Liu Cixin

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 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 Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy The Three-Body Problem The Dark Forest Death's End Other Books Ball Lightning (forthcoming)

The Dark Forest

Soon to be a Netflix Original Series! "Wildly imaginative." —President Barack Obama on The Three-Body Problem trilogy 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 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 Ball Lightning Supernova Era To Hold Up The Sky (forthcoming) At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Naomi J.

Don't say where we are! Once we know where we are, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When we don't know, the world feels unlimited.

The universe is a forest, patrolled by numberless and nameless predators. In this forest, others are hell, a dire existential threat. Stealth is survival. Any civilisation that reveals its location is prey. Earth has. And the others are on the way.

Laura Dobie

This series is so weird, and the pacing frustrates me a lot, but the ideas are utterly gripping. A sci-fi book based on sociology and the prisoner’s dilemma was always going to appeal to me. I liked the unusual look at what makes a hero, too. The brilliant (if a bit unbelievable) ending makes me want to re-read the whole thing, but it’s 23 hours long and frustrating at times, so I probably won’t :P But I’m intrigued enough to finish the series! Fascinating stuff.

Bouke van der Bijl

** spoiler alert **
           Suspenseful and exciting, and at the same time heavy enough that you need to put it down after a while. The idea of the dark forest was explored nicely, and it’s a fun thought that utter annihilation of our solar system could be only a single transmission away.

Obada Mu

“No, no. Don't say where we are! Once we know where we are, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When we don't know, the world feels unlimited.”

Eva Decker

** spoiler alert **
           I wish I liked this book more than I did.

The pacing grates; the plot doesn’t really get going until page 200 or so. Meanwhile, technological breakthroughs and huge historical advancements are skimmed over with only the barest detail.

The treatment of women throughout the book had me constantly thinking “ah yes, this was written by a man.” Amongst a massive cast, there are few female main characters. Many statements reduce women to their looks. Our protagonist / “mouth of God” character fails to acknowledge Ye Wenjie, the woman who at the start of the book introduces him to the breakthrough which ends up saving human civilization. And don’t get me started on the 100 pages of Luo Ji’s fantasy-girlfriend-come-to-life wife. Sooo cringey and dehumanizing. 

The last 200 pages of the book were more fun, but I found myself having to re-read passages multiple times to understand what was happening. This didn’t happen much in The Three-Body Problem, which makes me wonder if it is an issue with this book’s new translator. 

Characters felt flat throughout. Often felt myself unmoved over real or threatened character deaths. No matter how innovative the sci-fi concepts, a story doesn’t compel if all characters sound the same.

Considering how much I enjoyed The Three-Body Problem, disappointed. Onto Death’s End...

Kwan Ann Tan

This was good & definitely a deeper exploration of the human psyche in the face of potential total destruction, but there were too many illogical things that happened in the middle of the book & left me feeling a bit like Liu was creating despair for the sake of despair... 

Also I started off hating Luo Ji but then eventually I was just like damn, let the man enjoy his life with his weird dream wife and child

linda

I wanted to give this book three stars when I first started it. Martinsen’s translation lacks the poetic quality of Liu. He is stingy with figurative language, and I did not experience the same emotional connection with the characters. However, the plot drive me forward. By the time I was 350 pages in, I was intent upon giving the books four stars. After the Battle of Darkness and Luo Ji realization of the dark forest, the book won my heart.

Again, Cixin Liu weaves a masterful and vivid tale. I finished this book within two days of starting it, initially as an escape, but then I realized how engrossed I was by the plot. This book made me the dig deeper. What happens when the entirety of humanity has an existential crisis? Why do we prevail in the face of a losing battle? What are the dangers of the advent of technology? (That part about all the assassination attempts on Luo Ji made me fearful of my Amazon Alexa and other “smart home” devices). What is the true meaning of love? At the same time, this book made me realize how grateful I am for the life I have now. As improbable as an intergalactic war is, I felt awe for living in humanity’s “golden age,” with freedom, (relative) equality, limited pollution, and no food rationing. 

The Wallbreakers were a really interesting concept overall. It seemed ironic that their visions would be so twisted and dark, each positing the belief that humanity was doomed. Yet the survival of earth hinged on them. Reading about the doomsday battle and the scene when Ding Yi first touches the probe, I felt heartbroken, but not at all surprised. The part about Luo Ji falling in love with an imaginary character to truly loving her was also fun to read. I was also inspired by Zhang Beihai’s stoicism and tactical brilliance. 

Need I say that I am officially a science fiction convert?

Anne 

Captivating work of innovation, revelation, and compassion. 
Cixin Lui is a unparalleled visionary.

Adam

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.

