And it was really amazing. I so wish the Earth could come together behind China and unite against common threats like climate change and poverty. I haven't read any of the books but think I will start reading The Dark Forest because other have said the show is pretty faithful to the first book, Three Body Problem. Does the series get better and better? No spoilers pls.
The full series is available for FREE on youtube (subbed): https://youtu.be/YrLompD6e_k
I liked the series. I liked the cosmic themes and times scales of 2 and 3, I liked how Cixin Liu updated Cosmic Horror (like Lovecraft stuff) for 21st century readers to actually feel that horror.
I don't think the book's thesis that galactic life is inherently and inevitably hostile is true - partially because I think there's a very good chance that humanity is it when it comes to intelligent life in our local group and partially because I think hostile life is unlikely to develop to societies of technological advancement and desires to expand and form a threat.
A lot of people think the last half of the series falls off, I get where they're coming from. I liked them and I'd give it a shot for sure! There's also, like, an elevated fanfic that Cixin Liu gave a nod to that takes place after the series that's much more hopeful.
Edit: oh yeah and the gender shit is a little weird and off-putting, I got past it but there was a lot that made me think "wtf is my man on"
Yeah, you put it perfectly. That sense of cosmic dread and human insignificance of cosmic horror is pulled off well here.
as someone who liked the books, I got about a third of the way through and haven't picked it back up, partly because I wasn't a fan of the pacing, do you think it picks up a bit nearer the end? (IMO 30 episodes is way too many for book 1, though for book 2 it probably isn't enough lol)
I really enjoyed up to episode 15. Episodes 16-24 slowed down a lot, then episodes 25-30 picked up big time and were probably the best episodes of the show.
Weirdly enough, I'm a huge fan of the books and I'm in the exact same situation. I found the pacing nice at first, but a little after the photo-in-house scene I stopped it also. I need to pick it back up, but I found it lengthy at this point.
Perhaps knowing the absolute awesomeness that is to come when you love the books makes going through the initial more normal scenes harder. But also, the pacing was similar in the first episodes and yet I liked it. I don't know.
I found the series to decline after book two, though many say they like the Stapledonian scale of the second half of book 3.
I liked all three books but they each have a different feel. All sci-fi, all the same story, but as the scale of sci-fi-ness increases the genre of the story shifts some. Don't know how to explain without spoilers. Either way The Dark Forest is fantastic and when you get to the infamously tedious part early on, just muscle through it. Death's End from what I've seen is a little more controversial and a lot of people say The Dark Forest is the best in the series, but I really enjoyed all three.
Do not watch the Bilibili Three-Body series. It is bad.
Still only halfway through the show because my bf can only watch so much slow subtitled drama at a time.
I couldn't get into the first book but a big part of that was it being an audiobook and me not remebering any of the chinese names, maybe I'll give the tv series a shot
I assume it's in english on youtube like every chinese tv show/movie