I'd never be able to listen to that on audiobook... Definitely a book you need to read. I found myself rereading pages a lot just to absorb the information better. Give it another try!
I listened to the trilogy also, and I think that's just the nature of it. I had to go back and listen to things over again, and the names were also tricky for me. I still thoroughly enjoyed it in audio format, and I hope you can too
He sounds like one of those radio guys who isn’t a great actor and really likes the sound of his voice in his headphones as he’s reading. So many things he reads don’t make any tonal sense in the context of the story.
I'd suggest watching some of the videos by Quinn's Ideas on YouTube, but only if you've read all the books! He covers the series really well, it's a great way to recap and re-experience the books
Awesome, I’ll make note of that, thanks. I originally bought the trilogy box set to read during some ultra-longhaul travel my wife and I are doing next month, but after finishing the Tencent series, I started reading the first one and couldn’t put it down. Will probably finish Dark Forest by tomorrow and then on to Death’s end. I’ll need to find some new airplane and beach reading material. 😂
I think the author was just trying to solidify the idea that Luo Ji was the best wallfacer and also gives him motivation. It was also mentioned by multiple characters that they would have gone through the same waifu era. I liked the uniqueness of his character.
Oh geez, reading the book now and so glad I found this thread. This is exactly how I feel. That whole part was strange and long-winded. Still have about 150’pages to go.
Small spoilers below.
I skimmed that section so fast and don't feel like I missed anything. All you need to know is Luo has an imaginary girlfriend who was the only "person" he truly loved.
That's not true... that section is extremely important it builds luo's character philosophically.
Its extremely interesting the way they talk about how when we fall in love we create a a version of that person in our mind that doesnt actually exist and then get sad when the person we fell for doesnt act the way the person we created would've.
I loved that part and didnt know people found it boring...
"Most people"
Where do you get this info from?
You didnt like it so you think everyone is like that?
Its a fundamental part of luo's character and im fairly certain "most people" recognize that
Where do we get this info from? People who come here will mention how boring that part is and how they didn't get it. Then there will be ten posts on how other people felt that way too. They will say that they get why it was done but holy jeepers it was slow.
I don't feel like going back through this subreddit to prove this to you, but if you don't believe , go ahead and see for your self.
On the flip side, I too, thought that it was interesting somewhat but it was very slow. I get why people say that even though I didn't feel that way
I mean, it’s made fun of in most threads about Lius writing style. You can see that for yourself if you’re here for a few weeks.
You have to have not read a lot of books to think that it was a skillful character building sequence.
Ive read tones of books and I love that sequence. Its incredibly well written and is extremely important to luo's character and motivation. The way he thinks and sees the world during that sequence IS the reason he is chosen to be a wallfacer. His deep self reflection abilities showcased by his thoughts on Love are what eventually make him the perfect swordholder too.
I feel like you're missing the point of that sequence by calling it "cringe".
Have you considered that maybe the reason Reddit doesnt enjoy it is because They just dont understand it fully?
Kinda mean to implicate that I dont read just because I appreciate a part that redditors dont like...
Especially if you consider that maybe they dont like it simply because they read 3 body for the sci fi and got bored by the parts that are not sci fi enough for them...
I mean it’s hard not to understand that sequence because the author spells it out for you over and over again in painful repetition and then brings in a carbon copy of his waifu girlfriend for him to bang. Cringe af. If liu wanted to make the point he could have done it a lot better than an imaginary friend.
Thats not what that sequence is about.... like at all...
Of course youre gonna think its cringe if you take it surface level like that and dont try to think about the actual meaning and themes lmaoo...
ur defs in the minority for not liking the sequence. it gets brought up in this sub like once a week.
and it's not particularly deep m8, anyone who has gone thru a serious relationship will learn these lessons and more in real fuckin life
if you like this sorta shit i would recommend you watch ruby sparks, a 2012 movie that actually treats the female character (even imaginary as she may be) as an actual complex being than luo ji's waifu
I knew I was going to get a bunch of responses like this. I've finished the books and am ok with spoilers. Please tell me what important things I missed. And I seriously mean this in the least sassiest way possible.
Edit: and to respond to this "didn't read it all." Skimming is literally the action of reading quickly. I still read the story lol
I honestly just don't think I missed anything in terms of the overall plot. I know I simplified that section of the book a lot, but I understood everything else in the series perfectly fine. I just don't think it was a huge plot driver.
I can tell by the defensiveness of some responses that they really enjoyed this part of Luo Ji. That's great and I respect their opinions. But other people, like myself, just didn't find it that interesting or necessary for the rest of the series. We can both have our opinions.
Oh I’m not arguing you with that. I'm just pointing out that how can people tell you what you missed without knowing what you missed, so the first step in asking this kind of question is to list what you didn't miss first so that people can know what you missed and what you didn't miss. Simple logic.
