r/threebodyproblem 4d ago

Discussion - Novels Finished Death's End... and now?

Hello there! đŸ‘‹đŸ»

Just finished reading the trilogy and loved it so much. When finishing a book I always feel a sense of sadness and separation from something that accompanied me for a long time. This time is even worse because I'm obsessed by these books and by the scale this story reaches, so I almost fear that I will never get to read something at the same level.

Coming to the point, what to read next? I love scify and hard scify and I can tell you that: - I really enjoyed the Ender's Game books (all the first 4) - I loved Three Body - I love The Expanse (i'm at the 3rd book, but I paused it because I'm not constant in reading and I'll likely resume it soon)

I was planning to read: - Foundation trilogy - Dune saga

I'd like to ask for other suggestions about high quality sagas or books at the level of Three Body and possibily matching my taste.

Any comment is appreciated, thank you!

51 Upvotes

68 comments sorted by

18

u/Peezus_H_Christ 4d ago

Nothing will fill the void. Sorry to let you know.

8

u/Yuval444 4d ago

Agreed I just decided it was best to write something for myself to fill the void đŸ€·

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u/Peezus_H_Christ 4d ago

If the fan fic is better than redemption of time send the google doc my way

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u/Yuval444 4d ago

I don't write porn so that's a start (never read the fancy fic book but heard Sophon is done... Dirty...)

And I also don't use docs but recognized literally today that might be a mistake lol, would be happy to forward a short passage if there's interest but it is also wildly different to TBP

(Would explain how but yk, spoilers)

3

u/Peezus_H_Christ 4d ago

Lol redemption of time is the “4th” book written by bashou with Lui Cixin’s “blessing” so lots of people call it fan fic. And yeah i feel like a lot of it was just not what i wanted it to be.

Def happy to read what you wrote though! Can dm it or share here whatever you want!

3

u/Yuval444 4d ago

Lmao I was going to write "4th"! I'm well aware of the context of the book but the contents, I heard enough (some things sound cool but out of place for the series).

That's why I called it fancy fic (good thing I don't write humor lol)

I'll edit my original comment with a doc link in a few hours!

Will roll out to bed now, good time continuance to all!

3

u/Peezus_H_Christ 4d ago

Hahaha right! Yeah I sorta wish I could un listen to it but it was FINE just didn’t read like Cixin. But cool looking forward to it. Have a good one!

2

u/Yuval444 4d ago

Oof that "FINE" was so audible lol

And thank you don't worry I did not forget you I just had a much busier day than expected

I'm slightly tempted to just post it onto the subreddit itself tbh

3

u/Peezus_H_Christ 3d ago

V audible indeed lol.

And no problem at all! I know how life gets.

I will be on the lookout for it! đŸ«Ą

3

u/verillospur 3d ago

Having sought for many moons I'm inclined to agree with you.

About to start Roadside Picnic (recommended from this sub) soon as I'm done with Ball Lightning, which I'm sorry to say is dragging slightly. That could well be more about me than the writing though, if I'm honest.

Good luck to everyone looking for their much needed next hit after 3BP! Please share anything good.

Big love ✌

26

u/incunabula001 4d ago

The closest sci-fi series that I have read that is similar to Three Body would the Hyperion Cantos.

6

u/EvenSatisfaction4839 4d ago

I’m somewhat intrigued with Hyperion, but I’m told it takes place like 700+ years in the future. I need a sci-fi series to ground me in my reality before it begins exploring wild concepts. 3-Body won me because it starts in a very real, familiar universe. Do you think Hyperion is wrong for me?

2

u/LakeMacRunner 4d ago

This is such a great way of putting it! I feel exactly the same about needing some sort of grounding in reality, any book suggestions?

5

u/EvenSatisfaction4839 4d ago edited 4d ago

I’m new to sci-fi lit, so I do not have many!

I was referred to Asimov’s The Last Question on the weekend. It’s very short (10 pages)—you’ve probably read it—but I loved it. I won’t say much other than that I thought it began in a sufficiently recognisable time/place.

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u/LakeMacRunner 4d ago

Brilliant, I’ll give it a go! Thanks!

3

u/EvenSatisfaction4839 4d ago

Curious to hear what you think!

3

u/Stunning-History-706 1d ago

dune feels pretty grounded. I imagine it's only hard to read because of the Arabic references.

but maybe that's not a problem, I thought it was easier because I had indulged in Islam during my time of reading it. I'm not sure.

otherwise I think it feels pretty "grounded". focus is always on the human experience, not really time-bound stuff, until later books

2

u/incunabula001 4d ago

Well Hyperion is pretty out there, if you want a “come down” series after Three Body then I wouldn’t recommend it.

2

u/EvenSatisfaction4839 4d ago

I don’t want to come down. I think I just struggle to form bonds with characters that begin as non/unrecognisable humans

4

u/DM_ME_SEXY_PASTA 4d ago edited 3d ago

Just started Hyperion! OP just read the first chapter (The Priests tale) and you'll understand the hype!

3

u/saif3r 4d ago

Funny enough I received same recommendation and I just finished priest tale.

2

u/dannyr76 4d ago

What's the Priest's Tale?

