Introduction

This Science-Fiction story from mainland China is unique.

Exploring the consequences of China’s ill-fated Cultural Revolution with its purge and execution of academics and the closing of all schools for several years, the central character’s horror, dismay, and dissolutionment with human authority leads to her secret lament to an alien culture to come and control us. While her action, when it is discovered, is both lauded and abhored, the consequence seems certain: the alien species is on a mass migration to Earth and they regard humans as nothing more than “bugs.”

Four Versions to Consider

In the media, there are four versions of this story, two in print, and two as television productions:

1. Published first by mainland China’s Chongqing Press in Mandarin, the 2006 novel was written by Cixin Liu. A New York Times Magazine article said the author “… was just 3 when the political upheaval began, and still remembers hearing gunshots at night and seeing trucks full of men wearing red armbands patrolling the city where he lived in Shanxi province.”
2. “The Three-Body Problem” is a slightly reworked version in English. Released in 2014 with translation by Liu Ken, it is available from Tor Publications. A year later, it would win science fiction’s pinnacle achievement for Best Novel, the Hugo Award. Of the translation, the above-linked New York Times Magazine article says, “In a move that was unusually invasive for a translator, [Liu Ken] suggested pulling up the historical flashback, which was buried in the middle of the narrative, and turning it into the novel’s beginning.” To his surprise, Cixin Liu reportedly replied, “That is how I wanted it originally!”
3. “Three-Body” is a television production, made in and for mainland China. In Mandarin, it was broadcast there in 2023 and consists of thirty (!) episodes. DVD copies with English subtitles are also available. Look for thirty episodes to identify this version.
4. “3 Body Problem” is a Netflix TV Production made in Great Britain and released in 2024 as eight episodes. It is also available on DVD (in English) – look for eight episodes to identify this version. A second “season” of six additional episodes is reportedly in production for release in 2026.

Recommendations

This story’s blending of traditional Chinese culture, ramifications of (and first-hand experience of) the Cultural Revolution, and the evolution of that country in the ensuing years plus Liu’s SciFi imagination make “The Three-Body Problem” unique.

For general entertainment, I recommend “3 Body Problem,” the Netflix TV production. It is readily available and its briefer (eight episode) presentation maintains a good pace. It also has superior computer-generated graphics. Produced for a western audience, however, some aspects of traditional Chinese culture are not portrayed accurately. This aspect weakens an understanding of the key character’s motivation. Because of this, some viewers may feel her motivation was insufficient for her betrayal of the entire human race.

The Chinese television production (with English subtitles) is far more accurate in cultural areas, and the key character’s motivation is far more grounded. But the production has one rather predictable short-coming, the depiction of Chairman Mao’s “cultural revolution.” In particular, the brutal treatment of academics has been sanitized and, for a different reason, the key character’s motivation is weakened in a different way. It is also worth noting that the thirty episode length sometimes results in a lethargic pace.

The printed English translation is the one that won the Hugo Award, and according to the translator’s report, it sequences the story in the manner the author originally intended. Most consider the translated version the best.

Nonetheless, for serious students of “story,” I recommend all four.