More off-the-cuff science-y nonsense from me coming. So beware. 
 I just finished the Three Body Problem, hence me writing a review of the book, which you can plainly see. Similar to Count to a Trillion that I reviewed a couple of years ago, the title of this one had me from the get-go. 
 A quick explanation about the 'three body problem' in physics is that... well, hang on. You remember in Jurassic Park when Ian Malcom says he studies Chaos theory, or something, and when no one understands what he's talking about he says something like, 'A butterfly flaps his wings in China and you get rain instead of sunshine in New York?' 
 Well, if rumor is true, Chaos Theory actually can draw its roots to the three body problem in physics.* Because any models we make of three or more gravitational fields interacting is, for the most part, unpredictable. 
 Anyway, it's been worked on by great minds, both human and computer, for a long time now. It's tough, and some folks think there may not really be a real solution to be found. It's frustrating because math can be used to describe just about anything in nature. But here, even very minor changes in initial conditions leads to unpredictable results. 
 So, yeah, this novel, the title got me excited. At its heart, the title is considering a mystery. And unsolvable puzzle. So I was intrigued. 
 Of course, hearing this had won all sorts of awards, that didn't hurt it either. 
 Well, if you are anxiously awaiting my verdict on the novel, well, it's a big 'ol, "It's okay." 
 That isn't to say I didn't like it, it has famously been imported from China, with a fresh translation for English speaking audiences. It was written for people who don't share a lot of my expectations for structure and such. In a word, it's kind of a weirdly presented story. 
 I loved the cultural revolution backstory for one of the main characters. It's a side of Chinese history that I haven't seen fictionalized in a SF novel before. It was fascinating. The author, in his afterward, talks about it some, and the sort of impact it had on his life. I really wanted more of this. 
 The characters, for the most part, seem to be motivated by things I could not understand. I couldn't really follow some of the logic they used for the decisions they were making. The idea of top-line physicists at cutting edge particle accelerators finding results of their experiments so disturbing that they were committing suicide, well, that's worth exploring. 
 But then the explanations come... and I'm thinking, wait... they are killing themselves over this? 
 Then there was the game, like Ready Player One, there is a video game that possibly a quarter of the book takes place inside. Characters log online to the game and try to figure out the mystery of the game world. It was... interesting. 
 In all, I think that's how I would sum up this novel: Interesting. Not good, not by any stretch, but very interesting. It engaged me intellectually (well, until the end, for something presented as hard-sci-fi, it got bonkers weird at the end, if that stuff is remotely plausible, it's way beyond my ability to fathom), but it never had any emotional hooks in me at all. 
 So, it's okay. Recommended if you like hardish science fiction, and if you are interested in a Chinese novel translated into English. My opinion is that it's being rewarded somewhat due to its novelty. The literary merits are debatable. 
 Whatever, I don't know. 
 *Actually, the three body problem is more formally known as the n-body problem. There are 'solutions' for the three body problem, but they have to simplify some aspect of the issue so much that they aren't quite useful in most scenarios. An example where they kinda figured it out is the Earth/Moon/Sun system. The solution is essentially to treat the sun like it's a static object. In doing so, they are able to figure out the Lagrangian points in our orbits so satellites can be placed in specific locations and not have to worry about crashing down or having to burn fuel to maintain their positions. 
 It works well enough, but it doesn't really have a predictive quality that can be applied to three bodies of similar masses