physicist and professor at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

. He is killed at a

during the

. ;Shao Lin () :Physicist and wife of Ye Zhetai. She denounces her husband in an act of self-preservation. ;Ye Wenjie () :Astrophysicist and daughter of Ye Zhetai and Shao Lin. She is the first person to establish contact with Trisolaris while working at Red Coast. She marries Yang Weining with whom she has a daughter, Yang Dong. She later becomes the spiritual leader of the Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO). ;Ye Wenxue () :Ye Wenjie's younger sister, a Tsinghua High School student and a zealous

Red Guard The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

. She is killed during factional violence at some point after the collapse of their family.

Red Coast Base

;Lei Zhicheng () :Political commissar at Red Coast Base. He recruits Ye Wenjie and oversees her work. He is murdered by Ye Wenjie after he discovers her secret communications with Trisolaris. ;Yang Weining () :Chief engineer at Red Coast Base, once a student of Ye Zhetai, later Ye Wenjie's husband and murdered by her alongside Lei Zhicheng.

Present-day

;Wang Miao () :

Nanomaterials Nanomaterials describe, in principle, chemical substances or materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale). Nanomaterials research takes a materials science ...

researcher and academician from the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

. He is tasked with investigating the ETO as well as the recent spate of suicides among well-known scientists. Wang Miao becomes immersed in the

game ''Three Body'', through which he learns about Trisolaris. ;Yang Dong () :

String theorist In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...

and daughter of Ye Wenjie and Yang Weining. She commits suicide shortly before the present day events. ;Ding Yi () :

Theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

and Yang Dong's partner. He provides key insights to Wang Miao during his investigations. He was previously featured in ''

'', another of Liu's works. ;Shi Qiang () :Police detective and counter-terrorism specialist, nicknamed "Da Shi" (; "Big Shi"). He has a crude demeanor but is highly dependable and often demonstrates keen insight. He assists Wang Miao in exposing the ETO. ;Chang Weisi () :Major-general of the

who leads China's response to the ETO. ;Shen Yufei () : Chinese-Japanese physicist. A leader of the "Redemptionist" faction of the ETO, she aims to develop a solution to the three-body problem that will save the Trisolaran civilization. She is murdered by her factional rival Pan Han. ;Wei Cheng () :Math prodigy, recluse, and Shen Yufei's husband. With Shen's support, he develops a possible solution to the three-body problem. ;Pan Han () :Biologist, acquaintance of Shen Yufei and Wei Cheng. A leader of the "Adventist" faction of the ETO, he murders Shen Yufei to prevent the solving of the three-body problem, which will remove Trisolaris' incentive to invade Earth. ;Sha Ruishan () :Astronomer, one of Ye Wenjie's students. ;Mike Evans () : Radical environmentalist who supports "pan-species communism", also son of an oil magnate. After meeting Ye Wenjie, he founds the ETO and provides its main source of funding. He leads the "Adventist" faction of the ETO, which views humanity as irredeemable and promotes its complete destruction by Trisolaris. ;Colonel Stanton () :Officer of the U.S. Marine Corps and commander of Operation

Guzheng The zheng (), or guzheng (), is a Chinese List of Chinese musical instruments#Plucked, plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is long, and is tuned in a Major scale, major pentatonic scale. It has a large, reson ...

, which captures the ETO's communications with Trisolaris.

Inspiration

In Liu's early childhood, when he was three years old his family moved from the Beijing Coal Design Institute to

Yangquan Yangquan ( zh, s=阳泉 , t=陽泉 , p=Yángquán ) is a prefecture-level city in the east of Shanxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the east. Known as "Rippling Spring" in ancient times, it lies on the eastern e ...

, due to his father changing jobs. He also spent a part of his childhood in the countryside around the ancestral hometown of Luoshan, Henan. On 25 April 1970, Dong Fang Hong 1—China's first satellite—was launched. Liu remembered the launch as a pivotal event in his life, recalling a deep sense of longing on witnessing it. Several years later, Liu found a box of books under his bed in Yangquan, which included an anthology of

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

, ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'', ''

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel written by French novelist Jules Ve ...

'', and ''

Silent Spring ''Silent Spring'' is an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. Published on September 27, 1962, the book documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of DDT, a pesticide used by soldiers during World War II. Carson acc ...

''. Upon beginning to read ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'', his father told him: "It's called science fiction, it's a creative writing based on science". This was his first encounter with the genre, and he later remarked: "My persistence stems from the words of my father." At that time, such books could only be safely read privately by individuals: "I felt like being alone on an island, it is a very lonely state". Reverence and fear of the universe is one of the main themes of Liu's writing. According to him, as humans we will stand in awe of the scale and depth of the universe. His novels also focus on curiosity about the unknown. Liu says he cannot help thinking about the future world and lifestyle of human beings, and he tries to invoke readers' curiosity with his books. He also believes that humans should be treated as an entirety. Liu tried to answer the existential dilemma of "where should mankind go from here" through various efforts.

Analysis

The book structure was originally influenced by concerns of Liu Cixin's Chinese publisher; the initial draft's opening scenes were seen as "too politically charged" by the publisher, and moved deeper into the book, to avoid attracting criticism by Chinese government censors. Several interpretations of the novels and related film adaptations were presented by

Ross Douthat Ross Gregory Douthat ( ; born November 28, 1979) is a conservative American author and ''New York Times'' columnist. He was a senior editor of '' The Atlantic''. He has written on religion, politics, and society. Early life and education Ross Gr ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in April 2024.

