The Three-Body Problem
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First contact with the world
As earthlings broadcast signals to other planets in hopes of contacting extraterrestrial life, Chinese science-fiction writer Liu Cixin has made first contact with the English-speaking world with his Three-Body trilogy—and the response has been positive. The first installment of the series landed in the United States on Nov 11 as the only Chinese sci-fi book published in the country, which is the planet's biggest sci-fi market. The English version published by US-based Tor Books has quickly become the best-selling Asian literary work on Amazon.com, where it's rated 4.5 out of 5. The first run printed 15,000 copies. "We could view this as a good start," Liu says. "But I don't expect huge success. After all, the US is the global center of science fiction, where more than 1,000 sci-fi works are published a year." Each installment of the Chinese version has sold more than 500,000 copies and is being adapted for film. Liu wrote the trilogy during his spare time when he was working as a computer engineer at a power plant in Shanxi province's Yangquan between 2006 and 2010. He was born in 1963 and experienced difficulty obtaining sci-fi books early in life, since the genre was banned during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). His first taste came when he read Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. The story of Liu's first book follows scientists Ye Wenjie and Wang Miao through the madness of the "cultural revolution" until the present. Ye is recruited into a secret military project to establish contact with aliens, while Wang gets caught up in a mysterious online game called Three Body. But Wang discovers the game is more than it seems and threatens humankind's very existence. While the plotline centers on first contact, Liu sustains suspense and doesn't reveal the aliens too soon. He invites readers to reflect upon human nature and science by portraying different people's responses to the creatures. American scientist and award-winning sci-fi author David Brin writes: "Vivid, imaginative and rooted in cutting-edge science, The Three-Body Problem ponders several big questions of our time. Liu Cixin stands at the top tier of speculative fiction authors in any language." The book was translated by Chinese-American sci-fi writer Ken Liu, whose earlier work won the prestigious Nebula and Hugo awards. Beijing Normal University science fiction literature professor Wu Yan wrote in his 2013 article Great Wall Planet: Introducing Chinese Science Fiction in the journal Science Fiction Studies: "Every nation with a distinctive culture and history is like an alien planet, and visitors can stand on this planet and look up at its sky." This suggests Liu may provide Western readers a vessel to explore the seemingly alien "Great Wall Planet".
China's film industry looking to blast off in sci-fi genre
The film adaption of Chinese author Liu Cixin's celebrated sci-fi epic "The Three-Body Problem" is highly anticipated. China's science-fiction fans could soon turn their attention home, as the mainland's film industry is gearing up to make a big push into the genre. Yang Peng, planning supervisor for Beijing Galloping Horse Film & TV Productions, says that many studios have started production on sci-fi projects, with huge financial backing. One highly-anticipated project that begins shooting before year end is the film adaptation of author Liu Cixin's celebrated sci-fi epic, "The Three-Body Problem," about the divisions of Earth's population that emerge from news that an invading alien race is making its way to the planet. Writer-turned-director Han Han also revealed plans to tackle the sci-fi genre after success of his film debut, "The Continent." Domestic studios are looking to get a piece of a lucrative market subset dominated by western features. This year, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" became the highest-grossing movie of all time in China--that title was previously held by 2009 American sci-fi blockbuster, "Avatar." But China still has catching up to do with Hollywood when it comes to sci-fi. Wu Yan, a sci-fi critic and Beijing Normal University professor, says from design to technology, every chain in China's film industry lacks sci-fi experience. Still, people like sci-fi writer Fei Dao are looking forward to Chinese produced visions of days to come. The author says, "In our vision of the future, there should be Chinese faces."
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《三体》只是开始，中国科幻的黄金时代尚未到来
中青在线讯（中国青年报·中青在线记者 蒋肖斌）中国的文学现场，科幻文学以其眼界、思维、爆发力而备受关注，青年评论家杨庆祥主编“青·科幻”丛书，收录极具活力的青年科幻作家代表作，一人一册。丛书名“青”，取青年之意味，更取青出于蓝而胜于蓝之祝福 。近日，由作家出版社、东方历史评论、单向空间主办的“时间之网，未来之门——‘青•科幻’丛书分享会”，在北京举行，江波、陈楸帆、宝树、夏笳、张冉、李宏伟等科幻作家与读者分享了自己的科幻写作故事。 作为丛书主编，杨庆祥说：“我们活在当下的时间里，对事物的认知是非常短视的。如何增强认知的深度和广度，科幻给我们提供了很多可能性。” 宝树认为，科幻其实是一个平台，包含科学、文学、哲学等多种学科；但它又是边缘化的，是文学的边缘，是科技的边缘；它集中表现为对一个世界观的建构，而不像主流文学那样更看重对语言以及人物复杂立体的塑造，这就是科幻文学的特点。 夏笳笑言虽然外界称自己是青年作家，但其实熬了很多年到今天才能“C位出道”。“过去关注科幻的人并不多。科幻在中国文学版图中，常年以来都像一块寂寞的浮冰，有一天机缘巧合之下杀出来，来一个精彩的亮相，博得喝彩，之后可能再次销声匿迹。”夏笳说，“在这个过程中，编辑所做的工作就是非常重要的，他们在图绘科幻的谱系。今天摆在这里的几本书，更多是留给后人的，他们会在我们的作品中，看到我们对当下生活的一种态度和表达。” 江波从小喜欢看科普类的科幻，到了大学开始尝试写作，又幸运地发表了一篇，于是在工作后保留了写作的爱好。在他看来，科幻小说其实是一种基于科学理性的小说题材，“我本人是一个科学主义者，一方面，我认为可以用科学的眼光来看待这个世界，可以用科学来解释一切；另一方面，因为我是人，不是机器，要遵守人类社会的规范和情感。这两者结合，我需要把人的内心和复杂情结带入被科学解释的世界中，这就是科幻小说”。 关于中国科幻是否进入了黄金时代，江波认为，中国科幻的黄金时代应该还没有到来，《三体》应该是它的开场而非结束。“因为科幻本身是通俗小说，与社会的整体认知水平挂钩。而中国目前处在认知水平整体上升的阶段，包括教育水平和整个社会思想开放程度。” 【编辑：杨海琴】
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Ye is recruited into a secret military project to establish contact with aliens, while Wang gets caught up in a mysterious online game called Three Body. But Wang discovers the game is more than it seems and threatens humankind's very existence.
2 Ye is recruited into a secret military project to establish contact with aliens, while Wang gets caught up in a mysterious online game called Three Body. But Wang discovers the game is more than it seems and threatens humankind's very existence.
3 One highly-anticipated project that begins shooting before year end is the film adaptation of author Liu Cixin's celebrated sci-fi epic, "The Three-Body Problem," about the divisions of Earth's population that emerge from news that an invading alien race is making its way to the planet.
4 One highly-anticipated project that begins shooting before year end is the film adaptation of author Liu Cixin's celebrated sci-fi epic, "The Three-Body Problem," about the divisions of Earth's population that emerge from news that an invading alien race is making its way to the planet.