It’s hard to go online without seeing opinions about “3 Body Problem,” the relatively new, eight-episode Netflix series that adapts the first of Liu Cixin’s three science fiction epic novels from 2008.

It’s especially interesting that, besides the books, we have two versions of the story to watch: The Netflix series and “Three-Body,” an epic 30-part Chinese television version.

I’m a few episodes into “Three-Body” but I’ve watched and I really enjoyed “3 Body Problem,” the Netflix series.

The story is basically the same in each series: Scientists around the world start experiencing strange phenomena: Many are seeing daunting visions and some are seeing a countdown that’s superimposed in their field of vision. As the countdown clicks away, some kill themselves.

Benedict Wong (“Dr. Strange,” “The Martian”) plays a British investigator who pursues the truth behind the suicides and the threat to the planet that’s implicit in the scientists’ discovery.

Slight spoiler: The warnings are coming from a civilization four light years away. Through a vivid virtual reality game, scientists learn that an invasion of Earth is 400 years away.

The news – and phenomena in the sky – is greeted with mixed reaction on Earth. It’s 400 years from now, right? Let future generations figure out what to do.

Luckily, a handful of scientists – part of a group of friends dubbed “The Oxford Five” – begin to prepare for the future, all under the supervision of Wade, a British intelligence official.

That description barely scratches the surface of this story, which is not only a cerebral sci-fi thriller but also a drama about friendship and soul-searching: what if your scientific advancement was used to fend of an invasion – and in the process killed a thousand humans?

“3 Body Problem” is fast-moving and engaging.