Like 3 years ago, it is conceptually a good book, fascinating actually but the writing style is so robotic and don’t get me wrong, but for me at least, it was at first a little disorienting to follow Chinese names.
I had to push through to finish it.
A month and a half ago I started reading again, something light, Murderbot diaries, follow it with Project Hail Mary, then All Tomorrows. The first one very short, fast paced, PHM not that short but very entertaining, it kept me glued to the page, the All Tomorrows, not my cup of tea but short and somewhat bizarre.
People kept telling me The Dark Forest was better than TBP, with my reading slump over, I decided to give it a try.
With the 3 first books I read every second I had free, I finished them in two weeks, started TDF almost a 3 weeks ago and I’m starting to feel like I felt with The Three Body Problem made feel before, a little bored and like I have to push through.
I don’t like books that I don’t feel compelled to read and feel more like a chore. Anyways, rant over.
I get it. I do actually think the “paper thin characters” can be a positive for some (me included). If you only like strong characters and character driven stories, it of course isn’t, and that’s fair.
However, part of the reason I like science fiction is the idea-drivenness and oftentimes strong characters get in the way of that. I genuinely don’t see how Trisolaris could have worked with more of a character-focused writing without becoming an entirely different book.
And, well, a lot of people would probably have preferred that version, but I wouldn’t have, personally.