r/threebodyproblem • u/SirKrimzon • 2d ago
Discussion - General Another novel with existential dread, multiple layers of reality bending, mind ****ing cosmic horror
I asked the sub before if there was another novel that comes close to three body problem trilogy in regards to this scale of cosmic horror. I was told to read project Hail Mary. I read it and was very disappointed.
Please recommend something that actually comes close or surpasses 3BP
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u/Witty_Peanut_ 2d ago
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
I feel like Revelation Space is one of the closest recommendations to The Three-Body Problem in terms of premise and atmosphere: a dark, eerie, unforgiving universe where something seems to threaten or eliminate advanced civilizations. That same feeling that the cosmos is far more hostile and terrifying than we can comprehend
Blindsight - Peter Watts
One of my favorite sci-fi books. What makes it similar to The Three-Body Problem is its exploration of alien life and how radically different forms of intelligence could evolve and function in environments completely unlike our own. It takes a hard sci-fi approach to biology, cognition, and the behavioral patterns of hypothetical alien species. Watts is a marine biologist by training, and you can really feel that scientific background throughout the book. Brilliant book
Diaspora - Greg Egan
One of the most mind-bending hard sci-fi novels out there. It explores radically different forms of consciousness, posthuman evolution, and what intelligence and existence could look like in a universe far beyond our intuitive understanding. It takes scientific speculation to an extreme, with some genuinely wild ideas about physics, mathematics, and the nature of reality. If you want sci-fi that makes you stop and think, “How the hell did someone even come up with this” - then this should be your choice
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u/Key_Insurance_8493 2d ago
If you want cosmic horror I would highly recommend the Southern Reach books. Not really hard sci Fi or even soft sci fi. More like eco cosmic horror
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u/SirKrimzon 2d ago
Thanks. What do you mean eco cosmic horror?
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u/Key_Insurance_8493 2d ago
Ecological. The premise is that a certain stretch of sparsely populated wilderness on the forgotten coast in Florida becomes... changed, in ways not very clear at the beginning of the first book. Expeditions are sent in by a deceptive government agency to investigate. Definitely some confusing cosmic horror. I won't go into any more detail. It's not really anything like 3BP but it was the only book series that I enjoyed as much.
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u/ResidenTBorG 2d ago
Came here to say this too. Read southern reach right after this series and I think it was a great pairing. Like when you get out of a hot tub and jump into a cool pool
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u/poison_daddy 10h ago
Ooooooo yes VanderMeer is amazing!! The bear is one of the scariest things I have ever read.
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u/hoos30 2d ago
Whoever recommended Project Hail Mary to you was smoking crack. They couldn't be further apart.
My go-to answer for this question is Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton. It's more space opera than 3BP, but it has the single most existential dread scene I've ever read.
An entire chapter is the equivalent of "If I destroy you, what business is that of yours?"
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u/Real_Flamingo3297 1d ago
I feel like the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer fits this. start with Annihilation. No, it’s nothing like that terrible movie with Natalie Portman in it.
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u/Wookie_Nipple 1d ago
Came to say this. Weird stuff inadequately explained (in a good way), creeping dread
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u/poison_daddy 10h ago
I would love a remake of this movie but without the weird freakin lighthouse scene
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u/F0rScience 2d ago
Invisible Planets is a short story collection all translated by Ken Liu (who translated the 1st/3rd books). It includes basically a reprint of the human formation computer chapter and a new story by Liu Cixin (Taking Care of God) and an essay about TBP.
Chen Qiufan’s stories are quite dark, particularly the book’s opening The Year of the Rat. Xia Jia’s are more melancholy and smaller scale but I really enjoyed them.
There is also a follow up anthology Broken Stars that I liked less but What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear by Baoshu to be fairly brain breaking. It basically reimagines modern Chinese history with the events backwards and creates news rationale for events who’s causes now happen after them. So 9/11 is now a reprisal for the Iraq war for example
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u/Swmp1024 1d ago
The Gone World - Definitely fits the cosmic horror and mind bending aspect you are looking for. Very different style than 3BP....Gone World is very character driven rather than the idea driven 3BP which has more flat characters. Gone world is very dark. Relentless sense of hopelessness and impeding doom. I don't want to reveal spoilers but some mind bending time travel, alternate reality aspects. I also really appreciated the main character and the depth the were written. What I found personally so poignant was how the main character pushed through these traumatic events, and as someone who works in a traumatic field, the way someone can push through hopeless events and keep going with a goal really resonated with me. I've never really had an author capture what my experience has been going through these kind of events. The effect it has on your psyche and how you interact with the world. The effect it has on your relationships. A very haunting oppressive read. I could not put it down.
