The Dark Forest is author Liu Cixin's sequel to his 2006 novel The Three-Body Problem. Continuing from the previous novel (but with almost entirely new characters), The Dark Forest was followed in 2010 by a third novel, Death's End, which completed Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. This series essentially deals with Earth's relationship with the enigmatic Trisolaran race from beyond the solar system. Where The Three-Body Problem covered the first few decades of the saga, The Dark Forest spans over two centuries. Death's End portends to take the saga to the end of time.
Like the previous novel, The Dark Forest is divided into three main story arcs. In the analysis below, spoilers will eventually start to surface...
- Part 1, "The Wallfacers", describes the establishment of a UN project in which four individuals (dubbed "Wallfacers") are tasked with coming up with a plan to repel the Trisolaran invasion, expected to arrive in 450 years. Because the Trisolarans are able to monitor all printed and audio communications on Earth (through their sub-atomic supercomputer sophons), the Wallfacers are instructed not to verbalize or write down anything which might reveal the nature of their plan. In accordance with this tactic, the Wallfacers are given carte blanche to Earth's resources in order to carry out their plans. "The Wallfacers" follows the four Wallfacers chosen by the UN as they start laying down the foundations for their plans. However, one Wallfacer (a hedonistic nihilist named Luo Ji) is an unwilling participant in this project and uses his new found benefits to find himself a perfect wife.
- Part 2, "The Spell", continues following the progress of the Wallfacers' progress. By the end of this section, three Wallfacers have failed, leaving only Luo Ji to come up with something. Forced to action, he ends up finding inspiration by recalling a chance conversation he once had with Ye Wenjie, the Red Coast scientist who had summoned the Trisolarans in the first place.
- Part 3, "The Dark Forest", leaps ahead nearly 200 years to an Earth in possession of a Solar Fleet so powerful that their victory is virtually assured even without the aid of a Wallfacer plan. Unfortunately, the Solar Fleet soon runs into "complications" and the fate of mankind falls onto Luo Ji's shoulders once again. In the end, Luo Ji redeems himself as a true Wallfacer and peace negotiations with the Trisolarans begin.
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| Subterranean Press, Marc Simonetti |
Like Liu's previous novel, The Dark Forest engages with many scientific concepts related to astrophysics. It also delves deeply into the nature of human psychology on both an individual and a race level. In a sense, each of the main character threads illustrate a unique, human reaction to news of the Trisolaran invasion and its seemingly inevitable success. However, on an even greater scope, the title of the novel ends up being a characterization of the entire universe as a "dark forest", populated by merciless predators.
As mentioned above, there are three major sections in The Dark Forest, apparently divided by theme: "The Wallfacers", "The Spell", and "The Dark Forest". These three sections are each broken up into one or more historical eras (Crisis Years 3, 8, 12, 20, 205, 208...). Within each Crisis Year, scenes quickly transition between characters and locales, sometimes resulting in dozens of brief vignettes. For clarity's sake, the synopsis below combines thematically-linked vignettes within each Crisis Year.
Prologue: (This takes place after Ye Wenjie had learned of the Trisolarans’ true plan but before Judgement Day is raided).
- At her daughter Yang Dong’s grave, Ye Wenjie meets Luo Ji, a former astronomer who has since changed to a career in sociology. She suggests that he might establish a new branch of science, “cosmic sociology”, and that there are only two axioms central to this concept: 1. All civilizations desire to survive, and 2. A finite amount of material exists in the universe. Ye Wenjie also mentions two other concepts, "chains of suspicion” and “technological explosion", but refrains from defining them.
- On Judgement Day, Adventist leader Mike Evans learns that the Trisolarans communicate through direct, "transparent" expression, and thus have no concept of lying or tactical manipulation. After realizing the ramifications of this key difference between the races, the Trisolarans cease further contact with the Adventists.
Crisis Year 3
- Due to the threat of the Trisolarans, an Escapist faction develops, based on the idea of escaping Earth before the Trisolarans arrive. The Escapist movement asks that the US and Britain share their technology with the rest of the world so that everyone will have a fair chance at a future. The US declines, and thus hopes for a combined United Earth Space Force are foiled. In Beijing, Shi Xiaoming (Shi Qiang/Da Shi’s son), advises his uncle Zhang Yuanchao to invest in an "Escape Fund" to reserve tickets aboard a refugee ship. Unfortunately, the UN Assembly soon deems Escapism illegal, reasoning that it has too much of a destabilizing effect on society. This wipes out Zhang Yuanchao’s investment in the Escape Fund.
- A political commissar named Zhang Beihai is recruited for the new Chinese Space Force. Despite the bleak odds they face against the Trisolarans, Zhang Beihai resolutely expresses his belief that humanity still has a chance against the Trisolarans. Unfortunately, his faith in victory is the exception amongst the members of the Space Force.
