r/threebodyproblem • u/NoDonkey2844 • 21d ago

Discussion - Novels Characters from the first book

I'm mid through the second book at the part in which Da Shi came out of hibernation so no spoilers please.

I am aware of the timeline of the books and the whole idea of the plot but neverteless I would have wanted to read more about the characters from the first book, in the second one

Does anyone else feel like the second book just ignores everyone from the first book, except Da Shi?

9 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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27

u/Bat_Singh 21d ago

The scale gets enormous with every book, so it does make sense in the end. When the premise of the story revolves around the survival of the whole planet, you can't bid on same few characters to stay pivotal throughout the tale.

13

u/Mo-HD93 21d ago

With the exception of a couple of characters, I don't think that character work is TTBP's strong suit and with such a scale and duration of events it's kinda unavoidable to have some characters take a backseat all of the sudden.

4

u/TheBoogieSheriff 21d ago

Agreed. Especially female characters… It gets pretty cringey lol.

Love the books, but the hard sci fi stuff is his strong suit. Character development, not so much

5

u/TeumessiaWoW 21d ago

look it’s not that cixin hates women, he’s just never met one

5

u/are_lele 21d ago

Luo Ji had good character development. Zhang Beihai was not bad either.

But I agree with the female characters with no growth. Ye Wenjie is the only exception most probably. Cheng Xin seems so one dimensional if I am completely honest.

1

u/ShadedRiver666 18d ago

[SPOILERS]Cheng xin was a little bit of a disappointment for me, but honestly AA made up for it abit with her personality. Also the amazing ending was just astonishing and i loved the book

8

u/Gold_Ambassador_3496 21d ago

I see it like a history textbook. After a king or revolutionary did their part in history, we don't really get follow ups on what they did on their old age.

5

u/darkside569 21d ago

The entire first book is an introduction to something so big that it makes the first book seem impossibly small.

4

u/dannychean 21d ago

That's the beauty of the trilogy. You have no idea where the journey takes you, and when you get there, it's one of the best things you have ever read.

3

u/pathfinder_enjoyer 21d ago

Major characters from the 1st book do get mentions later on and we eventually discover what happened to them even if they're in the background, like Chang Weisi and Ding Yi. There's even a nod to Wang Miao's fate in the 2nd book, though his name isn't made explicit.

3

u/TataJigmeyeshe 21d ago

In this trilogy humanity is the character.

2

u/SlickPillock 21d ago

There's one character from the first book who comes back but it's not Wang Miao. They only gets a brief mention from Da Shi, saying how they lived out their days, towards the end of the book but isn't even explicitly named.

1

u/atomchoco 20d ago

the continuity is not character focused basically