Three-Body Problem

A science-fiction thriller that jumps between China's Cultural Revolution and the "current day".

Motifs

• Deadly High Specific Tensile Strength Materials

  A materials laboratory creates a nano-material filament called Flying Blade, which is basically invisible to the human eye. It must be marked with small flags or else potentially cause injury. Authorities use Flying Blade to capture data from an alien-sympathizer faction by stringing it across the Panama Canal as a fence, which cuts their ship into ribbons as it is pulled across "fence" by the canal's tractors.