Quick Take: The Dark Forest

The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin

Rating: 4 stars

Summary:

This is the second novel in “Remembrance of Earth’s Past”, the near-future trilogy written by the China’s multiple-award-winning science fiction author, Cixin Liu.

In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion — four centuries in the future. The aliens’ human collaborators have been defeated but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth’s defense plans are 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.

Quick take:

I love how this book looks at the grand scale of what the confirmation of alien life could do on Earth.  The different philosophies that humanity creates to deal with this paradigm alerting truth are well thought out and realistic.  People want to welcome the Trisolarians and coexist in peace, destroy them all, leave Earth as soon as possible, or accept the Trisolarians as gods, or some combination of the above.  How humanity breaks off into these different groups and the rationale/planning for each is fascinating and thought-provoking.

While it’s an impressive science fiction book, I had some issues with the characters and the main project.  The Wallfacer project seems like such a horrible idea.  I liked that Luo Ji was mostly a relatable character.  I mean, who hasn’t felt like a mediocre version of what they could be and who wouldn’t take advantage of an unlimited budget to get a sweet house?  I was bothered by the whole “perfect woman” he creates, falls in love with, and believes no real women can measure up to (and then they find her, but of course she is just a way to further the plot).  That entire subplot seemed pretty sexist to me.

I still highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a thought-provoking look at what the confirmation of intelligent alien life would do to society.  This will satisfy any curiosity you may have had after The Three Body Problem while also setting up the world for the third novel.