It would make for good Sci-Fi premise as an explanation for the Great Filter[1]. Some advanced civilization keeps destroying planets that have life or are ideal for it but the first heuristic they use to do it fast doesn't catch all cases. Earth is below the threshold so we get by, for now...
It (and the whole trilogy) have a handful of really good ideas. The translation at times seemed clunky, the pacing was, uneven and the plotting was not quite as tight as I would have liked. But the handful fo good ideas were good enough that the book stayed with me for a while.
I didn't find any of it good besides the introduction which motivated me to look into Chinese history more. The author thinks too much of himself and tries too hard to appear smart. This is tedious. I can draw a sharp contrast between this author and Neal Stephenson, who is brilliant and introduces many new ideas / explains computing in a way that has motivated many people to study it.
TBP's characters are comical. Not much else to say - the womanizer slacker obsessing over the quiet girl was too much to keep reading. Well, that, and some of the "brilliant defense strategies."
Honestly. Maybe it was the hype train that ruined it for me before I read it, but I just couldn't get into that one.The science definitely didn't do anything for me.
For reference, my current favorite SF is the Night's Dawn Trilogy. Not sure if that flavors my 'review' for anyone.
Diamond Age (doesn't deal with aliens), Anathem (very long-winded), A Deepness in the Sky (this is the closest to the Three Body Problem theme-wise, but also the weakest scientifically, though still better science than the Three Body Problem)
What type of books are you interested in? Since you didn't specify, I am going random: Martin Eden by Jack London, anything BESIDES All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque, Neuromancer by Gibson.
If you are fishing for me to run out of books that are "better" than TBP, honestly, it would be a long list. If you are genuinely interested, tell me what kind of books you like, and I will be glad to give you more.
Well, my first reaction to your critique of the "Three body problem" was to argue because I liked it, but on the second thought I've decided to ask you for the reading recomendations :)
I guess I'm looking for sci-fi involving grand picture of the universe or 4X-style books, but not necessarily limited to it.
Out of the books you've named, I've read Diamond Age and Neuromancer and while I can't say anything bad about them I still like the Liu Cixin's book more.
"Deepness in the Sky" is on my to read list.
I haven't read Martin Iden, but liked Alaska stories a lot. Remarque is good, but I like Heinrich Böll much more.
I read through your posts because I was wondering who you are, just heads up. Anyway, I actually don't know of too many books that deal with that scale, maybe Asimov's Foundation series, but I am guessing you read that already. I find it hard to compare the TBD problem to anything because I just thought it was utter tripe, on the level of Brandon Sanderson's / Roger Zelazny's books - a lot of content, very little substance (with the exception of "This Immortal" by Zelazny, which is supposedly the inspiration for Planescape: Torment, which I can wholeheartedly recommend to any teenager).
Of course, you might also enjoy Piknik na Obochine, Trudno Bit Bogom, and Neukratimaya Planeta, as people of your particular background tend to do ;^)
Though that last one didn't really age well as I grew up. Oh, and Chekov is amazing when compared to the other famous Russian authors imo.
Your turn for some recommendations, i.e. your top 3, since I am looking for stuff to read. Not necessarily in this genre.
I've read a lot of Azimov, including the Foundation series, and nearly all books by the Strugatsky brothers. And I too loved Harry Harrisons's Deathworld when I was a schoolboy :)
Reading Chekhov makes me genuinely sad, maybe I take the lives of his heroes too close to heart.
I am not sure about top 3, but if I had to reread something I've read before, I'd start with Dostoevsky's 'Idiot', continue with "За миллиард лет до конца света" by Strugatsky brothers, and maybe I'll reread the Permutation City by Greg Egan.
As for the Three Body Problem, I find it unique in that it realisticly represents the humanity's place in the galaxy (a fly on the wind shield). Lui Cixin's cosmic sociology [0] rings true to me too. The idea of laws of physics being the result of the activity of advanced civilizations, while not original (see Lem's “The New Cosmogony”), is fascinating nonetheless. The story of how 'right' moral choices in the context of that world lead to the end of humanity is another original bit.
Slow reply because I was looking for an author I found out a few years ago through a friend, read one book by, thought it was great, and then completely forgot his name:
I might have one more author, if it turns out the book wasn't by the guy above. Unfortunately, I don't even remember the name, and I don't see it in his bibliography.
No problem.
Which book was that?
Pelevin used to be good, but I haven't liked a couple of his more recent books, in fact, couldn't even finish reading.
Why are so many people so in love with the idea that the solution to the fermi paradox is sapiocide on a cosmic scale? It neither fits the data nor does it hold any philosophical merit.
The game Grey Goo did this. Also the only game where the human faction is basically the Culture - there's a fantastic line in one of the cinematics of a human captive getting free and commenting "no signs of AI or nanotechnology. They still use bullets in their guns."
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter