The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1) Summary & Key Insights

Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem introduces a complex narrative spanning decades, intertwining a Cultural Revolution-era mystery with a looming extraterrestrial threat. The story begins in 1960s China, focusing on Ye Wenjie, a disillusioned astrophysicist working on a clandestine military project. Haunted by the chaos and suffering of the Cultural Revolution, she believes humanity is inherently self-destructive and seeks contact with extraterrestrial life, hoping for salvation or, at least, an end to human suffering.

Ye Wenjie's desperate act involves sending a signal towards the three-sun system of the Trisolaran civilization, unknowingly initiating contact with a dying race facing imminent planetary destruction. The Trisolarans, technologically superior but facing environmental collapse, plan to invade Earth after a four-century journey. Their arrival promises the extinction of humanity.

Meanwhile, in the present day, a mysterious game called "Three-Body" appears online, triggering a wave of suicides among its players. This attracts the attention of Ye Wenjie's daughter, Yang Weining, and Wang Miao, a nanomaterials scientist drawn into a secretive organization dedicated to investigating the game and the strange phenomena associated with it, including unpredictable, seemingly impossible physical anomalies.

Wang Miao, along with Shi Qiang, a police officer, and other scientists, forms the ETO (Earth-Trisolaran Organization), a clandestine group of Trisolaran sympathizers within humanity, working to pave the way for the invasion. The novel explores the philosophical and ethical dilemmas surrounding contact with alien civilizations, highlighting the dangers of unchecked technological advancement and the inherent fragility of human society.

As the story progresses, the mystery surrounding the game and the ETO unravels, revealing the Trisolarans' long-term strategy and the insidious infiltration of their influence within humanity. Ye Wenjie's role as the unwitting catalyst for this impending doom becomes increasingly central, highlighting her tragic worldview and the consequences of her actions.

The novel ends with the Trisolaran fleet entering the Solar System, their arrival imminent and humanity largely unprepared. The overarching themes explore the insignificance of humanity in the vastness of space, the complex relationship between scientific progress and societal destruction, and the ambiguity of morality in the face of existential threats. The narrative skillfully blends science fiction elements with historical context, offering a thought-provoking and often unsettling exploration of humanity's future and its potential interaction with alien civilizations.