Reception

In December 2019, ''

'' cited ''The Three-Body Problem'' as having helped to popularize Chinese science fiction internationally, crediting the quality of Ken Liu's English translation, as well as endorsements of the book by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of Hi ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

founder

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...

, and former U.S. president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. George R. R. Martin wrote a blog about the novel, personally expressing its worthiness of the Hugo Award. Obama said the book had "immense" scope, and that it was "fun to read, partly because my day-to-day problems with

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

seem fairly petty". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' wrote that "in concept and development, it resembles top-notch Arthur C. Clarke or

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel ''Ringworld'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus, Ditmar Award, Ditmar, and Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula award ...

but with a perspective—plots, mysteries, conspiracies, murders, revelations and all—embedded in a culture and politic dramatically unfamiliar to most readers in the West, conveniently illuminated with footnotes courtesy of translator Liu." Joshua Rothman of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' also called Liu Cixin "China's Arthur C. Clarke", and similarly observed that in "American science fiction ... humanity's imagined future often looks a lot like America's past. For an American reader, one of the pleasures of reading Liu is that his stories draw on entirely different resources", citing his use of themes relating to Chinese history and politics. Matthew A. Morrison wrote that the novel could "evoke a response all but unique to the genre: an awe at nature and the universe

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

SF readers call a '

sense of wonder In science fiction journalism, a sense of wonder (sometimes comically written as ''sensawunda'') is a specific, often desirable, intellectual and emotional state evoked in the reader by the genre. __TOC__ Definitions This entry focuses on one ...

. American streaming service

announced in 2020 that ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' writers

David Benioff David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American novelist, screenwriter, and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known for co-creating ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–201 ...

and D. B. Weiss would be adapting the series into a sci-fi TV drama, making it one of the few originally non-English books adapted by Netflix. On the 18 June 2023, Netflix uploaded a teaser for the upcoming release.

Awards and nominations

Adaptations

Film

* '' The Three-Body Problem'' is a postponed Chinese

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide r ...

directed by Fanfan Zhang and starring Feng Shaofeng and Zhang Jingchu. Filming began, but it was never completed or released.

Comics

* A serialized digital comic adaptation has been published by Tencent Comics since 2019.

Audio

* The audiobook adaptation of the ''Three Body Problem'' was produced by Macmillan in 2014 and narrated by Luke Daniels. It was released again in 2023 and narrated by Rosalind Chao, who starred in Netflix's TV adaptation. * The chapters of the ''Three Body Problem'' were featured in the serialized podcast ''Stories From Among the Stars'' produced by Tor Books and Macmillan in July 2021. * All three books of ''Remembrance of Earth's Past'' trilogy have been adapted into a 100-episode

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

radio drama on Ximalaya.

Animation

* ''

The Three-Body Problem in Minecraft ''The Three-Body Problem in Minecraft'' ( zh, c=我的三体, p=Wǒdè Sāntǐ, l=My Three-Body) is a Chinese network animated series based on the science fiction novels '' The Three-Body Problem'' and ''The Dark Forest'' by Liu Cixin. Initially ...

'' is a fan-made (later officially-sanctioned) animated adaptation of the series, directed by Shenyou (Zhenyi Li). It was initially animated entirely as an amateur

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...

machinima Machinima () is the use of Real-time computing, real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. The word "Machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''machine'' and ''Film, cinema''. According to Guinness World Records, ma ...

, with a low budget and production quality for its first season in 2014. According to Xu Yao, the CEO of The Three-Body Universe, Shenyou chose this medium out of the minimal budget, as Minecraft allows its players to design environments with ease and does not require animation. The machinima format, after the first season's first few episodes, was later converted into Minecraft-styled computer animation due to the show's success.

Television

* A Chinese TV adaptation produced by

Tencent Video Tencent Video ( zh, s=腾讯视频, p=Téngxùn Shìpín, also called WeTV outside of China) is a Chinese video streaming website owned by Tencent, launched in April 2011. As of October 2022, Tencent Video has 120 million paid subscribers, maki ...

premiered on 16 January 2023. In 2024,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

aired the Chinese series on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

, its streaming service, premiering on 10 February. * An American TV series based on the book was released by

on 21 March 2024, with

, D.B. Weiss, and

Alexander Woo Alexander Woo is a Chinese-American writer and producer for television. Woo is the Executive Producer and Co-Creator of the ''3 Body Problem (TV series), 3 Body Problem'', the Netflix adaption of The Three-Body Problem (novel), the source novel. ...

writing and executive producing. * An award-winning documentary series titled '' Rendezvous with the Future'', which explores the science behind Liu Cixin's science fiction, was produced by

BBC Studios BBC Studios Limited is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Wor ...

and released by

Bilibili Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese online video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos. Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including ...

in China. The first episode covers many ideas featured in ''The Three-Body Problem'' such as messaging extraterrestrial civilisations and the possibility of a gravitational wave transmitter.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Three-Body Problem, The 2008 Chinese novels 2008 science fiction novels Chinese science fiction novels Hard science fiction Science fiction novel trilogies Novels about the Cultural Revolution Novels about alien invasions Science fiction about first contact Fiction set around Alpha Centauri Search for extraterrestrial intelligence in literature Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Chinese magazines Works originally published in science fiction magazines Chinese novels adapted into films Science fiction novels adapted into films Chinese novels adapted into television series Novels adapted into radio programs Novels adapted into comics Hugo Award for Best Novel–winning works Novels by Liu Cixin Tor Books books Head of Zeus books