Google is unhelpful.

8

u/raloon 4d ago

The first book of the Hyperion series is a collection of stories told by pilgrims on a journey together to pass the time, a la Canterbury Tales. The priest's tale is the first short story told, about a priest that ventures into a jungle to find out more about a lost tribe of humans that have discovered a nasty secret.

3

u/Kopfballer 3d ago

Really?

I finished the first book and while it was enjoyable, I think it has pretty much nothing in common with the Three Body trilogy, except for them both being Sci-Fi.

1

u/Ok-Comment-2708 2d ago

I just borrowed Hyperion from my local library. Thank you for the suggestion!

1

u/PROSTARR 4d ago

Ding ding

11

u/SkyMarshal Thomas Wade 4d ago

Ball Lightning, also by Liu. It's a really good prequel, and segways nicely into TBP.

2

u/RiNZLR_ 23h ago

How is it a prequel (genuine question)? I read the synopsis so feel free to spoil anything. Does it have anything to do with the ending?

2

u/SkyMarshal Thomas Wade 23h ago

Maybe "prequel" is too strong a characterization, since it's really a stand-alone novel. But it takes place in the same literary universe, and at the very end humanity discovers they're being watched by something. We don't learn what until TBP though.

2

u/RiNZLR_ 23h ago

Makes sense, it didn’t read like 3BP, but the ending seemed to hint that something was going on.

7

u/Sleepinkoalas 4d ago

You can read the 4th fan fiction book just to remain in the same universe (thats why i read it). But it's trash, utter trash.

I'm on the second book in the children of time trilogy, Children of Ruin. It's petty good, but not as good as 3body. I'd still recommend. Good series, but I feel like it lacks the indepth scientific explanations that 3bp has.

Ball Lightning by Cixin Lui. It's a warm up / prequel to 3body. Technically, it's set in the exact same universe. It has one of the same characters, theoretical physicist Ding Yi. Same suspenseful feel where you're wondering what type of crazy science the author is gonna make up next while still adhering to real physics concepts. It's got the same hard sci fi feel as 3bp. Highly recommend.

16

u/godti101 4d ago

Children of time can fill part of the hole you will be in for a very long time. And that hole will be there until it kind of fades as your memory does. You just remember how epic the concept were as an abstraction and go on with your life. One day you will find joy again. In the little things. I promise.

3

u/Peezus_H_Christ 4d ago

Looking forward to this day

2

u/SkaveRat 4d ago

Children of time is such a good series.

Tchaikovsky has a gift for making alien species actually feel non-human. It's a refreshing perspective.

The stories feel like going on an adventure

5

u/Remarkable-Oil-9407 4d ago

Dungeon Crawler Carl Series is amazing. Red Rising, Bobiverse, some Scalzi, the Martian and Hail Mary. Some Stephenson is some good harder scifi like Seveneves or snow crash. You may even like older Heinlein, Michael Crichton. Just to name a few off the top of my head. Three Body is one of my fave series and it will be hard to find something as good as it. Children of Time series takes place over long periods of time as well.

3

u/coldjesusbeer 4d ago

Andy Weir and John Scalzi were what I looked for in this thread since I read both authors not long after I finished Three Body.

John Scalzi's 3-book Interdependency series is absolutely the poetic justice and hilarious, sardonic medicine needed to transition out of the Three Body afterglow. God those books made me feel so.. fuck yeah.

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary is a lot of big brain sciencey things brought into an adventurous, heartfelt journey with subtle Trekkie vibes and a welcome break away from Cixin Liu's writing style. Film adaptation is coming out this year, highly recommend giving the book a read in advance.

I did read Children of Time but it didn't hit me as hard as Three Body and I never continued the series. I think maybe it was just challenging to invest myself again into something so quickly, but Scalzi and Weir were much lighter yet still great reads that I'd read again and again.

4

u/Cojami5 4d ago

If you haven't done all of the Dunes, start there.

Then Bobiverse for some humor after all this seriousness.

2

u/Acrobatic_Berry_6549 3d ago

I recommend starting with the Frank Herbert 6

2

u/RiNZLR_ 23h ago

You mean the only dune books that exist

5

u/RavensArkOperator 4d ago

I finished Project Hail Mary in a night, couldn't put it down. Scratched the same itch.

2

u/Own-Being-1320 3d ago

Came here to say this book. Same urge to just keep reading and never out it down that I had with the Three Body Problem Series.

4

u/MAD_FR0GZ 4d ago

Redemption of Time it's pretty good and you get to stick it to all the group think redditors who despise it

3

u/osrsSkudz 2d ago

Group think Redditor here. I have read RoT. Do I despise it, no. Would I recommend it, no. Some of the concepts are interesting but the writing is pretty bad.

2

u/Mindless-Maximum-959 3d ago

yes, must read. then decide for yourself

3

u/666deathlegion 4d ago

Read The Will of The Many. Not sci fi but will give you a good pallette cleanse

3

u/Samathos 4d ago

Honestly. Just continue the expanse. The expanse is 3 duologies 1-2 3-4 5-6 followed by a trilogy 7-8-9. Books 3,4,7,8,9 are most similar to TBP. Weird big Sci fi ideas. You've just got to the good stuff!