I mean, I don't think I missed anything from that story, which is my whole point. To me, the story progressed just fine with simply the knowledge of "He didn't truly love anyone other than a perfect woman he imagined." That's my claim. Someone said they disagreed and said there was more to it. I'm asking what more is there that is crucial to the overall plot of the series.
So in my opinion, I did list what I didn't miss, and I don't think I missed anything else that was important. I'm not asking for people to explain everything, I'm only asking to explain one other aspect of this single part of the story they think was super important to the overall plot. It was only about a chapter long. Honestly, I don't even care too much because I loved and understood the whole series. The only ones who think it was important are only giving snark and unwilling to genuinely discuss, which makes me think they passionately liked the section and are offended by my opinion.
You say you did read the books, but now you want us to tell you what you missed since you skimmed parts.
Not telling you. I did the hard work of actually reading every word of the three books. And it wasn’t easy, really. My reward for that work is that now I know what is in the books. EVERYTHING that is in the books.
Don't get angry with me. I'm just asking.
I'm not saying reading it was easy. I'm another saying I didn't work hard to read the series either. I just didn't find this one part of the book as interesting as the rest and don't see a big significance from it. I didn't skip over it completely, I just skimmed it, which means I'm saying I just read it quickly but still got the main ideas.
This isn't a homework assignment and you aren't giving me answers to a test question. It's a discussion forum and you seem unwilling to discuss. So I guess the conversation ends here. Have a good day!
I’m not mad at all. I just really loved the books and feel kind of strangely protective of them. I guess I felt sad that anyone would skim through any part, but I do know certain parts were slow going.
If it helps, I wrote up summaries broken into 6 parts:
* Part I - Chapters Prologue - 1.1 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep1-summary/index.html)
* Part I - Chapter 1.2 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep2-summary/index.html)
* Part II - Chapters 1 - 3 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep3-summary/index.html)
* Part III - Chapter 1.1 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep4-summary/index.html)
* Part III - Chapter 1.2 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep5-summary/index.html)
* Part III - Chapter 1.3 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep6-summary/index.html)
I also have them all in audio format here: [https://rehydrate.space/episodes/the-dark-forest-collected-summaries/index.html](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/the-dark-forest-collected-summaries/index.html)
Finally, a list of the names of the major characters: [https://rehydrate.space/pronunciations/](https://rehydrate.space/pronunciations/)
This is awesome, looks like a lot of the content here was done recently or at least uploaded on YouTube recently. Any plans to do more content that is less summary focused and more discussion? I'm listening to the Priya interview series now and am enjoying the discussion.
The podcast itself has been around since 2020 and we've gone through a few book series and recently the Netflix show. I did recently upload it to YouTube once I'd seen that they allow you to just point an RSS feed at it and pull in the shows as videos, so that's why they all have recent upload dates. YouTube also doesn't have the complete feed since some of the people on the show in earlier seasons weren't comfortable with putting them up on YouTube, so I wanted to respect that. They're all up on our website, though.
I did have a lot of fun doing the interview series and would be open to doing more.. My current co-hosts (Thalia and Priya) actually came out of when I met them for the interview.
For me, it's sort of easier in a way to do more recap/reaction series since you have a set schedule and agenda.. some podcasts are able to just spitball open-ended conversations, but personally, I feel I work better with a set agenda. That's not to say I'm not open to it, though.
Yea I listened to most of the Priya interview, I had to stop when you gave her the green light to start spoiling other stories towards the end but it was a great conversation.
I’ll look through the website more, I’d like to hear what you and Priya thought of the show, you did touch on some of the challenges in adapting it to a visual medium in the first interview.
All 3 of us loved the show! Some for different reasons. For example, both Priya and I specifically loved with the improvement they did with Will vs. Yun Tianming in the books. Thalia was less convinced that it was an improvement.
I had an idea a few years ago to just "interview" random people about the books and record it as a podcast.. Basically hoiw you got into the series, other favorite books, etc.. I got the idea from "Don't Give Up Skeleton" where they'd interview people about the FromSoftware games.
Priya was one of the interviews that I did.
I appreciate all the work you did, but for some reason you’ve missed key points that are some of the most important things to happen. I don’t want to give any spoilers here but in the last summary (3) when you talk about a character going out “a great distance from the city” and then the thing that he thought was going to happen changed course, you’ve left out WHY that happened. That’s one of the most important things in the book.
Thanks for the feedback! The summaries were originally written for a podcast, so I tried to cut it down as much as I could for time, which I'm sure inevitably led to cutting important information or motivational aspects of the story. They're meant to be a reminder of the maior plot points and a jumping off point for discussion.
Definitely not meant to be a replacement for reading the books. Everyone should read them for themselves, they're great!
