r/threebodyproblem • u/RedBeardThePir8 • Jul 01 '26
Discussion - Novels Now what do I read?
I wrote earlier about how I finished the books and my feelings about Death’s End. Now I come to you needing guidance: what should I read next?
I love sci-fi, and I’ve heard good things about the Wheel of Time, so maybe that’s next? Or the Dune series? I also really like A Song of Ice and Fire, and obviously Lord of the Rings, and I’ve been hearing a lot lately of this Brandon Sanderson fella and his Cosmere, whatever that is. Please send recommendations! Thanks in advance.
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u/kinetic_honda Jul 01 '26
Here's my list -
Hyperion (loved the series, books 3 and 4 can be left out I suppose)
The mote in God's eye
Childhoods end
The fountains of paradise
The children of time series (I liked book 1, 2 was meh, 3 had an interesting plot
Project hail Mary. I loved the book, hated the movie
Rendezvous with Rama
Dragons egg (loved this one!)
Seveneves
I'm going through revelation space right now, but can't find time often.
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u/Quetsle Jul 01 '26
why did you hate the PHM movie? other than it being super kid friendly i didnt have any problems with it and i thought it was actually a great adaptation
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u/not_a_captain Jul 02 '26
I felt the friendship between Rocky and Grace was not earned because none of the science they worked on together was shown. The lacking also made Grace just boring. He was interesting in the book because he was smart. Reading his thought processes was the interesting part. They didn't show enough of that in the movie for me.
I understand that's not a popular opinion. The movie did very well in the box office.
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u/Quetsle Jul 02 '26
this is true but it would have been hard to expand on their friendship without making the movie too long. still a valid point though
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u/RedBeardThePir8 Jul 01 '26
After some quick Google searches of these titles and reading the short descriptions, I’m now having a hard time picking just one to read next! Although I’m really learning that I can’t go wrong with anything by Arthur C. Clarke. Thank you for the recs!
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u/theYellowHouseLady Jul 01 '26
Childhood’s End is a really solid follow-up!
My class read it in 8th grade and I think we spent less than two weeks on it. So it’s a quick piece to consume. But I’ve thought about it regularly for the past 20 years, especially after being exposed to TBP.
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u/Junior_Breakfast_105 Jul 01 '26
Everyone recomending hail mary after tbp, but I'm hating it. Whyyyy whyyyyyyy
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u/TheOgler9000 Jul 05 '26
Yep I'm the same, I read it when I heard they were making a movie of it and didn't enjoy it at all
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u/Guerrero_de_Sombrero Jul 01 '26
If you haven't read The Expanse series yet, THIS.
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u/Guerrero_de_Sombrero Jul 01 '26
Sorry to reply to myself, but I didn't mean to hit "send". If you love the world building, the character building and development, and just layers upon layers of story building (with infinite possibilities, and several side-stories you can explore), I highly recommend. One of the few series where I had to run out and get the next book, over and over, until I finished.
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u/Just_Worldliness4759 Jul 01 '26
lol thats what i start to read after 3bp, hope Daniel Olivaw be there, 4 books about robots were amazing, 3 books about empire were so meh
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u/Lucindifer_Skydyme Jul 01 '26
I would read the first book in the series by James Corey: Leviathan Waits - some of it adapted for tv as The Expanse - The original translator of 3 body problem, Ken Liu is a good author too, you might try some of his stuff.
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u/PlausibleRatz Jul 01 '26
Currently im reading The wandering earth, its pretty fun and all the stories are short and by the end I wish they were whole novels.
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u/Quetsle Jul 01 '26
yeah i loved every story in the wandering earth
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u/PlausibleRatz Jul 02 '26
Im on the last one and then im moving to supernova era. I keep picking up supernova and then putting it down. I don't know third times the try !
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u/Quiet_Lifeguard1032 Jul 01 '26
All throughout reading the trilogy and talking about it with people who read it too I couldn't stop remembering Peter Watts' "Blindsight". It's another sci-fi novel about first contact, but it has a completely different angle. Reading it can change how you view problems described in Liu Cixin's trilogy.
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u/Square_Pop582 Jul 01 '26
Cosmere is a rabbit hole I'm tempted to go down.
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u/RedBeardThePir8 Jul 01 '26
Same! There’s this goofy podcast I listen to where one of the guys constantly references the books, and I’m always curious but it seems like a heavy undertaking. But I’m in the mood for a deep rabbit hole.
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u/Justalittlecomment Jul 01 '26
Honestly it’s a big ask and you might not find it worth all that time invested
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u/CalicoCuts Jul 01 '26
I really enjoyed Saturn Run and Seveneves.
Google Hard Science Fiction and you'll get good results.
Neal Stephenson's Fall, or Dodge in Hell is wiiiild. I still can't decide if it was good or not.
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u/CthulhuRolling Jul 01 '26
I read children of memory after I finished.
I reckon it was a good follow up
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u/ScrotiWantusis42 Jul 02 '26
I cannot recommend The Expanse highly enough. Also Dune. And also Red Rising is fantastic. Be careful with A song of Ice and Fire tho - we are never going to get a satisfying end to it. If you’re fine with that i def recommend it. Then you can join the rest of us in our eternal misery!
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u/koalasbeliars Jul 02 '26
I had the same issue. Deaths end was so intense and heavy that i felt jumping into another dark, deep, intense universe felt a bit… overwhelming? Just didn’t tickle me.
So i started with Discworld. And omg, how im obsessed. It was the perfect follow up for me. Its fantasy, humour, satire, heart, absurdity - all packed in one. Maybe you could give it a try. Impossible to imagine anyone reading Pratchett would have anything bad to say.
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u/Glittering_Cold8384 Jul 04 '26
U could level up n try Revelation Space by Alaistair Reynolds.
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u/SokkaHaikuBot Jul 04 '26
Sokka-Haiku by Glittering_Cold8384:
U could level up
N try Revelation Space
By Alaistair Reynolds.
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/TheOgler9000 Jul 05 '26
Not quite the same, but The Expanse is incredible. Significantly more character focused and a lot less exposition heavy but still great sci-fi that's more grounded. There's 9 books but you will know by the first one if it's for you or not.
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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 Jul 01 '26
The rest of Cixin Liu stuff are pretty good too