If you’re like most of us, you were absolutely sucked into Liu Cixin’s trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past. Or, if you weren’t, you were almost certainly hooked by Netflix’s recent hit adaptation of its first novel. (3 Body Problem is already at number 2 on Netflix’s official streaming charts!)
Regardless of how you discovered the story, we’re pleased to report that there is a whole world of similar books out there. Here are seven of our recommended reads if you loved The Three-Body Problem book adaptation.
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7. Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Published in 1989, Hyperion is the first in the Hyperion Cantos series of novels. In a structure mirroring that of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, this sci-fi epic follows seven pilgrims through their individual journeys to reach the planet Hyperion.
Wading through ideas such as artificial intelligence, destiny, and consciousness, Hyperion is essential reading for all fans of science fiction and philosophy. (And if you’re looking for a deeper run-down on science fiction, we’ve got you covered.)
6. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
ISBN: 9780062190376
First released in 2015, this sprawling epic traces the struggle of humanity to survive after the Moon unexpectedly disintegrates, causing massive pieces to fall upon Earth in a destructive rainfall. Quick plans are made to send a select group of human beings into space and preserve the species, and the novel follows the subsequent evolution of homo sapiens through millennia.
Grappling with topics like human adaptability, resilience, and innovation, Seveneves is a great choice for readers interested in exactly what would happen after an extinction event. The novel also echoes many of the themes and ideas of Lars von Trier’s 2011 masterpiece Melancholia, and is fantastic reading for any fan of that film.
5. Blindsight by Peter Watts
Widely considered a pivotal work in the subgenre of hard science fiction due to its rootedness in proven scientific truths, Blindsight is a mind-blowing story about the mysteries of the universe. The novel follows a team of astronauts on a mission in the Kuiper belt as they seek to establish first contact with an unknown alien presence.
If you’re a screen reader, you’re in luck: Blindsight is available for free online under a Creative Commons license.
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4. Semiosis by Sue Burke
Semiosis, the stunning 2018 debut novel of Sue Burke, is the perfect choice for readers interested in themes like coexistence and communication. Set on a distant planet named Pax, the book follows the experiences of a set of human colonizers who’ve chosen to escape the widespread war and ecological downfall plaguing Earth. As the colonists settle into their new home, they realize that at least one of the plant species on Pax is sentient, and an uneasy relationship between the two life forms begins.
Exploring themes of language and intelligence, Semiosis is especially suited for readers who loved the 2016 film Arrival or have wondered just how it would be to bond with an alien life form.
3. Dawn by Octavia Butler
ISBN: 9781538765463
One of our favorite sci-fi novels by a female author, Dawn is a gripping work of speculative science fiction. After a nuclear apocalypse, protagonist Lilith Iyapo awakens on an alien spacecraft. Concerned with ideas of morality, agency, and identity, the novel follows Lilith as she wrestles with her role in an alien race’s plan to repopulate the planet with a new, hybrid species.
At times deeply uncomfortable, Dawn is not a novel to shy away from hard truths. Its subsequent volumes, Adulthood Rites and Imago, are must-reads in their own right. All three novels, often called the Lilith’s Brood trilogy, will have you asking questions about our own society and what exactly it means to be an ‘other.’
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2. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
A page-turning space opera, Leviathan Wakes is the first book in the extensive Expanse series. (Which has also been adapted into an addictive series streaming on Amazon!) James S. A. Corey, the pen-name of the writing team Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, spins a compelling tale set in a future where humanity has colonized the solar system.
Part war epic, part political drama, part class critique, Leviathan Wakes is the perfect choice for readers looking to get lost in an expansive world.
1. Children Of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Children Of Time is only the first book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s gripping series, and we’re so glad it is: by the time you’ve read the last page, you’ll be desperately searching for its sequel, Children Of Ruin. This masterful novel has been widely described as hard science fiction for its detailed accuracy and basis in scientific fact.
Told through two parallel narratives, Children Of Time follows both the final inhabitants of planet Earth as well as the evolution of a new species of sentient life on a faraway planet known as Kern’s World. If you liked The Three-Body Problem, you’ll love Children Of Time.
And here you have it: just a few of our recommendations for what to read after The Three-Body Problem. Enjoy!