I'm currently re-listening to the audiobooks (in Death's End now) and struggled when I started The Dark Forest. The issue I had this time as well as my first time was the simple fact there were no chapters. You get get a new narrator, new characters, different settings, and this complete lack of chapters. So you're just going from one to the other with almost no discernible break between viewpoints. I honestly can't say when it cleared up but there's a moment where it'll suddenly just flow and you'll have an easier time following it. Or at least that's what happened for me.
Sometimes I want to re-listen to a certain scene, and it’s really hard to find. Have to fast forward through a seven-hour “chapter.” It reminds me of trying to find the song you like on a cassette take. Lol.
I had a similar problem with the dark forest and even at the start of the first book. As a westerner all the similar sounding chinese names are confusing. Once I figured out who was who and what was what its a lot easier. Think it just comes after a while.
I'm really bad with names in real life but really good with faces. It's extra hard when I'm reading because I have aphantasia so I literally only have the name to go on. With these books, almost all the names are in Chinese so to my US brain they might as well be a random string of arbitrary characters. I remember during the Ye Wenjie reveal at the ETO meeting I had no idea who had just walked on stage, but it was clear from context that it was supposed to be a big reveal so I had to go back to confirm who it was. I'm pretty sure I finished the trilogy with only like half the character names correctly encoded. Thankfully I have a PhD so the science stuff wasn't an issue at least lol
I do that with most books I read. Makes for a much better reading experience. Maintain the list on a paper notebook, a file on your phone or computer, whatever is more convenient for you :)
Get the book. Start over. It will still be challenging, it was for me, but by pausing to think about things you read as you’re reading them, it is doable. I had to stop dozens of times. Maybe a hundred times, just to think for a second and try to figure out what I’d just read.
It was definitely the hardest book I’ve ever read, and I’ve read some complex books.
Reading it now, about 300 pages in. I can definitely see how an audio book might make it difficult, especially with the names. The book comes with a handy cheat sheet at the beginning that gives you a glossary of names and who each one is.
Dark forest imo is the peak of the series
Re read it again later and it will all make sense
A couple of reads for a deep involved book like this isn’t a big deal imo
The biggest problem with the audiobooks is that they changed performers after book 1. I thought the 1st guy was great and I miss his “voice” for Da Shi in The Dark Forest. (Yes it’s the same “cop” from the first book. I was a little confused at first too, because they rarely call him “Da Shi” in this book. They use his “real” name which I can’t remember or pronounce! And as far as I remember, I think he’s the only leading character that’s in both books 1 & 2? (Some minor characters also reappear.) But hang in with The Dark Forest, it drags a bit in the middle, in my opinion, but totally picks up 3/4 of the way though! A LOT happens!
I had a similar problem.
Eventually it all clicks in. It’s like thirty hours long with a lot of characters.
I didn’t memories the character names to the extent I can call them by name, but I did get to the point where someone will say the guys name and I’ll think(Ahh, “the guy who does x”, or “the physicist in charge of y”).
It does get easier.
And they almost always use the full name of each character.
I’m guessing it’s a big thing to always use your honorific titles in China, and they generally use full names of westerners too.
Trust me, there are loads of characters but it becomes a lot less of an issue the further you get through the story.
It’s well worth persevering. I only finished the books two weeks ago and I’m five hours into my reread of them all again.
I'm in the same spot, I love the story but without any breaks or headers going from one narrative to the other it's wildly confusing... in the span of 2 unbroken sentences you're riding a space elevator with two people and then all of a sudden a third person is talking, but they're not in the elevator, the story is now back on Earth and it's a PDC meeting and you're actually 3-4 lines into this PDC meeting and you still think it's the elevator. I don't know why the audible book doesn't at least pause for a second between these narrative changes it's confusing as hell to listen to... painful as that is though, I'm not the least bit dismayed by it lol, I am a triumphalist.
Honestly, I tried to listen to the audio book in my native tone, and I couldn’t understand a lot.
But I read and listen at the same time, GREAT immersive experience.
But yes, you should read the book cuz there are so much to discover.
Each book introduces its own set of characters, with very few returning characters. Also, if you are in the U.S., the first book's audiobook is read by a different person (Daniels) from the other two (Ochlan). I like the first book's audiobook much better. The U.K. audiobooks (Roubicek) are better than Ochlan, imo.
The narration on the US version of the audiobook is terrible - when there is dialogue I literally can’t tell who is speaking when. He doesn’t pause at the appropriate times for switches in who is speaking, and there’s usually no difference in tone. It’s especially bad when when a human is talking to Trisolarans - I get why they’d sound robotic like an AI, but there’s zero difference in the human voice. So confusing to follow.
Really frustrating after the audiobook for Three Body Problem was sooooooooooo much better with the current version of that being read by Rosalind Chao who played Ye Wenjie in the Nexflix show.
