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Amazon Plans Blockbuster TV Series Based On Chinese Sci-Fi Trilogy 'The Three-Body Problem' (medium.com)

hackingbear writes from a report: Amazon is reportedly likely to earmark $1 billion for a television series (Warning: source paywalled, alternative source) based on the ultra-popular Chinese science fiction trilogy The Three Body Problem. The American video subscription service will likely acquire the rights to the Yugo-winning, extremely popular trilogy of novels written by Liu Cixin and produce three seasons of episodes. The rights to the trilogy are currently owned by Lin Qi, the chairman of Youzu Interactive, a Chinese developer and publisher that typically focuses on online and mobile games.

158 comments

  1. Aaaaand !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is already on chinese pirate sites!

  2. Yugo winning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is Yugo the Chinese version of the Hugo award?

    1. Re:Yugo winning by _Sharp'r_ · · Score: 5, Funny

      Who cares if it won a Yugo? I mean, sure, a small Yugoslavian car as a prize is impressive, but who really cares?

      --
      The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
    2. Re:Yugo winning by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Honestly, it would be impressive. They were never built to last, barely any were built after 1989, and were never all that popular in the first place. If you can still find one it would be quite an impressive achievement.

    3. Re:Yugo winning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *(Actually bullshit they still exist in droves.)

    4. Re:Yugo winning by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2

      Is Yugo the Chinese version of the Hugo award?

      I'm guessing Yugo > Hugo in the same way that Yuge > Huge?

      Maybe.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    5. Re:Yugo winning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *A* Yugo? Gotta be at least 6 to raise my interest.

      http://articles.latimes.com/1987-11-25/entertainment/ca-16356_1_radio-history

  3. HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Three Body Problem won a HUGO award: http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2015-hugo-awards/

    1. Re:HUGO by oobayly · · Score: 1

      A couple of years ago I picked up an edition of "The Hugo Winners" edited by Isaac Asimov, they were full of beautiful flowery descriptions. Plot & storytelling seemed to be of far less importance, so I tend to be weary of anything with a Hugo nomination or award. In fact, I tend to be weary of any awards.

    2. Re:HUGO by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      They're short stories and novelettes. Moreover they're from the 50's/60's and length for both categories has increased significantly over time. Beyond it's central conceit you're not going to get too much plot or storytelling out of them no matter how good or bad they are.

    3. Re:HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Three Body Problem won a HUGO award: http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2015-hugo-awards/

      That doesn't preclude winning a Yugo.

      Although "winning" might not be the correct term...

    4. Re:HUGO by 91degrees · · Score: 2

      It's a fan award, so tends to go to whatever style is popular at the time. Especially the short stories and novelettes. This is not to say you will like a more recent winner but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss.

    5. Re:HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's a fine novel... but it was and is up against some seriously awful modern western SF.

      What the fuck happened to SF in the last 15-ish years.

    6. Re:HUGO by Salgak1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      See the "Sad Puppies" story. SF Fandom has diverged into factions: a "Literary" faction (which sometimes refers to itself as 'Trufandom'), which currently pretty much controls the Worldcon, the Hugo Awards, and the Nebula Awards, and a "Spaceships and Rayguns" faction (notionally, the Puppies. There are two major factions in the Puppies as well). It's getting to the point that the two factions have different cons, different preferred publishers, and distinct communities. The split is also fairly ideological, with the Trufen faction trending left, and the Puppy faction trending right

      Quick guide:
      Cons:
      Trufen: WorldCon, Wiscon, ReaderCon
      Puppies: DragonCon, LibertyCon, RavenCon, LTUE

      Publishers:
      Trufen: TOR, Orbit
      Puppies: Baen, Castalia

      Awards:
      Trufen: Nebulas, Hugos
      Puppies: Dragons

      This is not an all-encompassing list. There are also favored blogs and associated communities. . .

    7. Re: HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Every author has jumped on the #metoo bandwagon.

      Characters now pull a Star Wars and completely forget they were capable of something unless directed by a female.

      Terrible straw men and pointless virtue signaling.

      For examples of all of this just read the latest way of kings. Even worse is clearly these were very late changes. There is little rhyme or reason for random SJW nonsense that shows up. Characters become schizophrenic in their behevior.

      I can't say it's unique and I'm not sure how much these authors really believe in their own narrative. That might explain why they can't build convincing arguements. It's more like let me throw in some virtue signaling and then poof I'm hot shit.

      Anyhow, writers are free to burn their fan base. I want be entertained and not read a bunch of sjw nonsense.

    8. Re:HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck happened to SF in the last 15-ish years.

      A slow sustained attack on science and modern western society?

    9. Re:HUGO by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      ... so I tend to be weary of anything with a Hugo nomination or award. In fact, I tend to be weary of any awards.

      Yea awards make me sleepy too.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    10. Re:HUGO by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 2

      A couple of years ago I picked up an edition of "The Hugo Winners" edited by Isaac Asimov, they were full of beautiful flowery descriptions. Plot & storytelling seemed to be of far less importance, so I tend to be weary of anything with a Hugo nomination or award. In fact, I tend to be weary of any awards.

