This near-future trilogy is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multiple-award-winning phenomenon from Cixin Liu, China’s most beloved science fiction author. In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion-in just four centuries’ time. The aliens’ human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the … sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth’s defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he’s the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.
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The trilogy really comes into its own in this book. I don’t read a lot of sci fi, but all of the futuristic elements felt justified and plausible, and brings to light the anthropology of a society of the future, which is something I haven’t really seen explored.
I should love this series. It scratches all my science fiction itches. It is a continuous onslaught of intriguing ideas. It has a complex plot loaded with intrigue. It has an enormous scale both in terms of time and space. It explores the universe and humanity’s place in it, supported by science/physics. It has sections of lyrical prose and well-crafted imagery. And don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying the series. I’ll definitely read the last in the trilogy. However, surprisingly, I don’t love it. In fact, there were some sections that felt like a chore to read.
If you’re not familiar with this series, it’s a colossal story of humanities first contact with a distant race – the Trisolarians. Hugo award winning book one (The Three Body Problem) starts with the Chinese Culture Revolution, then explores contact with the Trisolarians and their incredible backstory. Anymore would be a spoiler for book one, so I’ll leave it at that.
“The Dark Forest” largely takes place on Earth. The highly technically advanced Trisolarians are embarking for Earth and while it will take them four centuries to arrive, humanity must decide how best to make use of the centuries before they arrive. Should they escape into the cosmos, build defenses to repel the Trisolarians, or just live in peace until judgement day. This is a massive summarization, the plot itself is a highly complex tale involving science, physics, human government evolution, clandestine tactics and even love in the face of a potential approaching apocalypse.
All of this, the plot, the themes, the wonder, and ideas are right in my strike zone, so why am I not loving this series? Well, I found book one to be disjointed and muddled, possible because of the cultural differences and translation. I find the same challenges with “The Dark Forest.” At times, the plot feels like multiple short stories strung together. And I think there are chapters which would work great as a short story but feel out of place to me in this series. An example includes a story line where a primary character falls in love with a fictional character. Not to say these flourishes aren’t connected to the storyline, but the style is so different, it took me out of the reading.
In addition, I struggle with the characters in both books. A few characters are slightly distinctive, but so many felt flat and similar. I had to really pay attention to the names, because the character’s personalities never came alive in my mind. They all felt the same to me, same voice, same persona. And when I don’t care about the characters, it’s difficult to care too much for the story.
However, the ideas pretty much save this book for me. Unique, mind-bending ideas keep coming, one after another. Other science fiction writers could write a whole series based on just a few of these ideas, but Cixin Liu keeps them coming at a steady stream. In fact, another complaint of mine, is that just when I feel like I’m beginning to explore the implication of one of these concepts, boom, were off to another! Anyway, I still recommend this series, as the scale, the wonder, the ideas, overwhelmed my inability to fully connect with the characters and therefore the story.
An epic tale of impending alien invasion crammed full with mind-stretching science implications, that while failing to consistently connect on an emotional level, delivers a veritable treasure of daring and fascinating concepts.
Cixin Liu’s The Dark Forest generally operates on a galactic scale. But it starts with the perspective of an ant.
The diminutive point of view is more than just an authorial flex (although it’s certainly that too). In The Three-Body Problem, the first book in Liu’s The Remembrance of Earth’s Past series, an alien race called the Trisolarans cuts off communications with humanity by declaring, “You’re bugs!” This isn’t just an idle insult. The Trisolarans are on their way to Earth, with far superior technology and a burning need to find a new world to colonize. If that means squishing a few (human) cockroaches to make room, so be it.
Fortunately, it’s a long journey from Trisolaris (the invaders’ home planet): the bulk of the Trisolarans’ fleet won’t arrive for four hundred years. In theory, that gives humanity plenty of time to prepare. But the Trisolarans deployed scouts that double as technology blockers—humans can no longer use particle accelerators to obtain the deep understanding of physics necessary to compete against such an advanced species.
The Dark Forest picks up as this realization sets in. Doomsday may be four centuries off, but few people think it can be avoided. Nevertheless, most of the world begins mobilizing for an interstellar war they expect to lose.
Liu shows us this through new eyes (after he moves beyond the ant’s). Almost none of the characters from The Three-Body Problem carry over in a significant way, with the notable exception of Shi Qiang, a police officer who played a supporting role in the first book. Instead, we follow new players like Luo Ji, a run-of-the-mill academic, and Zhang Beihai, a political commissar in the Chinese navy.
I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of Ye Wenjie and Wang Miao (the protagonists of The Three-Body Problem). But the shift of focus didn’t bother me much either. This series is driven far more by ideas than characters.
One of the central thought exercises is working through how humanity would respond to an existential-yet-far-off threat. (The parallels with climate change are intriguing, except in this case, the Trisolarans represent a sentient, malevolent danger that’s harder to deny.) Apathy and defeatism manifest early, and Zhang and others work hard to cultivate a more optimistic fighting spirit.
Liu is also excellent at projecting scientific progress in a way that seems plausible. The Dark Forest shows us some potential near-term developments like space elevators and then jumps ahead two hundred years to show us the types of leaps—touch screens on every surface; inexhaustible energy delivered via microwaves—that might be possible with sustained effort.
At least one of his forecasts has already proven false, though. Liu wrote The Dark Forest in 2008, and one of its early movers and shakers is a fictional Venezuelan leader who “carried forward the Bolivarian Revolution instigated by Hugo Chavez … boosting the country’s power across the board and—for a time—turning Venezuela into a city on a hill, a symbol of equality, justice, and prosperity for the world.” If only. (Whatever you think of Chavez, it’s impossible not to lament the state of misery Venezuela devolved into following his death.)
A few other devices strained credulity less tragically (like a spontaneous, near-telepathic exchange during a climactic moment late in the book). I also wish The Dark Forest had a more dynamic female character. There are women in prominent roles—leaders of international organizations and captains of starships—but they don’t get much time on the page. The active cast members are all male.
But I still found The Dark Forest consistently interesting, and it ended in a more resolved place than I expected for the middle book in a trilogy. I’m curious to see where Book 3 goes—and what else Liu can dream up for me to marvel at.
Note: Since the translation uses the English versions of the author’s name and his characters’, I did the same in this review.
(For more reviews like this one, see http://www.nickwisseman.com)
This was my favorite book of Liu Cixin’s trilogy. It is brilliant!
If you haven’t jumped into this and other books in the genre of Chinese science fiction you have a gap to fill. Recommended by President Obama! Indeed it is original and kept my attention. The world created is fascinating as is the window into Chinese social thought and history
Really enjoyed the whole series, but I think each book could be about 15% shorter.
Continuing from The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest is a journey into a vivid take on interstellar existence.
I was very invested in the Wallfacer storyline, and found myself incredibly sympathetic to one of the Wallfacers in particular. A really great character story worth enjoying, and I’m looking forward to what’s next.
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Very intelligent . Though provoking . Probably. Should read The Three Body Problem first .I accidently got the sequel. And.read it .. Story is why Two. Civilizations discover one another . Both civilizations begin to
Fear the other ..mistrust sets in . I can see this happening ..