For comparison, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss definitely worked with George R.R. Martin throughout putting Game of Thrones together as a TV show. Not just in the earliest stages, but right up through the final season. Granted, part of that communication was due to Martin’s novel series not being finished yet, but even if it had been, the showrunners would have still likely leaned on the author for insights and secrets. One could easily assume that Benioff and Weiss were also planning on talking to Liu about the streaming adaptation of The Three-Body Prolem, but it’ll be hard to make that happen now without kicking up some dirt.