A new The Three-Body Problem audiobook is coming just in time for Netflix’s show

In Netflix’s new adaptation of Cixin Liu’s novel The Three-Body Problem, actress Rosalind Chao portrays one of the brilliant minds mobilized into action by the presence of a threat with the potential to wipe out humanity. But in Macmillan’s forthcoming The Three-Body Problem audiobook recording, Chao will bring the entire world of Liu’s novel to life with the sound of her voice.

Ahead of the March 21st debut of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, Macmillan Audio has tapped Chao to narrate its new recording of The Three-Body Problem — the first book in Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy chronicling the story of how humanity responds after making first contact with aliens. In a press release about the new audiobook, Chao said that, after playing her character Ye Wenjie on the small screen, she enjoyed the creative challenge of embodying all of The Three-Body Problem’s distinct players, and said that the experience as a whole was “truly enriching.”

Macmillan previously published an audiobook version of The Three-Body Problem read by Luke Daniels in 2014, which Tor Books then briefly serialized into a podcast in 2021. Since then, The Three-Body Problem has disappeared from that podcast’s feed, and it feels safe to assume that the new show and new audiobook are both parts of the reason why. For library patrons who’ve been hoping to listen to the book before Netflix’s show, Macmillan’s new audiobook might not do much to help with wait times. But for Audible (and other audiobook platform) subscribers looking to dive in, the new Three-Body Problem recording drops on February 27th.