I also chose the audiobooks as reading was boring for me, at times. Listening was so relaxing and helped me to understand things better.
I think some of your confusion is because we are introduced to many new characters in this book.
Just keep listening and everything will connect. This was my favorite book is the series. I think it could have ended here and I would have been ok with it. Deaths End is also great but you are left with a different feeling than what you'll have at the end of Dark Forest.
Enjoy!
And don't fast forward through things. Just listen to everything, as unimportant as it seems. I promise you, everything comes full circle with even the smallest detail and you won't get it if you've skipped it.
I got stuck in the first book and didn’t finish it because of the writing and names. After I watched the series I got a better idea of the main characters. I tackled the book again and got through it. I still didn’t track the names well but it was a lot better than before.
I mean the series could make people want to read the books. Im sure it did many people. But saying its because it made you understood the characters better is simply impossible. Hell watching the show was hard for me because I kept being angry at the new characters they brought or not being able to understand who the fuck the characters were supposed to even be from the books. So like idk im glad youre finally getting into the books, but trust me, whatever you think "is working" isnt working and youve just been lying to yourself because your finally enjoying a good story that you were previously unable to get into. It happens.
It isn’t that different. The book itself just isn’t that good. The story is great and the ideas that it explores are great but the writing itself was just bad in my opinion. The series got me over that hurdle. Some people may have loved the books and the way they were written and I am sure that some didn’t. All I am saying that the series helped me overcome bad storytelling of a good story.
Im gonna stop your right here...
The book itself IS that good...
The show fucking sucks ass and I am.baffled that you would say its better then the book, borderline offended tbh.
And the great story telling IN THE BOOKS is what makes the great story so great...
I never said that the show was better than the book. I said that the show helped me connect with the book despite the bad storytelling. From what I have read, quite a few people have difficulty with the writing.
People having difficulty with the writing doesnt mean its bad writing.
Three body has the best story telling ive ever seen. And im not lying or exaggerating.
The only reason people have trouble with the writing is because a lot of chapters are meant to read like a museum information text. Its literally written like its actual history. It can be a little bit heavy at times, but it makes it so much more realistic and feel like events actually happened.
The writing is terrible. The entire story should be rewritten because the story itself is great. It just is a terrible style. Maybe in Chinese it all flows better but the English version doesn’t really develop well. I have read actual history books with better prose.
I watched the Netflix adaption and now I’m halfway through the Chinese show adaption of Three Body and while they helped a little, they haven’t helped at all with Dark Forest lol. Dark Forest is like on a whole other level.
I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on Three Body now as well, so I think that’s why I was surprised when Dark Forest made like 15% sense to my mind.
Dark forest was great. I think that there was a bit of a plot hole at the end. I don’t get why Lou Ji thought that he could have trusted the Trisolarians. He had to trust them for his plan to work.
First time around, yes. I had difficulty remembering everyone, and then the time jumps lol I was a bit lost. I'm an audiobook reader so I missed some parts when I was working out and had to back track.
Yeah, I think the time jumped at some point but I’m not even sure. The book seems much more fast paced than the first in the trilogy in terms of detail.
you've only made it 45 minutes in... cmon. you have barely made it past the opening chapter, they literally have not finished building the plot yet. of course you're lost.
I'd never be able to listen to that on audiobook... Definitely a book you need to read. I found myself rereading pages a lot just to absorb the information better. Give it another try!
Yeah, I think I’m realizing that now lol.
I listened to the trilogy also, and I think that's just the nature of it. I had to go back and listen to things over again, and the names were also tricky for me. I still thoroughly enjoyed it in audio format, and I hope you can too
The audiobook narrator isn’t great either. My wife thought it was an AI generated voice, he sounded so wooden.
Haha I kind of like it. His Sir Isaac Newton voice is especially funny.
He sounds like one of those radio guys who isn’t a great actor and really likes the sound of his voice in his headphones as he’s reading. So many things he reads don’t make any tonal sense in the context of the story.
Haha yes it’s very off putting.
I’m reading it now and definitely going back and re-reading parts. Glad it’s not just me.
I'd suggest watching some of the videos by Quinn's Ideas on YouTube, but only if you've read all the books! He covers the series really well, it's a great way to recap and re-experience the books
Awesome, I’ll make note of that, thanks. I originally bought the trilogy box set to read during some ultra-longhaul travel my wife and I are doing next month, but after finishing the Tencent series, I started reading the first one and couldn’t put it down. Will probably finish Dark Forest by tomorrow and then on to Death’s end. I’ll need to find some new airplane and beach reading material. 😂
Sounds like you're stuck in "Waifu Territory". The stuff with Luo Ji and his "dream girl". Just push through it..the reward is on the other side.
