The Dark Forest
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4.6 • 125 Ratings
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
The inspiration for the Netflix series 3 Body Problem!
Over 1 million copies of the Three-Body Problem series sold in North America
PRAISE FOR THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM SERIES: “A mind-bending epic.”—The New York Times • “War of the Worlds for the 21st century.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Fascinating.”—TIME • “Extraordinary.”—The New Yorker • “Wildly imaginative.”—Barack Obama • “Provocative.”—Slate • “A breakthrough book.”—George R. R. Martin • “Impossible to put down.”—GQ • “Absolutely mind-unfolding.”—NPR • “You should be reading Liu Cixin.”—The Washington Post
The Dark Forest is the second novel in the groundbreaking, Hugo Award-winning series from China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu.
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 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.
The Three-Body Problem Series
The Three-Body Problem
The Dark Forest
Death's End
Other Books by Cixin Liu
Ball Lightning
Supernova Era
To Hold Up the Sky
The Wandering Earth
A View from the Stars
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Readers who haven't read (or haven't recently reread) 2014's The Three-Body Problem will feel disoriented at the outset of this sprawling hard SF novel. In the prologue, an ant and a spider overhear Dr. Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist, suggest to astronomer-turned-sociologist Luo Ji that there are "axioms of cosmic civilization," a neat variation on Asimov's psychohistory. This scene epitomizes the book's biggest flaw: clever ideas lost in often didactic prose. Before the notion of a cosmic sociology can be further developed, Liu shifts gears to present a dialogue between an alien intelligence, the Trisolaris, and the leader of the Earth-Trisolaris Organization, about the distinction between thought and speech. The Trisolarians pose a significant threat to humankind, which triggers very different responses on Earth, ranging from the Escapists, who believe that flight is the only option, to the formation of a Planetary Defense Council. The upbeat ending sets up the concluding volume, but not everyone will have the patience needed to get that far.
Customer Reviews
One must plow through
Unlike ‘The Three Body Problem’, the narration in this is stilted, stuffed with seemingly ridiculous dialogue and generally overlong.
The prose infused with political jargon and nonsense verbiage that seems pulled from Mao’s little red book. We are asked to believe that over a 200 hundred year timespan that only the technology has changed and that the mindset, manner of speaking and the overall psychology of society remains as it was from the stories start (which was doubtful to start with).
I can concede that the cultural background of Cixin Liu would lead to a different mindset than those in the west are accustomed too. But when translated, it would be prudent to render the message in a more understandable manner. I was quite tired of the overly politicized terminology which made every character sound as if every thought, every decision, every action was based upon some profound reflection on the sociological impact of their decision. Requires a retranslation and editing.