Derivative Works of Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem

Liu Cixin’s highly acclaimed novel The Three-Body Problem was published in 2006 as a series in Science Fiction World magazine. Since then, a large number of derivative works have been created, either as authorized commercial projects or purely driven by fan interests. There are different forms of creations derived from The Three-Body Problem, including novels, movies, animations, comics, music, and so on.

The most exciting news for the fans of The Three-Body Problem is probably its adaption to a new movie, directed by Zhang Panpan, staring Zhang Jingchu and Feng Shaofeng. The film is scheduled to release in July 2016 and it has a budget of CNY200 million (about 32 million US dollars). Recently, a video has been put up on the Internet, which confirms the production of the movie is already in progress. Meanwhile, there is another news video regarding actor Feng Shaofeng, which also reveals some of the scenes in the movie. In November 2014, Yoozoo, the publisher of the film, released a video of concept teaser for The Three-Body Problem. However, there are two versions of unofficial trailers of the film made by fans:

• Unofficial Trailer 1
• Unofficial Trailer 2

Apart from the big screen, there are a number of novels and stories which are based on the settings of the original novel by Liu Cixin. Among those, the most prominent one may be The Three-Body Problem X: The Redemption of Time by Bao Shu, who is a well-established SF author himself.

The fans of The Three-Body Problem consist of many people with various talents. In addition to the derivative stories, they also created other forms of arts to show their enthusiasms towards this fascinating book. For example, there is a group of people who have made Minecraft animations to play out the plots of the novel and they even have vocal dubs that sound like professionals. Other interesting works are listed below.

Novel

• The Three-Body Problem: An Alternative Version
• The Perish of the Second Fleet
• The Post-Galaxy Age

Short Story

• The Circle (by Liu Cixin, translated by Ken Liu, published in Carbide Tipped Pens)
• Back to the Beginning

Music

• The Three-Body Problem OST (This is a Chinese site with links to play the tracks.)
• Single tracks created by fans (some of the links may not work very well due to the limitation of bandwidth)
  • The Three-Body Problem Ode
  • Redbank 1979
  • Not Afraid
  • The End of the World
  • The Dark Forest
  • The Age of Galaxy
  • The Memory at the End of Time

Game

• The World of The Three-Body Problem [Single Player]
• The Story of Earth [Single Player]
• The Three-Body Problem Online [Online Game]
• The Last Battle [Desktop Game]
• The Three-Body Problem App (demo only)

Comic

• The Three-Body Problem Graphic Novel (updated until Jan 2010, not completed)
• The Three-Body Problem: The Cute Version (5 chapters)
• Quick Sketches of the Three-Body Problem (7 chapters)

Radio drama

• By No-Blind-Spot Studio (5 chapters)
• By Tangren Studio (demo only)

Cosplay

• Photos by Black Sky Studio.
• Interlude during the ceremony of Chinese Nebula Award 2014.

Others

• “You’re Bugs” Polo Shirt
• The Three-Body Problem 9-Square Grid Theme T-Shirt
• The Three-Body Problem Bookmarks
• ETO & SSF Badges
• Miniature Model of Redbank
• The Three-Body Problem Theme Restaurant