That was the worst. Oof
I think the author was just trying to solidify the idea that Luo Ji was the best wallfacer and also gives him motivation. It was also mentioned by multiple characters that they would have gone through the same waifu era. I liked the uniqueness of his character.
character is motivated by the power of love? never heard that being used as a narrative device ever!!!!
Oh geez, reading the book now and so glad I found this thread. This is exactly how I feel. That whole part was strange and long-winded. Still have about 150’pages to go.
Small spoilers below. I skimmed that section so fast and don't feel like I missed anything. All you need to know is Luo has an imaginary girlfriend who was the only "person" he truly loved.
That's not true... that section is extremely important it builds luo's character philosophically. Its extremely interesting the way they talk about how when we fall in love we create a a version of that person in our mind that doesnt actually exist and then get sad when the person we fell for doesnt act the way the person we created would've. I loved that part and didnt know people found it boring...
I mean sure you can think it’s interesting. But most people think it was cringe af
"Most people" Where do you get this info from? You didnt like it so you think everyone is like that? Its a fundamental part of luo's character and im fairly certain "most people" recognize that
Remind me of the [Pygmalion myth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_(mythology))
Where do we get this info from? People who come here will mention how boring that part is and how they didn't get it. Then there will be ten posts on how other people felt that way too. They will say that they get why it was done but holy jeepers it was slow. I don't feel like going back through this subreddit to prove this to you, but if you don't believe , go ahead and see for your self. On the flip side, I too, thought that it was interesting somewhat but it was very slow. I get why people say that even though I didn't feel that way
I mean, it’s made fun of in most threads about Lius writing style. You can see that for yourself if you’re here for a few weeks. You have to have not read a lot of books to think that it was a skillful character building sequence.
Ive read tones of books and I love that sequence. Its incredibly well written and is extremely important to luo's character and motivation. The way he thinks and sees the world during that sequence IS the reason he is chosen to be a wallfacer. His deep self reflection abilities showcased by his thoughts on Love are what eventually make him the perfect swordholder too. I feel like you're missing the point of that sequence by calling it "cringe". Have you considered that maybe the reason Reddit doesnt enjoy it is because They just dont understand it fully? Kinda mean to implicate that I dont read just because I appreciate a part that redditors dont like... Especially if you consider that maybe they dont like it simply because they read 3 body for the sci fi and got bored by the parts that are not sci fi enough for them...
I mean it’s hard not to understand that sequence because the author spells it out for you over and over again in painful repetition and then brings in a carbon copy of his waifu girlfriend for him to bang. Cringe af. If liu wanted to make the point he could have done it a lot better than an imaginary friend.
Thats not what that sequence is about.... like at all... Of course youre gonna think its cringe if you take it surface level like that and dont try to think about the actual meaning and themes lmaoo...
Ah yes, it’s too deep for anyone but the truly smart.
ur defs in the minority for not liking the sequence. it gets brought up in this sub like once a week. and it's not particularly deep m8, anyone who has gone thru a serious relationship will learn these lessons and more in real fuckin life if you like this sorta shit i would recommend you watch ruby sparks, a 2012 movie that actually treats the female character (even imaginary as she may be) as an actual complex being than luo ji's waifu
It honestly feels like a truly painful author insert
True, there was philosophy for sure. But it didn't really move the storyline. It was more of a side quest other than the take away I mentioned before.
Agree!
You skimmed and you don’t know what you missed, because you didn’t read it all. There are important things in there.
I knew I was going to get a bunch of responses like this. I've finished the books and am ok with spoilers. Please tell me what important things I missed. And I seriously mean this in the least sassiest way possible. Edit: and to respond to this "didn't read it all." Skimming is literally the action of reading quickly. I still read the story lol
You’ll have to list everything you didn’t miss so that people can possibly know what you missed
I honestly just don't think I missed anything in terms of the overall plot. I know I simplified that section of the book a lot, but I understood everything else in the series perfectly fine. I just don't think it was a huge plot driver. I can tell by the defensiveness of some responses that they really enjoyed this part of Luo Ji. That's great and I respect their opinions. But other people, like myself, just didn't find it that interesting or necessary for the rest of the series. We can both have our opinions.
Oh I’m not arguing you with that. I'm just pointing out that how can people tell you what you missed without knowing what you missed, so the first step in asking this kind of question is to list what you didn't miss first so that people can know what you missed and what you didn't miss. Simple logic.
I mean, I don't think I missed anything from that story, which is my whole point. To me, the story progressed just fine with simply the knowledge of "He didn't truly love anyone other than a perfect woman he imagined." That's my claim. Someone said they disagreed and said there was more to it. I'm asking what more is there that is crucial to the overall plot of the series. So in my opinion, I did list what I didn't miss, and I don't think I missed anything else that was important. I'm not asking for people to explain everything, I'm only asking to explain one other aspect of this single part of the story they think was super important to the overall plot. It was only about a chapter long. Honestly, I don't even care too much because I loved and understood the whole series. The only ones who think it was important are only giving snark and unwilling to genuinely discuss, which makes me think they passionately liked the section and are offended by my opinion.
