The Three Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem (Chinese: 三体; lit. 'Three-Body'; pinyin: sān tǐ) is a science fiction novel
written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital
mechanics. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past (Chinese: 地球往事) trilogy, but the
whole series is normally referred to as The Three-Body Problem. The trilogy's second and third
novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End respectively.
The first volume of The Three-Body Problem was first serialized in Science Fiction World between May
and December 2006. It was published as a standalone book in 2008, becoming one of the most
successful Chinese science fiction novels of the last two decades. The novel received the Chinese
Science Fiction Yinhe ("Galaxy") Award in 2006 along with many more over the years. By 2015, a
Chinese film adaptation of the same name was in production.
The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor Books in 2014. Thereafter, it became the
first Asian novel ever to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Nebula
Award for Best Novel.
The series portrays a future where, in the first book, Earth is awaiting an invasion from the
closest star system, which, in this universe, consists of three solar-type stars orbiting each other
in an unstable three-body system. Within the system, its single Earth-like planet is being unhappily
passed among them and suffers from extremes of heat and cold, as well as the repeated destruction of
its intelligent civilizations.