Set for world domination

However, the novel's stellar reputation has become something of a challenge to those who aspire to visualize the epic tale, bringing to life the conflict between humankind and Trisolarans, the fictional alien race depicted as ruthless invaders, scheming to conquer our planet after escaping their own uninhabitable home, which sits approximately 4.21 light-years from Earth.

Bai recalls that the major scenes deviate slightly from the book, as producers were worried that the complexity of some of the hardcore sci-fi elements in Liu's original work may be too technical, and some viewers could lose interest.

With the assistance of Liu, who participated in several meetings — with the longest lasting in excess of six hours — the script was revised more than 20 times between 2016 and 2020. Bai says he was excited to meet his literary idol and was surprised to find Liu was more receptive than he had imagined.

After convincing director Yang Lei, also a diehard sci-fi enthusiast, to join the production, Bai persuaded actor Zhang Luyi to play the protagonist Wang Miao, a reserved and determined nanomaterials scientist, and a key figure in the fight against the alien invaders.

Known for playing several bookish characters, most notably a mathematics teacher in the 2017 crime movie The Devotion of Suspect X, Zhang was the first candidate to pop into the casting team's mind, as he displays the right temperament for the character, according to Bai.

Aside from Zhang, veteran actor Yu Hewei plays Shi Qiang, a cunning police officer.

Actresses Li Xiaoran and Wang Ziwen respectively play Shen Yufei and Ye Wenjie, two scientists colluding with Trisolarans, as they wrongly believe the highly-advanced alien civilization can save humankind.

Starting in 2007, the TV series unfolds with a series of mysterious suicides of renowned scientists.