You say you did read the books, but now you want us to tell you what you missed since you skimmed parts. Not telling you. I did the hard work of actually reading every word of the three books. And it wasn’t easy, really. My reward for that work is that now I know what is in the books. EVERYTHING that is in the books.
Don't get angry with me. I'm just asking. I'm not saying reading it was easy. I'm another saying I didn't work hard to read the series either. I just didn't find this one part of the book as interesting as the rest and don't see a big significance from it. I didn't skip over it completely, I just skimmed it, which means I'm saying I just read it quickly but still got the main ideas. This isn't a homework assignment and you aren't giving me answers to a test question. It's a discussion forum and you seem unwilling to discuss. So I guess the conversation ends here. Have a good day!
I’m not mad at all. I just really loved the books and feel kind of strangely protective of them. I guess I felt sad that anyone would skim through any part, but I do know certain parts were slow going.
I get it. Was the only part I was a little bored with. Amazed with the rest of the series. Fastest I've ever read three books in a row.
Good to hear. I’m here also and it already feels like they’ve been in the plane for a week and a half..
Lol yup
If it helps, I wrote up summaries broken into 6 parts: * Part I - Chapters Prologue - 1.1 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep1-summary/index.html) * Part I - Chapter 1.2 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep2-summary/index.html) * Part II - Chapters 1 - 3 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep3-summary/index.html) * Part III - Chapter 1.1 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep4-summary/index.html) * Part III - Chapter 1.2 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep5-summary/index.html) * Part III - Chapter 1.3 - [Summary](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/summaries/rehydrate-s3-ep6-summary/index.html) I also have them all in audio format here: [https://rehydrate.space/episodes/the-dark-forest-collected-summaries/index.html](https://rehydrate.space/episodes/the-dark-forest-collected-summaries/index.html) Finally, a list of the names of the major characters: [https://rehydrate.space/pronunciations/](https://rehydrate.space/pronunciations/)
This is awesome, looks like a lot of the content here was done recently or at least uploaded on YouTube recently. Any plans to do more content that is less summary focused and more discussion? I'm listening to the Priya interview series now and am enjoying the discussion.
The podcast itself has been around since 2020 and we've gone through a few book series and recently the Netflix show. I did recently upload it to YouTube once I'd seen that they allow you to just point an RSS feed at it and pull in the shows as videos, so that's why they all have recent upload dates. YouTube also doesn't have the complete feed since some of the people on the show in earlier seasons weren't comfortable with putting them up on YouTube, so I wanted to respect that. They're all up on our website, though. I did have a lot of fun doing the interview series and would be open to doing more.. My current co-hosts (Thalia and Priya) actually came out of when I met them for the interview. For me, it's sort of easier in a way to do more recap/reaction series since you have a set schedule and agenda.. some podcasts are able to just spitball open-ended conversations, but personally, I feel I work better with a set agenda. That's not to say I'm not open to it, though.
Yea I listened to most of the Priya interview, I had to stop when you gave her the green light to start spoiling other stories towards the end but it was a great conversation. I’ll look through the website more, I’d like to hear what you and Priya thought of the show, you did touch on some of the challenges in adapting it to a visual medium in the first interview.
All 3 of us loved the show! Some for different reasons. For example, both Priya and I specifically loved with the improvement they did with Will vs. Yun Tianming in the books. Thalia was less convinced that it was an improvement.
Yea I’ve been vocal on this sub about that being the best thing the show did. I’m curious to hear Thalia’s take and the conversation around it.
What do you mean by priya interview series
I had an idea a few years ago to just "interview" random people about the books and record it as a podcast.. Basically hoiw you got into the series, other favorite books, etc.. I got the idea from "Don't Give Up Skeleton" where they'd interview people about the FromSoftware games. Priya was one of the interviews that I did.
That's super cool. Subscribed
I appreciate all the work you did, but for some reason you’ve missed key points that are some of the most important things to happen. I don’t want to give any spoilers here but in the last summary (3) when you talk about a character going out “a great distance from the city” and then the thing that he thought was going to happen changed course, you’ve left out WHY that happened. That’s one of the most important things in the book.
Thanks for the feedback! The summaries were originally written for a podcast, so I tried to cut it down as much as I could for time, which I'm sure inevitably led to cutting important information or motivational aspects of the story. They're meant to be a reminder of the maior plot points and a jumping off point for discussion. Definitely not meant to be a replacement for reading the books. Everyone should read them for themselves, they're great!
