Running Through Hugo's Back Yard 20: The Three-Body Problem

Hugo winner: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (translation, Ken Liu), 2015

My take: in many ways, this is the exact opposite of what can be stereotypically termed an "action-packed" SF novel; the violence it depicts - although occasionally quite brutal, as with the opening chapter that occurs during the Cultural Revolution - is either in flashback form or so much at a remove from anything currently happening in the main plot of the novel that the violence is more of a news report than a direct threat to any of the main characters. That's not to say that Three-Body isn't full of menace. Without resorting to spoilers, the Trisolarans are one of the most ominous alien invasion forces recently dreamt up by an author specifically because they're so subtle in terms of strategy. They don't need death rays, UFOs or other varieties of  traditional BEM-style super-weapon to deal with their future human antagonists because what they have in their arsenal is both so subtle as to be nearly invisible and so powerful that it could put humanity in a potential tailspin years before the invasion actually happens. But don't take my word for it; read the book.

Nuggety?: You really might want to re-read the previous paragraph if you think so.

Now reading

The Martian Inca by Ian Watson.

Now reading

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, also due to the fact that it's a homework assignment for an upcoming SF convention.