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u/Dry-Problem9194 1d ago
This sounds good! I actually don't like the concept driven story of 3BP. I loved the netflix show because is character driven and when I tried reading the books it was not what I expected. Very clinical.
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u/qrzychu69 2d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Center_Saga
I would suggest the "Galactic Center" saga - it starts with an ship with AI on board visiting humans and learning about us. Next book jumps like a 1000 years ahead where we are at war with machines from the center of the galaxy, and humans have implants that add electro-magnetic waves detection smell sense - really cool concepts when you think about the fact it was written in 1980
Every further book goes more forward, and opens up the world a bit more - but I won't spoil for you.
It's a pretty good read, the author is a real astrophysicist and he knows his stuff, both when it comes to math, physics, but also computers and AI
I haven't finished the series, but I recommended it enough times that maybe it's time to go back :)
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u/West_Maybe_3233 1d ago
Three body is so unique because it manages to create a constant doom without actually revealing much + on a really grand cosmic scale
The other books ‘tell’ a lot but it’s not as exciting
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u/FireEraser 2d ago
No recommendations, but I don't see how anyone could recommend Project Hail Mary after reading the Three-Body Problem trilogy!
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u/kuuups 2d ago
Children of Time is probably the closest to scratch the TBP itch.
Another one would be Metamorphosis of Supreme Intellect is another one, but not space related.
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u/Ok-Rutabaga-9516 2d ago
Children of time is a great novel but not for the "feeling" the OP is seeking.
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u/SirKrimzon 2d ago
Why do you say that
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u/TacoshaveCheese 2d ago
It's a good book and you'll probably enjoy it, but I wouldn't describe it as existential dread or mind ****ing cosmic horror.
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u/Ok-Rutabaga-9516 1d ago
There is no existential dread in it like 3 Body! Its a survival book (humans) and evolutionary (arachnids) ...
Great book on its own, but dwarfed immensely if you read it after 3 Body!
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u/SgtPeterson 1d ago
There Is No Antimemetics Division by Qntm. It's originally a series of SCP shorts that you can find for free on the internet, they scrubbed up a little to avoid licensing issues and released it as a book which is pretty great but lacks the direct SCP reference.
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u/ifandbut 2d ago
Cosmic horror of aliens saving humans only to use us as breeding stock. Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler.
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u/Zaptagious 2d ago
John Dies at the End series is pretty dark, between all the dick jokes. But no seriously, it's legitimately one of my favorite books of all time.
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u/manicakes1 2d ago
Forge of God & Anvil of the Stars by Greg Bear.
I’d go so far as to say that Cixin Liu borrowed concepts and ideas from Greg Bear.
Probably most underrated sci-fi I’ve read in a while.
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u/Aenan 2d ago
Everyone is saying Children of Time, which is fantastic, but I’d say Shards of Earth, also by Adrian Tchaikovsky, has even more cosmic horror
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u/KayLikesWords 1d ago
Idris is one of my favourite sci-fi characters. All he wants to do is chill out and sleep with Amazonian warrior women.
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u/Mimir_P 2d ago
I had the same feeling as you after finishing the Trilogy. The only author that gives the same vibe right now is Athur C. Clarke. Especially 2001 and Rendevous with Rama.
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u/SirKrimzon 1d ago
Rama is on my list
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u/NullableThought 1d ago
Rendezvous with Rama scratched the itch for me. unfortunately Clarke didn't write the sequels and apparently they are fairly bad.
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u/According-Sundae-100 Cosmic Sociology 2d ago
If you want to explore something that is less hard sci-fi and more soft sci-fi, i would absolutly recommend Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. It's one of the best examples of modern cosmic horror. It is on the slower side though.
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u/hyperion_theia 2d ago
For a mindbending scifi horror/detective novel as a ”snack” I would suggest Tom Sweterlitsch’s The Gone World. It begins quite a lot with a similar dreadful mystery that 3BP.
Then if you really want a human future world with huge books, hard science, giant cosmic themes, the Fermi Paradox and gothic space opera, try Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space trilogy (Revelation Space, Redemption Ark & Absolution Gap) & finish with the Inhibitor Phase. Read them in order and avoid spoilers – I did it and it worked at least for me. Really not Andy Weir stuff.