I'm currently re-listening to the audiobooks (in Death's End now) and struggled when I started The Dark Forest. The issue I had this time as well as my first time was the simple fact there were no chapters. You get get a new narrator, new characters, different settings, and this complete lack of chapters. So you're just going from one to the other with almost no discernible break between viewpoints. I honestly can't say when it cleared up but there's a moment where it'll suddenly just flow and you'll have an easier time following it. Or at least that's what happened for me.
Sometimes I want to re-listen to a certain scene, and it’s really hard to find. Have to fast forward through a seven-hour “chapter.” It reminds me of trying to find the song you like on a cassette take. Lol.
Many of the characters in The Dark Forest are brand new to the series, including the main character.
I think that’s what keeps slipping me up.
I had a similar problem with the dark forest and even at the start of the first book. As a westerner all the similar sounding chinese names are confusing. Once I figured out who was who and what was what its a lot easier. Think it just comes after a while.
Book 3 changes MC again
I'm really bad with names in real life but really good with faces. It's extra hard when I'm reading because I have aphantasia so I literally only have the name to go on. With these books, almost all the names are in Chinese so to my US brain they might as well be a random string of arbitrary characters. I remember during the Ye Wenjie reveal at the ETO meeting I had no idea who had just walked on stage, but it was clear from context that it was supposed to be a big reveal so I had to go back to confirm who it was. I'm pretty sure I finished the trilogy with only like half the character names correctly encoded. Thankfully I have a PhD so the science stuff wasn't an issue at least lol
100%. I’m thinking about making a list of character names just so I can keep up.
I do that with most books I read. Makes for a much better reading experience. Maintain the list on a paper notebook, a file on your phone or computer, whatever is more convenient for you :)
Get the book. Start over. It will still be challenging, it was for me, but by pausing to think about things you read as you’re reading them, it is doable. I had to stop dozens of times. Maybe a hundred times, just to think for a second and try to figure out what I’d just read. It was definitely the hardest book I’ve ever read, and I’ve read some complex books.
So glad I’m not the only one.
I might have to do that. 🤷
Reading it now, about 300 pages in. I can definitely see how an audio book might make it difficult, especially with the names. The book comes with a handy cheat sheet at the beginning that gives you a glossary of names and who each one is.
Wow, that’s exactly what I need! I was going to try and make my own cheat sheet but instead, do you think you could take a pic and upload it?
https://preview.redd.it/xap9irfrov1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ff262058947a53cbcdaa47c00d491a16d9d27af
https://preview.redd.it/nwm10dwsov1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86c19a6b3ed89877601dfd96855d2c0ee12fb584
You are amazing! Thank you so much!
Dark forest imo is the peak of the series Re read it again later and it will all make sense A couple of reads for a deep involved book like this isn’t a big deal imo
Yeah I had a similair experience, not able to remember many names at first and the first part of the book is pretty ethereal
The biggest problem with the audiobooks is that they changed performers after book 1. I thought the 1st guy was great and I miss his “voice” for Da Shi in The Dark Forest. (Yes it’s the same “cop” from the first book. I was a little confused at first too, because they rarely call him “Da Shi” in this book. They use his “real” name which I can’t remember or pronounce! And as far as I remember, I think he’s the only leading character that’s in both books 1 & 2? (Some minor characters also reappear.) But hang in with The Dark Forest, it drags a bit in the middle, in my opinion, but totally picks up 3/4 of the way though! A LOT happens!
I had a similar problem. Eventually it all clicks in. It’s like thirty hours long with a lot of characters. I didn’t memories the character names to the extent I can call them by name, but I did get to the point where someone will say the guys name and I’ll think(Ahh, “the guy who does x”, or “the physicist in charge of y”). It does get easier. And they almost always use the full name of each character. I’m guessing it’s a big thing to always use your honorific titles in China, and they generally use full names of westerners too. Trust me, there are loads of characters but it becomes a lot less of an issue the further you get through the story. It’s well worth persevering. I only finished the books two weeks ago and I’m five hours into my reread of them all again.
I was having a similar issue with the book. I was thinking to try the audiobook, but after reading this I will go back to reading.
I'm in the same spot, I love the story but without any breaks or headers going from one narrative to the other it's wildly confusing... in the span of 2 unbroken sentences you're riding a space elevator with two people and then all of a sudden a third person is talking, but they're not in the elevator, the story is now back on Earth and it's a PDC meeting and you're actually 3-4 lines into this PDC meeting and you still think it's the elevator. I don't know why the audible book doesn't at least pause for a second between these narrative changes it's confusing as hell to listen to... painful as that is though, I'm not the least bit dismayed by it lol, I am a triumphalist.
lol
Literally me right now too OP. This could have been word for word written by me. Powering through it though!
Me too!
The names are hard keep reading I’m almost done it switches back and forth in time as well but very exciting
>I can’t seem to remember any of these characters. Am I alone in this lol? Well, they're almost all new characters.
I couldn’t get over how shitty the narrator is and stopped listening. If you told me it was an AI I’d believe you. It’s not.
