This adaptation is largely faithful to the book, if your definition of faithful is "major events that happened in the books also happened in this show". The whole thing is rushed, and there is no time to let the events sink in. The first episode already covers half the first book. The mystery of what's behind the scientists' deaths and the thrill of the main characters uncovering the culprit are missing entirely from the show. The divide between the two branches of the three body organization is completely omitted. And where are the pendulums? The hard science that makes the source material so appealing is also "less hard" here. Two episodes in, we've already arrived at the famous "Do Not Answer" scene and know it's aliens. Despite having only 8 episodes, episodes 6 and 7 are nonsense fillers and by episode 8 we're already at book 2.
I don't mind the screenwriters adapting characters to a more international audience, splitting and combining some main characters so they can interact with each other because you can't really have an inner monologue like in a fiction. But it makes zero sense that "everybody knows everybody" or that some early- to mid-thirties are heads of research centers. The epic feeling is gone because the show is made too UK-centric. Different genders and ethnic groups are "represented", but somehow they all have a British (Oxford) upbringing. Major world powers including the US, Japan, continental Europe, and Chinese-Chinese (not British Chinese) are not represented at all. This work is supposed to be an epic that spans the globe, and spans centuries. Yet watching the "Oxford Five"'s relationship issues, it feels like teenage drama instead.
While I might sound negative, this work is miles ahead of whatever's crapping out of Disney/Marvel/SW these days. The CGI is fantastic, especially when it comes to visualizing the VR world. The C******* Revolution backstory is meticulously filmed, and the entire Chinese storyline, however short it is, is spoken in Chinese. I am delighted to see Chinese Sci-Fi being adapted for Western audience, hence +1 star for representation. Nonetheless, as with most shows these days though, please hire more competent writers.
I don't mind the screenwriters adapting characters to a more international audience, splitting and combining some main characters so they can interact with each other because you can't really have an inner monologue like in a fiction. But it makes zero sense that "everybody knows everybody" or that some early- to mid-thirties are heads of research centers. The epic feeling is gone because the show is made too UK-centric. Different genders and ethnic groups are "represented", but somehow they all have a British (Oxford) upbringing. Major world powers including the US, Japan, continental Europe, and Chinese-Chinese (not British Chinese) are not represented at all. This work is supposed to be an epic that spans the globe, and spans centuries. Yet watching the "Oxford Five"'s relationship issues, it feels like teenage drama instead.
While I might sound negative, this work is miles ahead of whatever's crapping out of Disney/Marvel/SW these days. The CGI is fantastic, especially when it comes to visualizing the VR world. The C******* Revolution backstory is meticulously filmed, and the entire Chinese storyline, however short it is, is spoken in Chinese. I am delighted to see Chinese Sci-Fi being adapted for Western audience, hence +1 star for representation. Nonetheless, as with most shows these days though, please hire more competent writers.