Murder! A cult obsessed with aliens purging humankind from the face of the Earth! Complex scientific theories! You’d think this would (ahem, mostly) make for excellent book club fodder, but we’re only starting to piece things together in Liu Cixin’s dynamic, interstellar novel. This much is clear, though: Things are about to go down as we enter the final stretch.
After a long time, life and civilization will begin once more, and progress through the unpredictable world of discussing The Three-Body Problem. We invite you to join us for next week’s WIRED Book Club discussion, when we will go directly to the final scene. Until then, head to the comments to tell us what you think.
Would you drink the Earth-Trisolaris Kool-Aid?
Lexi Pandell, Assistant Research Editor: Do I want Earth to be invaded? No. Do I understand why this alien race wants to get off their hellscape of a planet? Absolutely.
Sarah Fallon, Senior Editor: Do we think, then, that the peoples of Earth need a good butt-kicking because of how much they’re wrecking the world? That seems to be the propaganda message the Trisolarans are trying the perpetuate. And you can see why it resonates.
Jay Dayrit, Editorial Operations Manager: Those fruit roll-up aliens better stay the hell away from Mother Earth! No one travels across the universe for benevolent reasons.
__ Anyone figured out the point of playing Three Body?__
Dayrit: Seems pretty likely that it’s a testing ground to screen for people who are clever enough and sympathetic enough to deal with a Trisolaran invasion.
Pandell: On the one hand, it does seem like a litmus test to see who’s on board with the Earth-Trisolaris movement. On the other, one needs very specialized knowledge in order to play it—so part of me thinks that it’s helping target people for elimination. Maybe both?
Fallon: Or maybe it’s some sort of subversive act to see if the three-body problem can be solved (which it could be if you take general relativity into account, no?) and thus save the Trisolarans back home? Relatedly, can anyone in the comments weigh in on the relative coolness/implausibility of the human computer?
What's up with the Adventists and Redemptionists? Do you agree with either side?
Fallon: Actually, can someone explain to me which is which? I don’t quite follow.
Dayrit: Thanks for asking, Sarah. I was wondering the same thing.
Pandell: I think Adventists believe that humans are beyond salvation and that the Trisolaran "Lord" will carry out "divine punishment" by destroying us. (Adventists sure sound like FUN guests for your next cocktail party.) Redemptionists think that sounds a littttttle harsh, though they still seem like pseudo-religious fanatics. The cynic in me agrees that humans can be, generally speaking, pretty awful. But I’d opt out of being dehydrated into human jerky for alien snack time or zapped out of existence or whatever the heck the Trisolarans want to do to us, thankyouverymuch.
Dayrit: OK, well, I am certainly not an Adventist. So does that make me a Redemptionist by default? What do we call the camp who thinks we must arm ourselves against impending doom? I’m with them.
Is there a suggestion here that this has happened before—like when the "Lord" flooded the earth and wiped it clean?
Pandell: Hard to say, but I like this theory. If you want to keep it going, Christian Adventists, like our ETO Adventists, are known for their belief in the Second Coming...
Dayrit: Do the ETO Adventists think that only true believers will be saved or do they feel we’ll all be eradicated? It kinda seems like the latter.
Pandell: My sense is that, in addition to saving the Trisolarans, they want all humans to be eradicated for the betterment of the world at large. But I'm guessing we'll find out soon!
Does anyone else have a hard time discussing the book?
Pandell: The book is so plot driven, but the action that’s happening is strange and quiet—moments in the chaotic Three Body game, conversations between those in the ETO, etc. It’s difficult to figure out what to say about that. And, what’s more, we don’t really have enough puzzle pieces to understand what's going on, never mind develop interesting theories about where the story’s going.
Fallon: Yes yes, a quietness. Even though the aliens are coming to kill us all!
Dayrit: True, there is relative calm outside the game, but just because the plot errs toward the uneventful doesn’t mean it isn’t compelling. There’s a sinister undertow throughout, which one would hope will lead to some exciting action. I find my mind drifting whenever there’s an in-depth discussion of physics, kind of like when I read Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, but I get the gist, just enough to see how certain principles pertain to the story. I was excited at the mention of Jules Henri Poincaré, but only because I’m familiar with Poincaré’s Conjecture, which, it turns out, has nothing to do with the book. Bummer. I didn’t know Poincaré researched the three-body problem. Hell, I didn’t even know what the three-body problem was until this book.
Pandell: Heck, I barely understand the three-body problem while currently reading this book.