      They were written in the style of the day. If the volume you picked up was just titled The Hugo Winners, that was Volume 1, stories written between 1955 and 1961, so they will seem a bit dated, I expect. (Later Hugo anthologies had volume numbers, up to volume 5, going to 1982. The first did not, and was just titled The Hugo Winners.)

      The style will change with the year. Find a later volume to read things with a more contemporary feel.

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    11. Re:HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A little more complicated than that, and the distinction between sad puppies and rabid puppies is critical. Unfortunately, the rabid puppies made so much noise and were so obnoxious that the interesting points made by some of the sad puppies got completely drowned out. The nonlinear amplifier amplified all the stupid things said, and none of the intelligent commentary.

      Oh, and the worldcon is open to anybody who wants to attend-- it's not really a "faction," it's a mixture of everybody.

    12. Re: HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you think you'll still be afraid of women when you grow up?

    13. Re: HUGO by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Read Verne; right up your alley. And it's "wary" ("leary" works, too; "weary" does not).

    14. Re:HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One other award that I am aware of.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_Award

    15. Re:HUGO by Salgak1 · · Score: 1

      Admittedly. But i was attempting to give a top level view while being as even-handed as possible. Also note, I mentioned that the Trufen CONTROLLED the Worldcon and the Hugos. And, recently, people have been kicked out of Worldcon, or banned from attending. The cases of Dave Truesdale and Jon del Arroz testify to that. . .

    16. Re: HUGO by cellocgw · · Score: 1

      And it's "wary" ("leary" works, too; "weary" does not).

      No, "leary" only works in the next story (LSD yada yada).
      "leery" works hear [sic]

       

      --
      https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
    17. Re: HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That has been going on since the 60s at least. Remember the New Wave? Dystopian futures were huge back then.

    18. Re:HUGO by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      What's with No Award winning half the categories?

      Oh, I remember. There's a war going on between SJWs and conservative authors and fans.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    19. Re: HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shouldn't we all be?

    20. Re: HUGO by erice · · Score: 1

      Read Verne; right up your alley. And it's "wary" ("leary" works, too; "weary" does not).

      Really, "weary" reads fine to me if unusual, but does mean something different than "wary" or "leary". It means literally being tired of it. And, no, I'm not the OP.

    21. Re: HUGO by oobayly · · Score: 1

      The thing is I love Asimov's work, much of which would have been from the same era, so I don't think it's the style of the time. For me, Asimov used robots, the future, etc as a tool for telling his stories, and that's probably what was I was expecting. Fair dues to him, though, for not just selecting authors like himself.

    22. Re: HUGO by oobayly · · Score: 1

      To be fare, I'm pretty sure you were able to imply what I meant from the context. For all intensive purposes, I'm not bothered by spelling mistakes and grammer, and it begs the question why you'd pick somebody up on it.

      Seriously though, I've never read Verne, and new (or old) authors are always appreciated.

      I really hope theirs an English teacher reading this right now, in tiers, pulling there hare out!

    23. Re: HUGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If by 'controlled' you mean 'announced in public they would not abide by the terms of their admission ticket, to the point where there was foreseeable risk of harm to other congoers, and so they weren't given a ticket'.

      How about you try getting onto an aircraft in the US after saying 'I won't be bound by ticket conditions '.

      I'm a member of the community that votes in the Hugos and, as an Australian, was pleased that the weird folks who wanted to do silly things like carry guns were excluded.

      The Hugos track the Nebula Awards, both are a good guide to reading, but as with the BSFA award the trick is to read the shortlists. Also the Clute Nicholls Encyclopedia theme entries, and Jo Walton's reviews.

    24. Re: HUGO by Salgak1 · · Score: 1

      Mind you, I know both Jon and Dave. Not well, but I do know them.

      So, how was Jon "not abiding by the terms of their admission ticket" and causing "foreseeable risk of harm to other congoers" by announcing that he would wear a bodycam to objectively record events around his person. After all, considering the brouhaha about Dave Truesdale "disrupting a panel" at the 2016 Worldcon caused people to lose their sh*t when Dave produced his voice recorder record showing nothing of the sort happened..

      The only risk is to the reputations of people making false accusations.

      As for "good guide for reading", I find the Benjamin Award a superior guide to speculative fiction. Because if a lot of people bought it, it's probably good. . .

    25. Re:HUGO by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      It's easier to rig the nomination process than the selection process. Many more people vote for the Hugos themselves than vote to nominate. If a minority group can force the nomination of fiction the majority doesn't consider good, that's what happens.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  4. $1 billion isn't that what Bezos invests by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Blue Origin every year? So the real thing costs as much as the fake, amazing.

    1. Re:$1 billion isn't that what Bezos invests by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      In Blue Origin every year? So the real thing costs as much as the fake, amazing.

      I thought the same thing. $1 billion represents at least 20,000 man years (at 50k/year).
      Is a TV show really the best use of this?
      The extravagance of the pyramids pale in comparison to what we waste on entertainment today.
      Can you imagine actually deciding to put 20k people to work on a single project like this?
      It's absolutely fascinating that we have this much excess labor but we shouldn't be squandering it.

