The Dark Forest picks up right where The Three Body Problem left off, with humanity’s research into cutting edge physics hamstrung by sophons, leaving Earth at the mercy of the incoming Trisolarin fleet, set to arrive in a little over 400 years time. However, in other ways the book feels like a departure from the first one, taking the story in a looser, more philosopihcal direction.
Set in various instances occurring over a 200-year period, the book leaves behind most of the characters from the first novel, focusing instead on Luo Ji, a disillusioned physicist who begins the book as a womanizing gadabout. A chance encounter with Ye Wenjie, the woman responsible for alerting Trisolaris of Earth’s location and thus setting off the invasion, leads to Luo Ji learning the fundamental axioms of Cosmis Sociology, a new field Wenjie has theorized.
Some time later, Luo Ji is named one of four Wallfacers, a UN-sanctioned program that imbues four humans with incredible latitude to conduct their own projects in secret, with the end goal of defeating Trisolaris in the upcoming Doomsday Battle. Wallfacers are instructed not to reveal their true intentions to anyone, and to even act in deliberately deceptive ways, as the sophons can read or hear any information conveyed to others through speech or writing. Luo Ji squanders his power by living a life of secluded luxury, before changes in circumstance force him to ponder an actual solution.
Luo Ji’s story is the backbone of the novel, but there are many more characters and plot threads interwoven around him. The Dar kForest is a rich, sprawling book, and while sometimes the dialogue can feel a little stilted—perhaps a result of translation from the Chinese, which I would imagine makes it very toug hto capture cadence precisely—the writing is evocative. The book poses bold ideas with confidenc,e and all of the solutions proposed feel logical and real. I can’t speak to the physics used wit hany authority, but Cixin’s reputation for researc hsuggests a solid underpinning, even in places where the technology presented ventures far beyond what is currently possible.