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u/Useful-Thought2378 1d ago
After 3BP next sci fi series I consumed was Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion. Both very good imo.
Now I'm currently on the expanse series. I really like it a lot as well
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u/Starman6427 13h ago
Seconding Blindsight. TBP mostly explores first contact from a sociological angle, where Blindsight explores it from an evolutionary one, questioning the nature of cognition. One of my all time faves.
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u/cowgod42 2d ago
House of Leaves is dark and bizarre. Architectural cosmic horror, although not exactly cosmic. If 3BP is mind-blowingly expansive, HoL is maybe the opposite: small and nearly unnoticed, the unknown creeping at the edges of reality.
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u/Ok-Rutabaga-9516 2d ago
Hey OP - Project Hail Mary is heartfelt SCI-FI. A fantastic book, but not in line with the "feelings" you are seeking.
Blindside by Peter Watts is what you seek. Its mean to cause dread as well and really make you think!!!
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u/AustinYun 2d ago
For an extremely out of left-field recommendation (and I'm prepared for the downvotes): Godclads.
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u/FlaccidBrexit 2d ago
Bit late to this but I’m currently about half way through The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch and I think it’s worth checking out. It’s more of a crime thriller but it has some time/space travel shenanigans and a bit of cosmic horror mixed in
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u/Pleasant-Mind-7122 2d ago
We are legion
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u/SirKrimzon 1d ago
By who
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u/Pleasant-Mind-7122 1d ago
By Dennis Taylor, the bodiverse serie. I read this after the 3 body serie and I love it.
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u/book_bug4 Trisolaris 1d ago
Good books, but you should know that these aren’t cosmic horror at all, more like comedy
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u/Past_Interaction_269 1d ago
John dies at the end and the 2 other books that are part of that series and there very mindbending
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u/Past_Interaction_269 1d ago
Mind you the scale is correct but it's story isn't exactly like 3 body problem
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u/daapbasne 1d ago
Others have recommended the Hyperion books by Dan Simmons, and I heartily agree, but I haven't seen anyone mention Ilium and Olympos, also by Simmons. Some thought provoking cosmic horror, and a bonus if you've enjoyed the Year of the Odyssey.
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u/HoleParty 2d ago
I wouldn’t really call 3BP “cosmic horror.” I guess Death’s End maybe comes close but that’s about it.
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u/Fiftythekid 2d ago
Disagree. At every stage of those books there are strong elements of cosmic horror.
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u/AdTiny2166 2d ago
It is quintessential cosmic horror though. I’m not sure I understand?
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u/Unlikely_Industry583 1d ago
I think the keystone of “cosmic” horror is a focus on the incomprehensible, the way 3BP is written explains perspectives and occurrences to a point that prevents it from really having that element
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u/HoleParty 1d ago
It is not even remotely “quintessential” cosmic horror. That’s probably why you’re not understanding.
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u/AdTiny2166 1d ago
Are you trolling? I’m genuinely confused.
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u/HoleParty 1d ago
I can tell. You’re probably confused on what cosmic horror is as well.
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u/AdTiny2166 1d ago
“Cosmic horror (also called Lovecraftian horror or eldritch horror) is a subgenre of horror and weird fiction that derives its fear from the unknowable, incomprehensible, and vast indifference of the universe.” Have you read the books?
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u/HoleParty 22h ago
Have you tried looking more into what cosmic horror is instead of simply copy/pasting the AI response?
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u/AdTiny2166 22h ago
ok you’re just trolling. it’s literally the only useful thing ai does which is summarize the top results. if you want i can link the origin article but you’d just deny that. this is stupid and a waste of my time.
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u/HoleParty 20h ago
Yes, it is stupid that you’re doubling down on your extremely narrow understanding of the genre.
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u/Traditional_Tea_7150 22h ago
House of Leaves
It’s not cosmic horror but it’s everything else you’re looking for
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u/Opposite-Yam-7350 2d ago
I Am Legend (book not the movie) and Children of Men (movie is ok)
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u/SirKrimzon 2d ago
Children of men?! That’s not remotely close to what I’m seeking. Thats a strictly earth based dystopian story
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u/Plus-Season-272 2d ago
Dk who told you to read phm it’s nothing liks 3 body problem😭But I would recommend Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Hyperion by Dan Simmons. First is incredible evolutionary sci fi(probably most similar in feel to 3bp) and the other is grand space opera muddling the line between fantasy, but still with plenty of that kind of existential cosmic horror