    2. Re:$1 billion isn't that what Bezos invests by afidel · · Score: 1

      Except using $50k is a stupid baseline, first nobody but a fastfood worker or similar low wage job actually costs their employer only $50k per year in the west. To cost your employer only $50k you'd have to be making near minimum wage if working full time after benefits and taxes is factored in. If you're talking professionals like AV artists you're talking more like $150k fully loaded costs, in that light having nearly 7,000 man-years involved in such a project is high but not outrageous. There are much worse uses for labor than entertainment, particularly well done entertainment.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    3. Re:$1 billion isn't that what Bezos invests by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      Except using $50k is a stupid baseline, first nobody but a fastfood worker or similar low wage job actually costs their employer only $50k per year in the west.

      I was being generous with the $50k. The median income in the USA is around $30k ( https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/... or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ) and is only about $10k if you are looking at worldwide income.

      Basically, a billion dollars is approximately 100k man-years of labor if you use the median global income. You could literally hire 10k people to work for you for 10 years (or 1k+ people for life).

      I realize that other movies and entertainment spend similar amounts of money but it's mind-boggling that we are using so much labor and resources for something so immaterial.

    4. Re:$1 billion isn't that what Bezos invests by afidel · · Score: 1

      From your own link, median net compensation was $46,641 in 2016, the cost of that employee is about 150% of that ($35.87 per hour according to the BLS, that works out to $71,740 based on a 2,000 hour work year). The median cost for professionals was $60/hour or $120k per year, much closer to my original number than yours and the BLS numbers are direct compensation costs, there are things like office space and HR costs that raise it to at least my number.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    5. Re:$1 billion isn't that what Bezos invests by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      From your own link, median net compensation was $46,641 in 2016

      That is the average. The median from the same link is 30,533. The average is higher because of a bunch of rich people at the top.
      I realize that movie professionals make considerably more than that but my point really was the huge opportunity cost that we waste on entertainment.

  5. Will Amazon whitewash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Main protagonist characters are Chinese. The antagonists are not Chinese.

    1. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Normally I'm pretty uninterested in the issue (particularly with Animes, where generally the original Japanese audience isnt that concerned by it). But this would be a mess if reset into the west. Part of what makes the book so interesting is just how different the chinese world of the protagonists is. The opening chapter set during the cultural revolution would make no sense at all in america or europe. Even eastern europe had a pretty different experience with Stalin than china did with Mao.

    2. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 2

      Main protagonist characters are Chinese. The antagonists are not Chinese.

      The antagonists are aliens from a triple-star system, so, no, by definition they are not Chinese.

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    3. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's wrong with whitewashing? When your actor pool is mostly white and you're targeting a white audience, who cares?

    4. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 1

      No. They will cast Idris Elba.

    5. Re: Will Amazon whitewash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck you Chink. Fuck your ancestors and fuck smelly fat old Mao.

      Youre slaves to an Emporer.. STILL.

    6. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The patriarchy strikes again. Can't a girl get a break anymore? Why are all the good fantasy gunfighters played by men?

    7. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by Malggi · · Score: 1

      Spoiler Alert, haha.

    8. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      It could be Amazon trying to make inroads into the emerging Chinese market. A massive country, with a rapidly increasing quality of life and more money to spend on media.

    9. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 1

      Spoiler Alert, haha.

      You can't even read the back cover copy without learning that much, so it's not really a spoiler.

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    10. Re:Will Amazon whitewash? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The Japanese characters in the TV series Man in the High Castle seem to be portrayed by reasonably Japanese-looking actors, and Amazon made that.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  6. First "The Martian" then this! by itsme1234 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just when you'd think everything on the small/big screen would suck forever. The announcement that they're making the Martian came as I still had vivid in my mind the book, so with this trilogy.

    And this is really, really, really good for a series - and I mean for people with attention spans longer than 30 seconds. The book(s) just don't seem to end - in a very good way. I did have quite a few times the sensation that things are winding down and "this is it", nope - here comes more. And more. And more.

    1. Re:First "The Martian" then this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This and "Ready, Player One", too. If anyone of the movie industry wants to keep on filming what I've just read, please look into the "Fifth season" trilogy.

    2. Re:First "The Martian" then this! by llamalad · · Score: 1

      Agreed. This trilogy is the best Science Fiction that I've read in decades.

      I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do with a tv version.

    3. Re:First "The Martian" then this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd love to see a billion dollars spent on The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons.

    4. Re:First "The Martian" then this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the Fifth Season is being made into a TV series... Supposedly...
      http://deadline.com/2017/08/nk-jemisin-the-fifth-season-book-developed-tv-series-tnt-1202150542/

    5. Re:First "The Martian" then this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I heard years ago that someone had bought the rights to make Simmons' Ilium/Olympos into a movie. Ilium is probably my favorite book of all time.

  7. What Now? by mentil · · Score: 1

    extremely popular trilogy of novels written by Liu Cixin

    I don't read much sci-fi any more, but I like to think I at least know of the major authors. I've never heard of this person, or series. Or even that Chinese sci-fi was a thing. Anyone can comment on what they thought of it, or what the basic premise is, given TFS doesn't say anything about that? I presume it takes place beyond Earth, given the title.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    1. Re:What Now? by Stephan+Schulz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't read much sci-fi any more, but I like to think I at least know of the major authors. I've never heard of this person, or series,

      Then you live under an SF rock. It was/is a major bestseller.

