My opinion:
- Interesting concept of a Dark Forest & cosmic sociology axioms.
- Unpleasant characters: Ye Wenjie (narcissistic and psychopathic), Cheng Xin (a kind billionaire lol).
- Disappointing ending—the last few chapters feel weak.
Bonus: Absolutely fascinating interpretation of the first book by @yogthos@lemmy.ml.
I read the first book and I think it is the first time in decades that I have encountered actual sci-fi concepts that weren't a reworking of ideas that have been around for decades.
It's not a character driven novel but the characters are fine, mostly they're not that likeable - which in my opinion is not a reason to dislike a story - and I think they probably lose something in translation. When I was a teenager I devoured Asimov, Phillip K Dick, Heinlein etc for the concepts, compared to them the characters in 3 Body are masterfully written.
I haven't yet read the second book as I found the first few chapters a bit of a slog but I plan to pick it up again once I've finished rereading some Ursula K LeGuin
Totally agree that novel ideas about science fiction are presented. A group of humans betraying all of humanity was a nice inversion of the “one man has to save everyone” concept.
For me, the succeeding novels became increasingly boring and inconsequential.
Major spoiler for book 3
I was compelled to read the books when I learned about other species collapsing dimensions as a weapon of war. How fascinating.Unfortunately, that entire concept was explained in two paragraphs by a character who had no right to know that information. And then we moved on like nothing happened.
I think a better novel that explored very similar themes is The Last Human by Zack Jordan.
Third is the best. It gets better and better imo
Disagree, as op said the 3rd book is IMHO weaker, and the ending is kinda rushed and disappointing.