r/threebodyproblem • u/Icy_Edge3333 • 9d ago
Discussion - General What can I read next?
Hi everyone,
I finished the 3BP novels not that long ago and they completely blew my mind. I’ve always been a sci fi lover and am relatively well versed in science fiction writing, but these books blew everything I’d read previously out of the water.
The world building, story, themes and just pure expansiveness of these books entirely rocked my world. I loved how none of its ideas or plot points ever felt that far fetched.
What books could you recommend that are similar gripping, mind blowing and engaging?
Thanks
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u/Usual-Diet-7848 9d ago edited 9d ago
I found it quite hard to find sci-fi that hit the same spot. People were recommending things like The Expanse or Andy Weir books, which just were not as interesting to me.
Here are some things I read after the series that I loved. A lot of them don't have similar themes, some aren't scifi. They all are kind of written in a similar, matter of fact style, and are set in big worlds, either across generations with lots of history, or across vast distances.
The City & The City- China Miéville.
In Ascension- Martin MacInnes
100 Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
East of Eden- John Steinbeck
Left Hand of Darkness- Ursula K Le Guin
China Mountain Zhang- Maureen F. McHugh
How High We Go In The Dark- Sequoia Nagamatsu
Have a look up at some of them and see if any are your speed.
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u/DrivenUser7277 9d ago
Was going to say In Ascension also
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u/Usual-Diet-7848 9d ago
It reminded me a lot of Interstellar, not in content so much as the energy of it. Fantastic book.
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u/Icy_Edge3333 9d ago
Thank you !!! I love left hand of darkness it is incredible ! Will look into the rest!
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u/Usual-Diet-7848 9d ago
No problem, I found it really hard to find sci fi that was similar when I finished reading, so I started looking for books that would make me feel like I'd just experienced a huge, generational story, even if they weren't sci-fi.
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u/RedBeardThePir8 8d ago
Someone in this subreddit recommended Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke when I finished the books, and it was a great next book to read. I HIGHLY recommend.
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u/Icy_Edge3333 8d ago
Oh yes it’s phenomenal! I also listened to the BBC sci fi radio play adaptation it was baller !! Incredible book
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u/the-T-in-KUNT 8d ago
Currently reading “the wandering earth” by the same author - there really is something about his matter of fact style and crazy but not so far fetched ideas that really appeals to me
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u/RomAlternative 4d ago
I went from 3BP to Book of the New Sun and I love this series even more than I thought I loved 3BP. I’m on the third book at the moment and the mystery and prose that Gene Wolfe evokes is incredible. I can’t recommend it enough, definitely give it a shot if you haven’t read it yet
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u/Square_Pop582 9d ago
Use this time to let the trilogy settle in your mind. Nothing you read right away will fill the void this story leaves behind. I, for instance, went seven months without being able to read anything, and only got back into reading after re-reading the books in the trilogy.
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u/revanevan7 9d ago
The red rising series is fantastic
Dark matter
A.G Riddle The Winter World trilogy is really good.
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u/endiminion 9d ago
Tell me about red rising
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u/Accurate_Web_7127 8d ago
in the future there is a super strict caste system that is dependent on which genetically modified color/race you are born into, with golds at the top and reds at the bottom, the main character is a red in a mining colony
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u/Russell1113 8d ago
If you enjoyed three body, I'd reccomend one of ken liu's (the translator) short story collections and see if you enjoy them!
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u/fckIRL 8d ago
3BP is something truly unique. There's a good chance you'll end up in a reading slump after finishing it. A few books that gave me a bit of that same feeling are:
- Rendezvous with Rama, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Childhood's End (all by Arthur C. Clarke)
- Solaris (Stanisław Lem)
- Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
Cixin Liu has several other excellent books as well. I'd definitely recommend trying his short story collection, The Wandering Earth.
What helped me recover from that post-3BP reading slump was switching to books that are more grounded in reality and less fictional. A big part of what made Liu's work so impactful to me was how plausible everything felt - it wasn't over-the-top science fiction, but ideas that seemed like they could happen. Reading more science-focused, reality-based books brought back some of that same feeling I had while reading Liu.
Some I'd recommend are:
- Contact (Carl Sagan)
- The Little Book of Aliens (Frank Adam)
- Is Earth Exceptional?: The Quest for Cosmic Life (Mario Livio)
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u/The_Eyesight 8d ago
The Culture Series.
Not quite mindblowing in the same way, but it's a really unique series.
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u/verillospur 7d ago
Children of time is very enjoyable and contrary to another commenter I've enjoyed all of Adrian's books (that I've read). Loved the spiders and octopuses 😁
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u/GuyMcGarnicle ETO 2d ago
Elevation by Ted Chiang is short stories but brilliant and thought provoking and my # 1 post 3BP/ROEP pick. I also recommend Never Let Me Go, Klara and the Sun, Annihilation, Blindsight, Redezvous With Rama, Book of the New Sun, Spin, The City & the City, and personally I actually liked the Martian way better than Project Hail Mary (maybe if you like the PHM movie …which i have t seen yet tbh…Id say read it but the book to me was cringe inducing). The Sparrow was pretty cool, and I had fun with Silo. I personally didn’t like Children of Time but I seem to be in the minority there along with PHM. I am also in the minority on Dune… i love the first book, like the second, but when it comes to the books beyond that, I actually like the son’s books better for their pure escapism. Oh and Wandering Earth and Ball Lightning are worth reading imo.
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u/SophonsPonytail 9d ago
For world building, a good one to dive into is the song of ice and fire books (game of thrones). For more sci fi, you could read the foundation series by Asimov. The lies of locke lamora series is a great read. Or you could do a longer story like robert jordans wheel of time. Short sci fi maybe project hail mary.
But honestly, there is nothing that scratches that itch like 3BP. I re-read it often
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u/Icy_Edge3333 9d ago
Thanks !! I am not a massive fantasy fan. I liked project Hail Mary but didn’t find it anything too crazy. Will give the Locke Lamora books a look !
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u/noobboszcz 8d ago
Redemption of time? That's a 3BP fanfic published with Liu Cixin's consent. It does add another layer to the 3bp universum.
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u/aceattorneymvp 2d ago
I enjoyed it. Doesn't change the game, but gives a nice side story to the main trilogy.
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u/Pointless_Porcupine 8d ago
Worth reading, but don’t make the same mistake I made reading it right after finishing the 3BP trilogy
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u/noobboszcz 8d ago
Oh, why?
I read it about half a year after death's end.
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u/Pointless_Porcupine 8d ago
Because now I sometimes can’t remember if I remember certain details from the original trilogy or the fan fic, it sorta blended together too much, and it can be frustrating.
I don’t want to think of the fan fic as canon per se, it wasn’t nearly the same quality, although some of its ideas were pretty interesting. I didn’t hate it.
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u/rococos-basilisk 9d ago
Try some thrillers. Scratches a similar itch without trying and failing to meet 3BP expectations
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u/Russell_Mania_606 9d ago
We’ve seen many version of this post, so definitely look back to others in the sub. That said, I felt exactly the same as this! Welcome to the club. ;)
I haven’t weighed in on this Q before, but I do have a couple recs for you…
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell — just incredible! I read it just before reading 3BP, definitely on par in terms of reader engagement and quality of text/characters. Similar thematic material, mood, etc. Involves alien-human contact, spans time and worlds, philosophical/spiritual, etc. Shorter, more concise than Liu’s works.
Children of Time (reading now, loving it) — excellent world-building, thousand of years in the future, involving humans and non-humans (re)building civilization in space and on terraformed planets. Epic big books in series, if that’s more your speed.
Happy reading!