Three Body Problem is Netflix’s latest sci-fi epic – and you can read the book it’s based on

The sci-fi trilogy comes Barack Obama-approved

You are bugs, you are bugs, you are bugs, you are bugs (The Independent)

Arguably one of the most highly anticipated TV shows of 2024, the 3 Body Problem has finally dropped on Netflix. The streaming service’s latest sci-fi epic, from the creators of Game of Thrones, is said to be the company’s most expensive show to date, with an estimated cost of around $20m (£16m) per episode.

Now, everyone’s picking up the book series on which the show is based. Previously said to be unfilmable, The Three-Body Problem trilogy, written by Chinese author Liu Cixin puts the word hard into ‘hard science fiction’.

Spanning multiple timelines, The Three-Body Problem revolves around humanity’s first contact with an alien civilisation from a nearby triple-star system, similar to Alpha Centauri. It explores themes and concepts such as quantum mechanics, particle physics, alternate realities and cosmology.     

Recommended by former US president Barack Obama, who turned down a cameo in the show, the trilogy is worth a read if you want to give your brain a workout. Keep scrolling to find out more.

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‘The Three-Body Problem’ by Liu Cixin: From £5.03, Amazon.co.uk

(Amazon)

Originally published in Chinese in 2008, The Three-Body Problem is the first book in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy and was translated into English in 2014. Just like the show, it starts in 1967, when Ye Wenjie watches as Red Guards beat her father to death during China's Cultural Revolution, shaping her life and the rest of humanity. Decades later, nanotech engineer Wang Miao is asked by the police to infiltrate a secret group of scientists after a series of suicides, and he finds himself playing a video game revolving around three suns – the key to everything.

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‘The Dark Forest’ by Liu Cixin: From £4.79, Amazon.co.uk

(Amazon)

The Dark Forest is the second book in the Three-Body Problem trilogy and was first published in 2008 before being translated into English in 2015. Following on from the events of the first novel, in The Dark Forest, the characters grapple with the realisation that the inhabitants of a planet orbiting three suns are preparing to invade Earth, and humanity must figure out a way of defending itself. It also introduces us to the dark forest theory, which suggests the universe is a dark forest where every civilisation has to tread quietly or risk alerting others of their presence.

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‘Death's End’ by Liu Cixin: From £4.31, Amazon.co.uk

(Amazon)

First published in 2010, Death’s End is the final book in the Three-Body trilogy (it was translated into English in 2016). Taking place half a century after the battle in the second book, a series of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the alien invaders away. However, as they begin to co-exist peacefully, an aerospace engineer from the 21st century is awakened from hibernation and reminds the world of a long-forgotten program from the start of the war, upsetting the balance once again.

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