Liu Cixin's Three-Body Problem

[IrfanK]

Right. It's 1967, at the height of the Cultural Revolution. The dignified old Chinese physics professor is dragged in chains and with a heavy iron weight around his neck before the angry mob. Beaten to his knees, they demand that he refute Einstein's reactionary, revisionist theory of relativity. He gently remonstrates. The theory is based on observed phenomena and cannot be denied merely on ideological grounds. His wife and daughter are also dragged in, where they are forced to bear witness against him, demanding that he recant. Still, he refuses. Unable to defeat him with logic, the crowd grows more and more violent, until he is beaten to a lifeless pulp.

And that's just chapter one. I was hooked from the very first page, and it gets better and better. It's a weird crossover between political satire and science fiction, with a few other genres thrown in.

I can't help posting this here on Clarity, particularly with the fantastic chapter when the physicist puts on the virtual reality suit and goes to meet King Wen and King Zhou, with King Wen using the I Ching to try to determine how long it will be before the next "chaotic period" descends upon the earth. Unfortunately, he gets it badly wrong.

Great light reading novel! Thoroughly recommend!

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/books/liu-cixins-the-three-body-problem-is-published-in-us.html