3 Body Problem source book (and Silent Spring) become bestsellers thanks to Netflix show

TV shows and movies are great, but let me suggest something: books. Sometimes, the book a movie or TV show is based on can be even better than the adaptation. Sometimes it's worth experiencing both versions of a story. A lot of people who watched Netflix's new sci-fi show 3 Body Problem over the weekend are getting some hands-on experience with that, as Variety reports that the source material by author Liu Cixin has become a bestseller on Amazon.

3 Body Problem is based on Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, about what happens when humanity makes first contact with an extraterrestrial species more advanced by far than we. If you've watched the show, you know how that shakes out. But as always, things get lost and added in the translation from page to screen. Right now, people are specifically interested in the first book in Liu's trilogy: The Three-Body Problem, published in 2008. After that, they can take in the sequel The Dark Forest and wrap things up with Death's End.

Interestingly, 3 Body Problem has also supercharged interest in Silent Spring, a 1962 environmental science book that has become a No. 1 bestseller. Written by Rachel Carson, Silent Spring is about the damage to the environment caused by indiscriminate use of pesticides. It's credited with boosting the environmental and conservationist movement that led to the creation of the Environment Protection Agency in the United States. In 3 Body Problem, the character Ye Wenjie receives a copy of Silent Spring while doing hard labor during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and reading it gives her new ideas about the responsibility we humans have for the planet on which we live.

Of course, Ye Wenjie takes those ideas and does something that may doom us all, but I won't spoil things in case you're interested in watching the show or reading the books. It's a book-tastic day all around:

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.