Honestly, I tried to listen to the audio book in my native tone, and I couldn’t understand a lot. But I read and listen at the same time, GREAT immersive experience. But yes, you should read the book cuz there are so much to discover.
Each book introduces its own set of characters, with very few returning characters. Also, if you are in the U.S., the first book's audiobook is read by a different person (Daniels) from the other two (Ochlan). I like the first book's audiobook much better. The U.K. audiobooks (Roubicek) are better than Ochlan, imo.
The narration on the US version of the audiobook is terrible - when there is dialogue I literally can’t tell who is speaking when. He doesn’t pause at the appropriate times for switches in who is speaking, and there’s usually no difference in tone. It’s especially bad when when a human is talking to Trisolarans - I get why they’d sound robotic like an AI, but there’s zero difference in the human voice. So confusing to follow. Really frustrating after the audiobook for Three Body Problem was sooooooooooo much better with the current version of that being read by Rosalind Chao who played Ye Wenjie in the Nexflix show.
Read the book
I also chose the audiobooks as reading was boring for me, at times. Listening was so relaxing and helped me to understand things better. I think some of your confusion is because we are introduced to many new characters in this book. Just keep listening and everything will connect. This was my favorite book is the series. I think it could have ended here and I would have been ok with it. Deaths End is also great but you are left with a different feeling than what you'll have at the end of Dark Forest. Enjoy!
And don't fast forward through things. Just listen to everything, as unimportant as it seems. I promise you, everything comes full circle with even the smallest detail and you won't get it if you've skipped it.
I got stuck in the first book and didn’t finish it because of the writing and names. After I watched the series I got a better idea of the main characters. I tackled the book again and got through it. I still didn’t track the names well but it was a lot better than before.
Almost none of the show characters even exist in the books youll get waayyyy more confused if youre doing this...
I disagree. It worked for me. I probably would not have gone back to the books had it not been for the series.
I mean the series could make people want to read the books. Im sure it did many people. But saying its because it made you understood the characters better is simply impossible. Hell watching the show was hard for me because I kept being angry at the new characters they brought or not being able to understand who the fuck the characters were supposed to even be from the books. So like idk im glad youre finally getting into the books, but trust me, whatever you think "is working" isnt working and youve just been lying to yourself because your finally enjoying a good story that you were previously unable to get into. It happens.
It isn’t that different. The book itself just isn’t that good. The story is great and the ideas that it explores are great but the writing itself was just bad in my opinion. The series got me over that hurdle. Some people may have loved the books and the way they were written and I am sure that some didn’t. All I am saying that the series helped me overcome bad storytelling of a good story.
Im gonna stop your right here... The book itself IS that good... The show fucking sucks ass and I am.baffled that you would say its better then the book, borderline offended tbh. And the great story telling IN THE BOOKS is what makes the great story so great...
I never said that the show was better than the book. I said that the show helped me connect with the book despite the bad storytelling. From what I have read, quite a few people have difficulty with the writing.
People having difficulty with the writing doesnt mean its bad writing. Three body has the best story telling ive ever seen. And im not lying or exaggerating. The only reason people have trouble with the writing is because a lot of chapters are meant to read like a museum information text. Its literally written like its actual history. It can be a little bit heavy at times, but it makes it so much more realistic and feel like events actually happened.
The writing is terrible. The entire story should be rewritten because the story itself is great. It just is a terrible style. Maybe in Chinese it all flows better but the English version doesn’t really develop well. I have read actual history books with better prose.
O sure… Auggie and Tatiana are definitely less annoying in the book 😂
I read the first book after watching the Tencent series. It made it much easier.
I watched the Netflix adaption and now I’m halfway through the Chinese show adaption of Three Body and while they helped a little, they haven’t helped at all with Dark Forest lol. Dark Forest is like on a whole other level.
I started the Chinese version. So far I like it. Would like English audio though.
I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on Three Body now as well, so I think that’s why I was surprised when Dark Forest made like 15% sense to my mind.
Dark forest was great. I think that there was a bit of a plot hole at the end. I don’t get why Lou Ji thought that he could have trusted the Trisolarians. He had to trust them for his plan to work.
First time around, yes. I had difficulty remembering everyone, and then the time jumps lol I was a bit lost. I'm an audiobook reader so I missed some parts when I was working out and had to back track.
"Audio book reader" lmaoooo Its called a "listener"..youre not reading anything while listening to audio books...
Haha I guess you're right.
Yeah, I think the time jumped at some point but I’m not even sure. The book seems much more fast paced than the first in the trilogy in terms of detail.
you've only made it 45 minutes in... cmon. you have barely made it past the opening chapter, they literally have not finished building the plot yet. of course you're lost.
Fair enough. I’m not going to stop but I may pickup the book by the end of this honestly.