BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The highly anticipated "Three-Body" television drama has taken millions in China to transcend time and space to a sci-fi world that charts humanity's war against an alien civilization on Sunday night.

The live-action adaptation of the Hugo Award-winning sci-fi novel "The Three-Body Problem" by Liu Cixin became a sensation right after it was released on Chinese Central Television 8 and the streaming media platform Tencent Video.

The original work is the first book of a sci-fi trilogy that revolves around physicist Ye Wenjie's contact with the Trisolaran civilization existing in a three-sun system and the centuries-long clashes that follow between earthlings and the aliens.

The TV drama skyrocketed to one of the top trending topics on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo after its release, with discussions on related topics hitting 100 million.

As of 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, the play ranked first on the list of TV series released by box office tracker Maoyan.

A bevy of netizens posted comments on social media, saying the play offers an outlet for their longtime appreciation for the sci-fi epic.

"The first four episodes have offered 'extreme comfort' as they closely stick to the original, and I hope the following episodes could also be consistent with the novel," said a netizen on Weibo, adding that the novel series has been his favorite since high school.

"The Three-Body Trilogy", which put Chinese science fiction on the world map in 2015, was seen by a legion of Chinese as their introduction to the mysterious and fascinating world of science fiction.

"What attracts me most about the novel series is its grand story-telling structure, the self-consistent scientific conception, as well as reflections on the humanist society," said a review on Douban, China's leading film rating platform.

But when adapting the saga into a screenplay, they might all become challenges, it added.

It is always a daunting task to adapt masterpieces such as "The Three-Body Problem", said Ji Shaoting, founder and CEO of a sci-fi cultural company.

"The TV drama adapted from the epic novel should be seen as brave and epoch-making progress in the (sci-fi) industry which thrives on those who are the first to devour an oyster, raw," she said.