I think I would’ve given this 5 stars, if not for the clunkiness of the the narrative with the scientific exposition. It’s nice to go in not knowing plot points in these types of books, but at the same time, it may be helpful to know that there’s a lot of backstory for one of the characters before any strange sci-fi things happen, and that it gets a bit noir-like for a while as our characters try to figure out what’s going on. That being said, the scope of Liu Cixin’s writing amazed me with the real-world implications of the three body problem and what humans might do if faced with - no joke here - impending doom.

On a side note, I really loved the Netflix show as well; it was quite different in some ways, but just as mindblowing. Just know that both the book and series end on a mild cliffhanger. I will definitely keep reading, and crossing my fingers that Netflix renews the show!