Cixin Liu; Zhang Xiaoyu [illus.]

The Three-Body Problem [complete in] Science Fiction World: January 2006 - December 2006 [12 issues sewn into 1]

Chengdu, Sichuan, China: Science Fiction World, 2006. Very Good. Item #48591

Chengdu, Sichuan, China: Science Fiction World, 2006. First Editions. Includes all 12 issues of the Chinese science fiction magazine from 2006, containing the first published appearance of The Three-Body Problem serialized and complete in the May - December issues. Small quartos (26cm); twelve issues sewn neatly together along the spine creating one large bound volume with all illustrated covers intact. Text in Chinese and featuring illustrations by Zhang Xiaoyu not found in the 2008 book publication. Light wear; heaviest to cover of January issue; Very Good.

A major work of Chinese and world science fiction, The Three-Body Problem, the first in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, would go on to be published in book form in China in 2008, and in the US and UK in 2014. The work was awarded the Hugo Award for best novel, making Liu the first Asian to win the award. Chinese and American television adaptations followed in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

A hard sci-fi work featuring Mao's China, the implications of technological progress, and encounters with an alien civilization, the novel and the author have been reinterpreted and deconstructed throughout its 20-year history. New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat put it thus in 2024, "At a time when Chinese-American relations are notable for a lack of sustained cultural exchange, here is a best-selling work written within our leading rival, carrying various clash-of-civilizational themes, translated into popular television for an American audience. There aren’t a lot of other cases where a major piece of pop culture is so clearly working along the fault lines that have led to great-power conflict and could one day lead to war."

This edition notably includes illustrations not included in later editions, and begins with a section critical of the Cultural Revolution, which was moved to the middle of the story for the 2008 release to avoid provoking the ire of state censors. One of the greatest works of 21st-century science fiction, the true first edition remains remarkably rare in the West.

Ross Douthat, "Three Interpretations of the 'The Three-Body Problem,'" New York Times, April 12, 2024.

Price: $5,500.00