A review by stephen_coulon
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

It's the second installment in Liu Cixin’s Three Body science fiction trilogy translated from Chinese by Joel Martinson. Two theoretical questions beat at the heart of this superb sequel to The Three Body Problem, and the author’s resolutions to them are brilliant. Firstly, how can a civilization prepare for war against an enemy that can see, hear, read, literally everything other than unspoken thoughts? What becomes of strategy then? Secondly, just how bound are our system of values to the settings we find ourselves inhabiting. Is human morality bound to change when we begin living amongst the stars? There’s little left to rehash from the first book here, the author instead presses forward with several new ideas that thrive at the intersection of hard scientific theory and the realities of human sociology. Cixin’s natural pessimism at times makes this a fairly dark read, but it’s always provocative and infused with meaning. The ending is a masterful stroke by an author who understands the foreshadowing of thematics. Can’t wait to read the third one.