The Dark Forest
Ratings749
Average rating4.3
“A dense formation is an unforgivable error. Everything else was to be expected.”
Liu Cixin is talented at giving the reader a question and than answering it. You wait for the answer, and it comes right when it is needed.
The sequal was like riding a sine wave that bottomed out with some very dry moments followed by brilliant ideas and exposition. Didn't quite capture the originality of the first novel but , again, was ingenious in parts and quite unique.
This was such an incredible read. The concepts and characters were so well written and the complex and labyrinthine plot kept you guessing the whole way. I can't recommend this highly enough.
Very different from the first part but felt so good to read it although is not my usual favorite meal, which is a skillful phrasing style (not only that ...) ... usually, I think :), and that shows the power of this writer, more of in the same book different moods, paces and eras are to be found, sometimes is like a thriller, sometimes like a documentary.
So is not the same as the 3 body problem but again amazing stuff.
Augh, so uneven! The writing is so stilted (possibly the fault of the translation?), the characters are cardboard and interchangeable, there are SO MANY really awkward and clumsy shoehorns of exposition and gratuitous political/scientific details, and I don't even want to talk about the ways in which the tiny number of female characters were all SUPER problematic. The first 2/3 of the book was a real struggle.
But! Things really picked up in the last third of the book, and it raised some really interesting philosophical questions, and kept me guessing about a couple of things, sooooooo that's cool I guess. But the plot still had some giant holes and then there was the whole "Humans won because, unlike this other super-advanced civilization, we understand the concept of deception. Oh and also love." thing Curious to see how the trilogy wraps up whenever they get around to translating it into English.
This is a very interesting and deep read with plenty of hard science and an interesting take on civilization on our planet and perhaps throughout the universe.
While a of people have been absolutely raving about this book, and I did enjoy it, I won't say The Dark Forest is perfect. That said, it certainly covers very interesting material, with ideas that I've never seen mentioned anywhere else, which accounts for much of the interest in The Dark Forest. But it's not an easy read (even in audiobook) as the characters are very difficult to connect with.
While this book is a direct sequel to The Three Body Problem, which was another fantastic book, the characters from the previous book aren't really found here. The TriSolarans are on their way and Earth is trying to develop a defense. The problem is the sophons have locked down humanity's ability to advance their level of basic science and are spying on everything the humans are doing to create a defense. Humanity's response is to create the Wallfacer project - 4 humans are selected who are supposed to utilize deceit as the humans' only advantage. Of the 4, the unlikeliest of the bunch, Luo Ji is the one the TriSolarans want dead. He is largely the focus of the book.
The problem is that I found the main protagonist to be impossible to connect with. As the events unfolded, that lack of connection. He's moody, underachieving, and privileged. The other Wallfacers in ways are even worse.
The really interesting content in the book becomes clear in the last 1/4 of the book and involves the discussion of The Dark Forest - the idea that the galaxy/universe is full of hostile civilizations all competing for limited resources, all unable to trust one another and therefore inevitably to be in conflict. This proposes the ultimate answer to the Fermi Paradox - the reason we see no evidence of other life in the universe is that all other life is hiding. As soon as your civilization makes its presence known, another, more powerful civilization will come in to eliminate you.
Much of the book is used to set up analogies for this within human society just to illustrate this very point. But the big idea is truly fascinating and actually makes sense. It's frightening. Ultimately, this is what makes the book worthwhile. It's not easy to get through and I can't say I truly enjoyed the story or the characters. But to get to the ideas, it's worth the slog.
Probably two of the most interesting concepts I've ever encountered. The Dark Forest especially.
It starts of where the first book ended and also has a bit of slow start start matching to the slow end of the first book. But then it really takes off and takes you to an amazing sci-fi ride. I truly hope the third book can hold up to this level. Really great book.
After reading The Three Body Problem, I was split. On the one hand, the story had some amazing, innovate takes on science fiction – but on the other I didn't identify with any of the characters. The Dark Forest elevates the sci-fi even more while creating flawed but interesting characters I wanted to see what happened to. The concept of the “Wall Climbers” and the “Wall Breakers” was a welcomed addition – and allowed for a hidden motive to an otherwise linear story. When I think about the wide variety of topics covered, this book has parts that are Battlestar Galactica, Foundation, Caves of Steel, Rendezvous with Rama, Dan Simmons and more.
After reading The Three Body Problem, I was split. On the one hand, the story had some amazing, innovate takes on science fiction – but on the other I didn't identify with any of the characters. The Dark Forest elevates the sci-fi even more while creating flawed but interesting characters I wanted to see what happened to. The concept of the “Wall Climbers” and the “Wall Breakers” was a welcomed addition – and allowed for a hidden motive to an otherwise linear story. When I think about the wide variety of topics covered, this book has parts that are Battlestar Galactica, Foundation, Caves of Steel, Rendezvous with Rama, Dan Simmons and more.
Executive Summary: I'm not sure what happened. I really enjoyed [b:The Three-Body Problem 20518872 The Three-Body Problem (Three-Body, #1) Liu Cixin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415428227s/20518872.jpg 25696480], but I found myself largely bored by this one.Audio book: I don't like when series change narrators between books. I'm also a huge fan of [a:Luke Daniels 2978188 Luke Daniels https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1331514576p2/2978188.jpg], but he wasn't really the best fit for this series. So I was willing to give P. J. Ochlan a chance. I thought he was fine, but he wasn't really any better. It would probably just have been better to stick with Mr. Daniels.Full ReviewAfter enjoying [b:The Three-Body Problem 20518872 The Three-Body Problem (Three-Body, #1) Liu Cixin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415428227s/20518872.jpg 25696480] a few months ago, I was looking forward to this one. I struggled at the start of that book, but ended up largely enjoying it. I kept waiting for that to happen here, but it never did.The dialogue was hard to listen to. There was far too many times when one character was explaining what another character was doing in EXCRUCIATING detail. I'm not sure if this has more to do with the change in translator, or if I just didn't notice as much in the last book.The characters were pretty bland again, save for the cop again. However, unlike the last book the story and the science were enough to make up for that to me.I thought the end of the book was interesting, and it peaked my curiousity about what happens in the final book, but I think it's too little too late.Overall, I was pretty disappointed, and doubt I'll bother with the last book when it comes out.