      Or even that Chinese sci-fi was a thing.

      There is about 2 times as many Chinese as Europeans and USians combined. They probably have a good dose of everything we know of ;-). This was one of the rare cases of a breakout into the West.

      Anyone can comment on what they thought of it, or what the basic premise is, given TFS doesn't say anything about that? I presume it takes place beyond Earth, given the title.

      I only read the first part ("The Three-Body-Problem"). It basically has three main strands of action - one set during the Chinese cultural revolution, one in the here and now, and the third describing an alien civilisation in what is hinted to be the Alpha Centauri system. Since this is a ternary star system, movement of the alien's planet is chaotic, and they have to deal with alternating periods of (hard to predict) stability and wildly fluctuating climate, destroying all or most of their civilisation over and over again. The aliens are communicating with Earth, and most of their story is told via parables in a video game.

      It is an impressive read, and certainly different from much western SF - in a good, or at least interesting way.

      --

      Stephan

    2. Re:What Now? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      I've never heard of this person, or series.

      Liu Cixin writes in Chinese, so his works are available in English as translations.

      Or even that Chinese sci-fi was a thing.

      Umm ... China has roughly the population of North America and Europe combined, so Chinese anything is a thing.

    3. Re:What Now? by stasike · · Score: 1

      It takes place on Earth.
      Some of it during the Cultural revolution.
      Some of it takes place in an advanced computer simulation / virtual world.

      It is ... different.
      Very different from a typical "western world" SciFi. I have tried to read it three times. Every time I got further in and then I abandoned the book. I will try again. Soon ;-)

    4. Re: What Now? by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      What stopped you each time?

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    5. Re:What Now? by itsme1234 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It is hard to describe what is about without giving out major spoilers. It starts with something about first contact, earth politics, cold war, early space exploration stuff, virtual reality and goes to more than "sky's the limit". The plot for each of the books is easy to find and skim through but I strongly recommend you just go and read the books, they are available in English from all the usual places, including in digital form (and even audiobooks).

      If you liked any of Greg Bear, Heinlein/Clarke/Asimov, Peter Hamilton, Joe Haldeman, Hal Clement - just get the books and enjoy them without any spoilers. Highly recommended. There might be especially at the beginning and in the first book parts you don't care about - just hang in there. The pace is changing quite a few times and everything is well explained. And I was so sad when it was over (not to say the end was sad just that I dreaded that there isn't anything more coming).

    6. Re:What Now? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      Book 1 is just the warmup. The trilogy ends with the heat death of the universe.

    7. Re:What Now? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It will be interesting to see if Amazon tries to change the setting to the west. The novel deals with events that are well known in China but which most people in Amazon's markets have never heard of. Plus, there is a reluctance among TV execs to have a Chinese lead with a cast of Chinese actors.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:What Now? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      The theme I liked best was the idea of aliens softening Earth up for attack by messing with terrestrial politics, crippling society with defeatist anti-scientific movements like the Maoist Cultural Revolution.

    9. Re:What Now? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Plus, there is a reluctance among TV execs to have a Chinese lead with a cast of Chinese actors.

      Well, there was Memoirs of a Geisha, a successful English language film with a Chinese lead and mostly Chinese cast ... in a movie about Japan.

    10. Re:What Now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually a cleverer end than a heat death. Its a mutually assured destruction, even for those that keep to themselves and don't bother anyone.

    11. Re:What Now? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I'm reminded of the recent Ghost in the Shell movie. Altered Carbon kinda did it too, but I think it was probably just them wanting to reduce the amount of body-swapping to make it easier for the viewer to follow who is who.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    12. Re:What Now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That would go along way toward explaining Trump's presidency.

    13. Re:What Now? by DethLok · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you could read TFA and follow some of the links?

      Like the one to the wiki article of The Three Body Problem?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      The Wiki is quite comprehensive in plot, characters etc.

      Thanks.

    14. Re:What Now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You either live in a bubble, or in a cave. There are major authors and relevant people _outside_ of your bubble or cave as well.

    15. Re:What Now? by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 1

      +1 for the factoid that "China has roughly the population of North America and Europe combined"; I never realized.

    16. Re:What Now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I thought it was an average book, that I found really interesting because it really showed off the differences in what Chinese culture finds important vs western culture. Then I got to the second half of the third book, and I thought that was one of the best SF endings I've ever read. Don't read spoilers for the ending because it's worth reading the series to experience it.

    17. Re: What Now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Yes, the alien conspiracy was discovered and people rallied against Hillary.

    18. Re:What Now? by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 2

      The cultural part is fascinating.

      The science does not make a lick of sense. Weirdly cool in some places, but not science.

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    19. Re:What Now? by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 2

      If you liked any of Greg Bear, Heinlein/Clarke/Asimov, Peter Hamilton, Joe Haldeman, Hal Clement - just get the books and enjoy them without any spoilers..

      With the caveat here that if you like Hal Clement for the science, don't expect to find that here. There is some gosh-wow superscience, perhaps reminiscent of Peter Hamilton, but only the superficial appearance of based-in-real-physics worked-out science that Hal Clement was famous for.

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    20. Re:What Now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except Chinese food. Over there they just call it "food".