Katie Chua

(3.5 stars but I’ll round up). OKAY LOOK. The beginning is interesting enough and the premise had me pretty engaged UNTIL about a third of the way through we come to the problematic imaginary ideal woman. Booooo — I almost gave up right then and there. But, I stuck with it, and I am glad. Impressive in scope and scale, thought experiments, and imaginative ideas of how humanity would interact or deal with aliens?? Pretty cool. I love sci-fi in the way it makes me think more deeply about our current humanity / what it means to be human / and ideas of what the future can hold. Poor characterization, incredibly misogynistic, but a worthy storyline still.

Ethan Ding

didn't retain quite the same coherency as three body, but it carries the same weight

the first 200 pages of this book bored me so much

the next 300 pages of this book blew my mind

:O

Ziad Algendi

An absolute masterpiece. Dark, twisted and unforgettable.

Martin Samuelsson

A bit slow and meandering for the bulk of the novel, but the good parts are great. Stay with it since the last part is the best.

Truman M Halladay

The Dark Forest reinvents what a good sequel should be. This novel builds mountains upon the hearty foundation that Book 1, The Three Body Problem, laid down. With old characters returning like familiar friends, and new complex characters all living in a vividly dynamic world; it’s sure to challenge your ideas of the universe. This story is smart but is expertly grounded in reality and human emotion. 

If you enjoyed 3BodyProblem you will love this novel even more. 

If you enjoy Asimov, Clarke and other classic science fiction you’ll love this series 

Jamie

Cixin Liu has, from the very beginning of The Three Body Problem, completely dazzled me in every way. American sci fi so often leans on Hollywood tropes to the extent that it feels like the genre has been turned into a shell of what it could be, becoming instead the resting place of failed screenwriters who desperately want to be noticed for their derivative work.

Not so with Liu. It is cinematic, but dense with hard science and human emotion, often straddling the line between hope and despair. I will fully admit to gloss over the physics in the book, but Liu seems to expect this, and uses the science also to show how far humans can go (and how little we actually stray).

I mentioned The Dark Forest's predecessor, The Three Body Problem, earlier as a book that cracked my literary world wide open. I was disappointed at first at the end of Three Body, because I feared the mystery that propelled that book forward was lost with the book's resolution. But The Dark Forest only *accelerated* through this revelation and made something even more maddening and wonderful out of it.

Truthfully, I was so satisfied with The Dark Forest that I would be content if there were no third book. But I am so glad there is one - I'll start it as soon as I get home.

El bosque oscuro

Val Sedano

i didnt get the end of the book like… love? Thats the end?! A human and a trisolaris person talking about love?

Jennifer

This speculative space opera is a wild ride to go through and it took me quite some time to wrap my head around the very long chapters and the dense proses on humanity & science. But I realy liked how everything clicked together and that it encouraged me to think about meta-perspectives on the big themes revolving around the basis of humanity. It had me thinking about the big issues that we'll likely face in the far future given the scientific advancements in the present day. A minor let down in the novel is probably the lack of female characters but hopefully I see a more diverse cast of characters in the next book. I'm nevertheless interested to read on and see how the far future of this fictional world would unfold.

Omar Fernandez

Any grievances I had with The Three Body Problem were more than offset by this sequel, it was a fantastic book and follow up.

Luke Kanies

A very enjoyable story, with great characters, lots to think about, and never a clear path to the finish.

As with the first one, it took a while to get into the book, I think both because it started slowly and because it's told in a very different way (although I can't tell if that's a personal or cultural difference). Once it got going, though, it was very hard to put down. It managed to seem like it had multiple endings, and often I switched between not being able to see how so much was left, and not being able to see how they'd finish it in the small amount of space left.

Nitin Khanna

Dark Forest is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. It takes off from The Three Body Problem and constructs a world that is at once believable and scary. I have just one thing to say about the author - the imagination required to write something like this is truly enviable!

Ben Nathan

So very smart and interesting. Characters that are multi-layered and very intelligent. The pacing is perfect and the way the parts come together over time is incredibly well thought out. If you like hard sci-fi, this series is a must. Really looking forward to finishing it off, but it does make me think a whole lot, so perhaps something lighter first.

Shreerag Plakazhi

The Three Body Problem was the best science fiction book I had read all year until there came along its sequel. I had promised myself that I wouldn't read two books by the same author this year but I'm glad I broke it for this one. This book is excellent science fiction, and above all an excellent book.

The Dark Forest is a completely different book to the Three Body Problem. It's far more philosophical and examining of the greatest questions of human civilization. Really, reading it was an education into the depths of the human mind.

I look forward to starting the third and final one soon. I can't wait to see how this will be followed up. My expectations are high.

Sarvagnan S

I enjoyed this more than The Three Body Problem. The ending is great but the epilogue wasn't. The writing style took a while to get used to.

The Dark Forest

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