The Three-Body Problem has been translated into English.

He still lives in Yangquan, a small town in Shanxi province, where nobody will approach him for his autograph or ask about his writing. He dismisses the media description of him as a "hermit" and says he simply "can't afford an apartment in Beijing or Shanghai".

The peaceful life suits him well, but he is still struggling for ideas for his next book. "All I want is to avoid the subjects that were already covered in the Three Body, such as extraterrestrials and cosmology," says the author.

The stories in Three Body are about aliens known as "Trisolarans" invading the earth and how the Earth's governments and scientists respond to the threat. The aliens' homeworld is uninhabitable because of the unstable gravitational environment.

The news that Three Body is to be adapted for the big screen by director Zhang Fanfan was only recently announced. According to information from the state administration of film making, it will be a big budget project.

A trailer has been available on the Internet, but fans are greatly disappointed with the visual effects that resemble a computer video game. There is also widespread mistrust of the director. Although Liu is named as "playwright" for the film, he says he has not been involved, and can't comment on it.

Another four books by him are expected to be made into movies too. Ning Hao, famous for his gangster black comedy Crazy Stone, is working on Liu's novel The Rural Teacher, and the film will be released in 2015.