    21. Re:What Now? by Zorro · · Score: 1

      Like Magic? So it is Chinese Harry Potter in Space?

    22. Re:What Now? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I really hope Facebook isn't the prelude to an alien invasion and the downfall of the human race.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    23. Re:What Now? by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      Thank you for the delicate approach to recommending this book. I HATE spoilers, so much so that I won't watch trailers for movies I intend to see.

      I enjoy all of the authors you mentioned so I will pick it up and most certainly enjoy it.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
    24. Re:What Now? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      More relevantly, I’ve had my suspicions about the anti-science movement. One wing denies climatology, and the other wing denies all the other sciences.

    25. Re:What Now? by tehcyder · · Score: 3, Funny

      Book 1 is just the warmup. The trilogy ends with the heat death of the universe.

      Jesus fucking Christ have you never heard of spoiler alerts?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    26. Re:What Now? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Or the ones who cling to science, the existentialists, while deliberately misinterpreting it to suit their views. Biological essentialists are the most obvious example, but the so-called Rational movement makes extensive use of it with history, statistics and social sciences too.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    27. Re:What Now? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Basically it is a book about a woman who invites aliens (who have some problems with their planet) to visit Earth. They then setup a group on Earth (the Three Body Society) to help the invading aliens. The group soon splits up into competing factions. One guy solves the aliens problem. The aliens invade but soon humans and aliens coexist. But then there is a lot of stuff about humans leaving earth and the struggle continues.

    28. Re:What Now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm reminded of the recent Ghost in the Shell movie. Altered Carbon kinda did it too, but I think it was probably just them wanting to reduce the amount of body-swapping to make it easier for the viewer to follow who is who.

      Except that the book "Altered Carbon" mostly takes place in California, just in the far future. He only starts off on another planet in the first chapter and visits other parts of the Earth briefly in the second half of the novel. The body swapping is also pretty minimal and happens with just a few characters.

    29. Re:What Now? by jythie · · Score: 2

      It is sci-fi for people who don't read sci-fi. It is about what I would expect out of a 50s sci-fi writer with a few bits of updated pseudo-science and quantum woo and some serious social axes to grind. If you do try it, the first book is actually reasonably good, but I would not recommend the second and the 3rd was a serious slog that I wanted to throw across the room multiple times.

    30. Re:What Now? by jythie · · Score: 2

      Yeah, I would more describe it as science fantasy, there was a lot of mysticism involved. It reminded me of the stuff I read on conspiracy theory sites about how 'science actually works'.

    31. Re:What Now? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      What idiot downmodded this? This is the cleverest joke here all week.

      See, the heat death of the universe is one predicted end of the universe, with all energy so spread out among particles there are no usable delta gradients and all protons have broken down. This is inconceivable powers of ten years into the future.

      So, "Spoiler alert please!" in conjun...ya know what? Just stop modding.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    32. Re:What Now? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      That's why I didn't add the twist that Clueless AC did.

    33. Re:What Now? by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      The Cultural Revolution drives the plot of the first book. I mean, I wouldn't put it past Hollywood to ruin anything, but I don't see any easy way of changing it.

      Plus, it'd be a shame since this is the first Chinese sci-fi novel to really break through into the west.

    34. Re:What Now? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      there is a reluctance among TV execs to have a Chinese lead with a cast of Chinese actors.
      Thats a pity, depending on region of origin, Chinese especially the women, are the most beautiful people on earth.
      I just saw a nice martial arts (fantasy) movie on youtube a year ago, over 100 women breathtakingly beautiful and only 10 men or something ...
      Who would not want to watch that?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    35. Re:What Now? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Well,
      considering that physics in Star Trek or Star Wars are utter nonsense, a bit mysticism does not hurt, IMHO.

      E.g. this would also be a good series to make action movies from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... (By John Ringo)

      They have a race, called the Indowy, which are basically the "engineering caste", they build weapons and star ships etc. But they somehow use a mystical mind power approach ... for some reason the author ditched that idea and never went deeper into it. Would have been interesting if he had.

      Anyway, what for some people is mysticism is reality for others. Just talk about Chi with someone who thinks Chi is bollocks and one who practices Tai Chi, or Kundalini energy or Prana ...

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    36. Re:What Now? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Na, no worries. If it were, it would be posted on facebook.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    37. Re:What Now? by mentil · · Score: 1

      I don't like reading the Wikipedia page for works I'm considering, as they tend to be spoiler-laden and I have trouble stopping reading. I.E. it's TOO comprehensive.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    38. Re:What Now? by denzacar · · Score: 1

      Pick up Carbide Tipped Pens: Seventeen Tales of Hard Science Fiction.

      There's a story in it by Cixin, which is lifted from the Three Body Problem books (or which was adapted into the book... whichever came first).
      It involves building a computer with basically neolithic technology.
      See if you don't mind or don't find any of holes in its logic.
      Cause whatever is in that story, it's in the books as well (story itself is a part of the book... though with some changes).

      Personally, first book can be almost forgiven its flaws (which at time range from groan inducing to "I wish a had a paper copy to throw it against the wall") cause a promise of a trilogy is there and it doesn't really need to make complete sense.
      Though, if you can't stand string theory bullshit... particularly BAD string theory bullshit... well... get a paperback version for that.

