The Dark Forest

I don’t think I’ve ever read (or even watched for that matter) a sequel so much better than the first of a series. And the first of this series — “The Three Body Problem” — was itself damn good. The Dark Forest, from start to finish, leads me to make the heretical proclamation that Cixin Liu outperformed even Asimov in quality of thinking in a science fiction work, at least for me.

More so than in the Three Body Problem, The Dark Forest contains not just engaging storytelling, character development and the like, but incredibly thought out scientific and strategic theory that would make it worth it for even those that don’t care for fiction in the first place. The Dark Forest theory (or super-predator interpretation of the Fermi Paradox), which you will reach at the end of the book, is so well put together that it sticks in your mind, dominating your thinking, even hours and days after reading it.

I’ve gotten so into this series that I’ve by now highly annoyed my friends, many of whom are quite serious readers but haven’t yet discovered Cixin Liu or other Chinese science fiction authors. The best analogy I can come up with to entice those considering trying this series is this: this has the type of technological complexity and rigor of Westworld, but on a Tolstoy-esque scale that doesn’t ever feel overdone, even though it takes place across light-years. And finally, it contains the kind of attention to detail in strategic and military thinking that you would find in a geopolitical thriller. I can’t recommend it enough, and hope friends can discover and enjoy this series as much as I have.