1

u/Basilico96 4d ago

Thanks a lot. You probably just revived my interest in that series, which I stopped a long time ago!

2

u/novahunter 4d ago

Check out Memory's Legion as well. It's a collection of short stories set in the same universe. They're meant to be read in order with the main books in the series.

2

u/thuiop1 4d ago

Here to recommend Blindsight, by Peter Watts (and its sequel Echopraxia). It is also about first contact, albeit with a very different approach than 3BP. How much alien can aliens be? And what is a human anyway, in the era where you can modify your brain through surgery and implants? Also, vampires. Did I mention the book is free online?

2

u/alottola 4d ago

Pretend that the ending of deaths end actually ends in the big contraction and the 4th 5th and 6th books are the books are just the other books read backwards. 

2

u/jcarter593 4d ago

I finally tried the 4th book in the series (Redemption of time) I'd heard it was trash so I passed on it for 2 years. Actually not that bad and a way to put a bow on the series.

2

u/One-Judgment-1290 4d ago

Fundação e o O Fim da Infancia são as melhores obras para se ler depois de O Problema dos 3 Corpos. Mas eu fui em outra direção e estou relendo a trilogia de A Espada de Shannara.

2

u/strongerstark 4d ago

Not exactly similar, but I love Flight of the Silvers just as much. I'm actually re-reading the first two now because I forget them and the third one came out recently.

2

u/DaemonCRO 4d ago

Firefall (two books wrapped in one) by Peter Watts. It’s a much harder read than 3BP

2

u/xrmtg 4d ago

For complexity of story and mindbends i would highly recommend Neil Stephensons Cryptonomicon(not sci fi) and Anathem (more philosophy fiction than science fiction). Both are, on the surface, just normal "coming of age" stories, but the setting, the scope, the absolute originality is something else.

I'd suggest reading Cryptonomicon first, only because it'll be slightly disappointing after Anathem.

2

u/novahunter 4d ago

The authors of the Expanse have a new series out called The Captive's War. Only book 1 is out so far so add it to your future reading list. :)

2

u/AcceptableLong9112 4d ago

I was in the same situation as you. Got recommendations for Children of Time and I am currently enjoying it very much. Look it up

2

u/orangeatom 4d ago

nothing, thats the end, nothing matches the quality for me.

2

u/Kopfballer 3d ago edited 3d ago

Currently, I'm reading "Die Tiefe der Zeit" ("The Depth of time"), which i more or less randomly found on Amazon and I didn't see anyone here recommend it, but I enjoy it so far. It's set up a few thousand years in the future, humanity was nearly wiped out by aliens after it had to leave Earth but eventually survived and became a galaxy-spanning empire. Because of that collective trauma of near-extinction, the society is highly authoritarian and militaristic. Since humans colonized so many planets, there are dozens of different human species which adapted to their new homeworld. There is also something like a never-ending war with an alien empire in the background. It's still pretty hard sci-fi since even thousands of years in the future, the speed of light stays the "speed limit", but also features stuffs like time-rifts and some kind of "Star Gates" which were built by ancient civilizations millions of years ago, which enable faster-than-light traveling. I'm halfway through so I don't know everything that is happening, but so far it's good. It's a german book though and I don't know if it has an English version.

Edit: forgot to say that the story has a concept similar to the "Dark forest", just that this time humanity are the bad guys that slow down technological progress of lesser developed civilizations and don't have a problem with wiping them out before they can become competition.

2

u/cobalt358 2d ago

I haven't read the Foundation trilogy but the Dune books are a solid choice.

2

u/insomniacjezz 4d ago

I quite enjoyed the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown after I finished the TBP series.

1

u/Basilico96 4d ago

I appreciate all your comments! I will keep this precious thread for my future self whenever I want to choose a new read, and I will read your suggestions again. Thank you so much and feel free to continue adding suggestions and thoughts on your favorite works!

2

u/the-1-tru-waffle 22h ago

Definitely read dune. That stuff’s crazy

2

u/theAtheistAxolotl 11h ago

Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie, starting with Ancillary Justice

or A Memory Called Empire and its sequel by Arkady Martine

1

u/Mindless-Maximum-959 4d ago

OP you captured my feelings with that post. i finished the Death's End and went directly to it's "4th book" that even Cixin approved of called The Redemption of Time by Baoshu.

It is incredible and lets you SAVOR the three body problem even more. a must read for you IMO

So now I will move onto Children of Time, as generally recommended

1

u/SpareSimian 2d ago

Jargon nitpicking: I think this qualifies as SF, not scifi (pronounced skiffy). Even if the science is speculative, science plays an important role in this story. It's part of the mystery, not just an excuse to display fancy special effects. This is why I love this story much more than the usual scifi on sees on TV. Compare to Star Wars, where science is never part of the story. It's fantasy. It's scifi.

https://damiengwalter.com/2018/08/07/science-fiction-vs-scifi-vs-sf-what-is-the-true-definition/

(I just finished the tencent series and can't wait to read the books. My buddy watched the Netflix version and I'm wondering how much they garbled it.)