      Second book... oh my... I wouldn't recommend it to people anywhere near a depressive spectrum.
      It's depressive as hell. The contents is depressive. Main characters are depressive.
      Faith of the mankind is depressive - in more ways than one. Then all that buildup fizzles out.
      Through actually even more depressive "resolution" - which actually resolves nothing.

      Third book... I simply can't get myself to pick it up. First two were too disappointing and at moments too retarded.

      Author has a very dark and distorted outlook of the world which, to borrow a koan is all about hanging between tigers all around, but without any strawberries anywhere.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    39. Re:What Now? by nickersonm · · Score: 1

      I also read the first book only, and found it to mostly contain rudimentary SF ideas that were simplistically presented.

      I would describe the near-future and alien part as "aliens are incapable of numerically simulating N-body gravitational interaction, so send a probe to earth to host a mathematical version of The Last Starfighter and obtain an analytical solution".

    40. Re:What Now? by LienRag · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I'm not good enough at fundamental physics to understand what is valid in the multi-dimensional proton he introduces, but globally the book felt like a lot of very interesting ideas clumsily assembled together...
      I only read the first book though, and the translation may have lost part of the wonder.
      Strangely enough for a book that is so political and in a country with such a history, the author seems to have very naive assumptions too about how a conspiracy works...

    41. Re:What Now? by LienRag · · Score: 1

      The Cultural Revolution had nothing to do with the aliens...
      It's just what led to First Contact.

    42. Re:What Now? by jythie · · Score: 1

      True, science themed mysticism in and of itself doesn't have to be a bad thing, but I think in this case it really did not work esp for a work people are describing as 'hard science fiction'. It was mostly used as a power up, with magic level technology completely outclassing things below it. I guess it kinda worked with the defeatism theme of the series, but it meched really poorly with the use of repetition.

  8. it's NOT a "TV series", ffs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amazon prime video is an online subscription video streaming service... call it a series or a program, but prefix it with streaming, not "tv" or "television".

    1. Re: it's NOT a "TV series", ffs. by cyber-vandal · · Score: 5, Funny

      It sounds good and I will definitely watch it on my 55in streaming.

    2. Re:it's NOT a "TV series", ffs. by GrumpySteen · · Score: 2

      And a parkway isn't where you park and a driveway isn't where you drive.

      Whining about how people use language won''t make them use it the way you want them to. It just makes them dislike you and listen to you less.

    3. Re: it's NOT a "TV series", ffs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTF is the parkway old man?

      1955 called, they want their lingo back daddy-o.

  9. I am hooked after this: by mapkinase · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Answer the following question without your typical deceit: Between the years of 1962 and 1965, did you not decide on your own to add relativity to the intro physics course?”

    “Relativity is part of the fundamental theories of physics,” Ye answered. “How can a basic survey course not teach it?”

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    1. Re:I am hooked after this: by itsme1234 · · Score: 2

      I liked this: "Life is a distraction for physics."

    2. Re:I am hooked after this: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My favorite bit was:
      "what is the most dangerous weapon in the universe?"
      "The laws of physics."

    3. Re:I am hooked after this: by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      If the whole dialog from the excerpt I am reading is not in, it will be a contrarevutionary betrayal.

      Imagine a dialog of two physicists, not in Pasadena, but one of them is an old physics professor with a huge metal "crown" on his head and a metal door hanging on his neck, arguing about Copenhagen interpretation with his wife, a physicist as well, who succumbed to the Hóng Wèibngs pressure and forced to participate in public humiliation of her husband:

      - Ye Zhetai, you cannot deny this charge! You have often lectured students on the reactionary Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.

      - It is, after all, the explanation recognized to be most in line with experimental results.

      - This explanation posits that external observation leads to the collapse of the quantum wave function. This is another expression of reactionary idealism, and it’s indeed the most brazen expression

      - Should philosophy guide experiments, or should experiments guide philosophy?

      - Of course it should be the correct philosophy of Marxism that guides scientific experiments!

      - Then that’s equivalent to saying that the correct philosophy falls out of the sky. This is against the idea that the truth emerges from experience. It’s counter to the principles of how Marxism seeks to understand nature.

      Fantastic. I watch the shit out of this.

      We, tech nerds, whine and moaned about Big Bang Theory and nerdfaces.

      Here, a series is on the way, where physicists are represented for what they are.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
  10. I found the book incredibly boring... by gweihir · · Score: 1

    Let's see whether the series does better. If not, all the better, more time to do other things!

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:I found the book incredibly boring... by mrthoughtful · · Score: 1

      I didn't find the trilogy boring, but I didn't find it covered any new ground either. Likewise, the premise and the conclusion seemed to be rather weak. I guess it's rather unexciting that they should turn this into a TV series..

      Something like Gibson's Bigend trilogy would work better for me (I guess the sprawl trilogy would be misconceived as a copycat of all of it's copycats) - or any of the Mieville novels. Lem's Star Diaries would be fun - or the cyberiad. Even though Tarkovsky had a go, the Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic would be an epic series.

      But then none of these involve chinese authors...

      --
      This comment was written with the intention to opt out of advertising.
  11. Just finished the trilogy & the wandering eart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Just finished Cixin Liu’s trilogy:

    The Three-Body Problem
    The Dark Forest
    Death’s End

    Great hard science fiction.

