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The Dark Forest
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The Dark Forest
The Dark Forest (Chinese: 黑暗森林) is a 2008 science fiction novel by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is the sequel to the Hugo Award-winning novel The Three-Body Problem in the trilogy formally titled Remembrance of Earth's Past (colloquially referred to by Chinese readers by the title of the first novel). The English version, translated by Joel Martinsen, was published in 2015.
The novel revolves around humanity's attempts to construct a defence against an impending invasion fleet from an alien planet. It explores the dark forest hypothesis (so-named after the novel), a possible solution to the Fermi paradox, though similar theories have been described as early as 1983.
Following the events of The Three Body Problem, humanity unites to defend Earth. The invasion fleet from the alien planet Trisolaris will arrive in approximately 400 years. Earth's defence is severely hampered by Trisolaran "sophons", omnipresent but unobservable supercomputers that spy on all Earth activity and prevent major technological advancement.
Because sophons cannot surveil human thought, the United Nations appoints four "Wallfacers" to develop defence strategies known only to themselves. They are provided near-unlimited power and resources. Trisolaris counters the strategy by assigning Wallbreakers to each Wallfacer. Three of the plans are exposed, allowing Trisolaris to strategize against them.
Obscure sociologist and former astronomer Luo Ji is chosen as a Wallfacer because he is the only person Trisolaris attempted to assassinate. While the other Wallfacers consume extravagant resources and make major news, Luo Ji's only concrete effort is to broadcast a cryptic message to the universe which he calls a "spell".
Luo Ji hibernates for 200 years and is revived into a utopian society with advanced technology. Earth no longer reveres Wallfacers or fears Trisolaris. That confidence is shattered when Earth's entire space fleet is annihilated by a single Trisolaran probe. Several ships escape into deep space, but they eventually cannibalize each other for scarce resources.
Luo agrees to oversee Project Snow, which will use explosives to create a dust cloud intended to reveal the approach of any more Trisolaran probes. One day, his neighbors revere him again as a Wallfacer, and he knows his spell must have worked. Luo realizes Trisolaris feared him because of his encounter with astrophysicist Ye Wenjie, the first human to establish contact with Trisolaris. She encouraged Luo to develop "cosmic sociology".
He has long known that civilizations expand, while resources remain finite. Because survival is a civilization's primary concern, this led Luo to conceive of the universe as a "dark forest". A hunter in the forest knows there are other hunters like him in the forest. Therefore, his only response to any life form he encounters, must be to annihilate it in order to survive.
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The Dark Forest
The Dark Forest (Chinese: 黑暗森林) is a 2008 science fiction novel by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is the sequel to the Hugo Award-winning novel The Three-Body Problem in the trilogy formally titled Remembrance of Earth's Past (colloquially referred to by Chinese readers by the title of the first novel). The English version, translated by Joel Martinsen, was published in 2015.
The novel revolves around humanity's attempts to construct a defence against an impending invasion fleet from an alien planet. It explores the dark forest hypothesis (so-named after the novel), a possible solution to the Fermi paradox, though similar theories have been described as early as 1983.
Following the events of The Three Body Problem, humanity unites to defend Earth. The invasion fleet from the alien planet Trisolaris will arrive in approximately 400 years. Earth's defence is severely hampered by Trisolaran "sophons", omnipresent but unobservable supercomputers that spy on all Earth activity and prevent major technological advancement.
Because sophons cannot surveil human thought, the United Nations appoints four "Wallfacers" to develop defence strategies known only to themselves. They are provided near-unlimited power and resources. Trisolaris counters the strategy by assigning Wallbreakers to each Wallfacer. Three of the plans are exposed, allowing Trisolaris to strategize against them.
Obscure sociologist and former astronomer Luo Ji is chosen as a Wallfacer because he is the only person Trisolaris attempted to assassinate. While the other Wallfacers consume extravagant resources and make major news, Luo Ji's only concrete effort is to broadcast a cryptic message to the universe which he calls a "spell".
Luo Ji hibernates for 200 years and is revived into a utopian society with advanced technology. Earth no longer reveres Wallfacers or fears Trisolaris. That confidence is shattered when Earth's entire space fleet is annihilated by a single Trisolaran probe. Several ships escape into deep space, but they eventually cannibalize each other for scarce resources.
Luo agrees to oversee Project Snow, which will use explosives to create a dust cloud intended to reveal the approach of any more Trisolaran probes. One day, his neighbors revere him again as a Wallfacer, and he knows his spell must have worked. Luo realizes Trisolaris feared him because of his encounter with astrophysicist Ye Wenjie, the first human to establish contact with Trisolaris. She encouraged Luo to develop "cosmic sociology".
He has long known that civilizations expand, while resources remain finite. Because survival is a civilization's primary concern, this led Luo to conceive of the universe as a "dark forest". A hunter in the forest knows there are other hunters like him in the forest. Therefore, his only response to any life form he encounters, must be to annihilate it in order to survive.