    I particularly like Cixin’s exploration of pessimistic outcomes in a matter-of-fact manner.
    Heinlein without with family values and a historical sense.

  12. Good but not that good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is a good story but not that good to invest 1B$ in my opinion.

    This is mainly for Chinese market.

    I would very much prefer to see good adaptation of Dick (more, more ), Heinlein (haven't seen any), Lem (some good, some not), Asimov (Foundation!!), Hamilton (I would love to see Pandora's Star), Sapkowski (Witcher by Netflix is coming), Scott Card (Ender's Game sucked)

    1. Re:Good but not that good... by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Your wish is granted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
      Bryan Singer directing.

    2. Re:Good but not that good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your wish is granted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
      Bryan Singer directing.

      Any other sources besides YT/Google?

      I've dropped everything Alphabet/YT/FB/Twitter related, deleted my YT channel, and use alternate search engines that respect privacy and aren't Fascist as those companies have come out as being.

    3. Re:Good but not that good... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Applehu Akbar pointed out:

      Your wish is granted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... Bryan Singer directing.

      Oh, noes!

      When an entertainment news story about a TV miniseries adaptation of what was arguably Robert A. Heinlein's greatest novel starts off by informing us that the name of the TV version has been changed to "Uprising," (despite the fact that there is already an existing and devoted audience for a reasonably-faithful adaptation of a famous book with an excellent and extremely memorable title), the signs are Not Good.

      Why would someone as savvy as Bryan Singer make such a foolish decision - unless the script that's been greenlit throws out everything that made the novel compelling in favor of Hollywood's paint-by-numbers approach to scriptwriting ... ?

      (Posting as AC only so as not to undo prior upmods in this thread.)

      --

      Check out my novel ...

    4. Re:Good but not that good... by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      So instead of the search that everybe uses billionsif tnes a day, you home in on a nice engine advertised as not being particularly good, but PRIVATE. Enjoy your pot of honey.

    5. Re:Good but not that good... by Camembert · · Score: 1

      A big budget Hamilton’s Commonwealth series at one season per book, starting with Pandora’s Star would be mindblowingly awesome. Would be a great follow up to Game of Thrones for HBO.

  13. Blockbuster? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can hope to make a blockbuster, but that's TBD. Having a huge budget and lots of stars doesn't make it a blockbuster until it proves that it's popular.

  14. Obligatory Yugo jokes by Ecuador · · Score: 3, Funny

    At an auto garage:
    -Hi, I'd like an exhaust for my Yugo.
    (after several seconds of deep thought on the part of the mechanic)
    -OK, sounds like a fair trade...

    -How do you double the price of a Yugo?
    -You fill it up with gas. (that's petrol in the UK)

    -Why does the Yugo come with rear windshield heaters?
    -To warm the hands of the people pushing it.

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    1. Re:Obligatory Yugo jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you go nowhere in a yugo

    2. Re:Obligatory Yugo jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At an auto garage:
      -Hi, I'd like an exhaust for my Yugo.
      (after several seconds of deep thought on the part of the mechanic)
      -OK, sounds like a fair trade...

      -How do you double the price of a Yugo?
      -You fill it up with gas. (that's petrol in the UK)

      -Why does the Yugo come with rear windshield heaters?
      -To warm the hands of the people pushing it.

      How do you total a Yugo?

      Leave the lights on.

  15. but why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazingly, I have no plans to watch it.

  16. Lost in translation by Pumpkin+Tuna · · Score: 2

    I really tried to like this. There were some good ideas and plot points, but it felt stilted and clunky. I think the translation was to blame. I didn't like it enough to read the second one.

    1. Re:Lost in translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly the same here. The beginning of the first was pretty slow, but it picked up enough that I made it through and it was fairly good and interesting. I gave up at the beginning of the second one. It was unreadable and I agree that the translation is probably the issue.

    2. Re:Lost in translation by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      One reason more to learn Mandarin, I guess.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  17. Book / Movie? by kqc7011 · · Score: 1

    Hollywood has made many movies that do not have any relation to the book that the movie was purportedly based on. We shall we see how they do it this time. One of the better lines from a author that had a movie that was only tangentially made from one of his books and the audience was saying they ruined the book when something like this, " How could they have ruined the book? The book is still the same as when it was printed".

    --
    Passionately Indifferent
  18. My $0.02 by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    1) The Three Body Problem was very much full of internal narratives and contemplative plot points; I have to imagine that's all going to vanish in the screenplay in favor of a massive CGI budget for SFX.
    2) Chinese-origin fiction is commercially a great idea regardless considering the potential audience.
    3) personally I thought the books were pretty bad structurally and shallow/2-dimensional in terms of character, comparable very conceptually to the 'fantastical' sci-fi of the pre-Golden Era books (Perelandra, etc). I thought their Hugo award was more a charity-award to encourage the nascent Chinese science fiction market.

    --
    -Styopa
  19. Are you sure?? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Maybe they only won a Yugo for the book. Obviously not very impressive work if so.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  20. Agree with nearly 100% of you said by aepervius · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The only thing I would remove is this : as opposed to "a "Literary" faction" and puppies I view both puppies : the left puppies and the right puppies both pushing an agenda of their own. Both have at time applauded literary work for reason other than pure literature, be it gender promotion or whatever. If you ignore both of them and judge work on their own literary merit, you are better off.

    After having read the some of the controversial "book" the right puppies accused the left puppies of pushing, I could agree at least on some point, that some were obviously pushed for reason other than literature, I can remember one about transgender issue I found the writing so poor I could not see why this book was promoted for Hugo novel. But the same way hold the other way around the right puppies having so obnoxious agenda pushing that you gotta vomit.

    In the end my recommendation is : ignore both puppies, ignore the gender or sexuality of an author, enjoy the story and writing. Only the story content should matter. Which is why I am still reading Orson scott card in spite of its view , I just refuse to pay money for it and loan it from library ;-), and this is why I am still enjoying call of cthulhu in spite of lvoecraft ebing an obnoxious mysoginistic racist.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:Agree with nearly 100% of you said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're making an idiotic mistake.

      I'm not a member of any faction, but the sad/rabid puppy nominations were clearly merit based... whereas the establishment view of SF these days is dire message fiction. I'll go further, the sad/rabid puppy nominations HAD to be based on quality, or their case dies immediately.

      And frankly, having been an avid SF reader I now wouldn't go anywhere near the current sewage pouring out of the mainstream SF/Hugo houses.

      Just because there are two sides, doesn't mean taking a middle view is balanced.

    2. Re:Agree with nearly 100% of you said by Boronx · · Score: 1

      That's a pretty blinkered view. The puppy nominations and the establishment nominations both include some great books, aepervius said. Your attitude is exactly the attitude to avoid if you want to find something worth reading.

    3. Re:Agree with nearly 100% of you said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blinkered... not once you've tried reading the new 'Hugo' worthy stuff.

      It's always interesting this... projection... used by the left in these situations.

      Certain types of SF have been driven out of the Hugos by the far left.

    4. Re:Agree with nearly 100% of you said by Salgak1 · · Score: 1

      I was being kind. I avoided the actual label of "boring message fiction" that causes puppies to be sad*

      (* Insider Joke: the original Sad Puppies campaign included a tongue-in-cheek pitch about 'boring message fiction' being a major cause of puppy-related sadness. . )

    5. Re:Agree with nearly 100% of you said by LienRag · · Score: 1

      If you're talking about "I you were a dinosaur", I really liked it, and I don't care much for transgender issues...
      Sure, it wouldn't have been published by Hugo Gernsback, but it's definitively worthy of New Worlds for example - and less esoteric that some of what was published in the 70's.

  21. My prediction. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This will be canceled after the Pilot, and then removed from the site. Just like Oasis.

  22. Yay more Chink propaganda! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck China. Tiananmen Tank Man. Democracy. Poohbear.

    Fuck all the Chinks.

  23. "Three body problem" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    I always thought the "three body problem" was how to ensure the other two don't get jealous of each other and ruin everything.

  24. Re: Nevernever Land by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's going to stay with THE BOYS and have a gay old time.

  25. Interesting to See Different Sources by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    Looks like there will be a lot of hype to happen with this story. Maybe a game and movie version? The question will be, "How will it play in San Diego?" Personally, it is nice to see something different.

  26. Poster is an ignorant moron... by whitroth · · Score: 1

    And slashdot was equally ignorant to post without correction.

    The author did not receive a car from a company in one of the nations of the former Yugoslavia.

    He did, however, receive the Hugo Award (tm, really) for Best Novel for the first book. The Hugo Award is named after Hugo Gernsback, who started the first science fiction magazine, Amazing, in 1926.

  27. Summary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I read through all the other comments but have yet to find a summary of what the "3 body problem" is about.

    1. Re:Summary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you're girlfriend brings her twin sister with her....
      ... never mind, this is /., you are unlikely to need the actual explanation.

  28. Obtain the rights to a Chinese movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, you mean the right way to do things...not the Chinese way of doing things where they steal intellectual property and all...

  29. Perspective by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    While I'd admit I know little of the factions, and care less there have been examples of left/right pushing agenda for many decades, so it is hardly new. Though gaming the system only seems to hurt the readers who might depend on awards to give them reading ideas. Abuse it too much, and people will just stop paying attention to the award, and then it will eventually become irrelevant and go away.

    Though your Lovecraft comment reminded me however that you really need to keep some perspective about when a work was written. I mean Lovecraft wrote in what the 1920's? Being an "obnoxious mysoginistic racist" perhaps wasn't so uncommon by today's standards. Similarly a lot of the science fiction I enjoy, particularly from the 50's and 60's from certain authors are just as mysoginistic and right leaning if not more, but again it was a different time, and for some folks more than others. Heinlein and Bova for example.

    Heck it can surprise you, I was on an 18h car ride listening to Lovecraft, when he start talking about a certain black cat with what would be a pretty unacceptable name today, and I remember thinking "what the heck am I listening to?" In the end, as said it was a different time, from a guy long dead, and if you find it too offensive then just don't read it.

    At the same time, that is what makes some of the older works so amazing, like Vern and Wells. When reading it, initially doesn't sound too fantastic until you think about the time it was written and what sort of technology they had available back then (or lack thereof).