- During this period, Luo Ji lives a hedonistic, almost nihilistic life. He engages in meaningless love affairs and has no wish to have a family (and thus is unconcerned with the Trisolaran invasion, which will occur long after he has died). The only person he has ever felt love for was an “ideal woman” he had once conjured up in his imagination for the purpose of writing a romance novel. One day, Luo Ji is nearly killed in an auto accident. Shi Qiang (police enforcer Da Shi from the previous novel) appears and escorts Luo Ji to the UN where a General Assembly is being held. The UN Secretary General then explains the Wallfacer Project, a plan in which four men will be chosen to secretly devise Earth defense strategies and keep them entirely in their heads. This secrecy is necessary because the omnipresent Trisolaran sophons are able to read and hear everything written or spoken on Earth and instantly report back to Trisolaris.
- The first man chosen to be a Wallfacer is Frederick Tyler, a retired US secretary of defense who is an expert on the advantages smaller countries have over large ones from a technological viewpoint. Tyler soon devises a plan to build a swarm of “mosquito fighters” equipped with super-powerful bombs to attack the Trisolaran fleet in a suicide attack. He soon travels to Japan, China and Afghanistan looking for soldiers willing to throw away their lives in the name of duty, but in all three locales he finds only disappointment. Ultimately, he requests to have remote override control over his mosquito fighters so that he can personally force them to complete their missions.
- The second Wallfacer is Manual Rey Diaz, the president of Venezuela. Rey Diaz had created a socialist paradise in his country and even repulsed US efforts at invasion using guerilla tactics. His plan involves the development of a massive nuclear bomb.
- The third Wallfacer is ex-EU President Bill Hines, an expert on physics and neuroscience. Hines tells his wife Keiko that he intends to work on the enhancement of man's own intelligence in the hope that human brains of the future may think of a way to defeat the Trisolarans.
- For unspecified reasons, Luo Ji is chosen to be the fourth Wallfacer. Confused, he immediately refuses the position. However, he has no choice but to accept, as his life is now in danger from the Trisolarans. Given near-unlimited funds to carry on his “research”, Luo Ji merely asks to live in a secluded house in a beautiful, natural landscape.
- In "Three Body" (the online VR game), several ETO agents meet to appoint “Wallbreakers” to directly oppose each Wallfacer - however, Luo Ji is not assigned a Wallbreaker. The Three Body avatar “Qin Shi Huang” states that Luo Ji is the only one in "direct contest" with their Trisolaran “Lord”.
- At his dream house, Luo Ji ignores his Wallfacer responsibilities. Instead, he has Shi Qiang find him a woman who closely matches the "ideal woman" he had once fallen in love with as a romance writer. Shi Qiang eventually brings him Zhuang Yan, who matches Luo Ji's description perfectly. Luo Ji and Zhuang Yan gradually begin to develop a relationship. Meanwhile, with his mission accomplished, Da Shi goes into cryosleep hibernation in order for his leukemia (gained during the raid on the ETO in the previous book) to be cured in the future.
- When the Hubble II telescope obtains direct visual evidence of the distant (but clearly approaching) Trisolaran fleet, mankind goes into a second phase of panic.
Crisis Year 8
- Worried about the projected growth of "defeatist" sentiment in the far future (when resources will be even more strained than in the present), Zhang Beihai recommends putting political agents into hibernation so that they can be later reawakened to help those in the future. However, his request is denied for the present due to the need for “morale boosters” in the present.
- Tyler is visited by an unkempt man who announces that he is Tyler's Wallbreaker. The Wallbreaker then explains Tyler's own plan to him: Tyler plans to have the ETO secretly infiltrate his mosquito fighter group, after which they will turn on and destroy the mainstream Earth space force. They will then bring to the Trisolarans a peace offering: a giant iceberg (since the Trisolarans will be in need of water supplies after their long journey). Having lulled the Trisolarans into a false sense of security, Tyler will then take control over the mosquito fighters and suicide bomb the Trisolarans. After Tyler's Wallbreaker distributes this plan online to the public, Tyler is labelled a traitor for his deceptive (and costly) gamble. However, he is not arrested because many also believe that this is just a cover for his “real” plan. Tyler eventually shoots himself in despair.
- Rey Diaz and Bill Hines go into hibernation (to be awakened in 20 years) in order to be reawakened when computing technology has caught up to the level needed for the continued progress of their respective plans.
- One day Luo Ji wakes up to find his wife and child gone. He soon learns that the UN have put them into hibernation in a secret location and will not be woken in 400 years. In fact, Zhuang's role all along has been to leverage Luo Ji so that he would regain a reason to fight for humanity's future. He is also informed that the car accident which had started all of this was an ETO attempt on his life, ordered directly by the Trisolarans. Apparently, Luo Ji is the only human whom the Trisolarans truly fear.
- While searching for a reason explaining why the Trisolarans may fear him, Luo Ji recalls Ye Wenjie's last advice to him regarding cosmic sociology, survival and finite resources. Later, safely ensconced in an underground bunker, Luo Ji asks an astronomer named Ringier whether it would be possible to broadcast the stellar coordinates of a particular star system into deep space. At the next Wallfacer conference (now featuring Luo Ji as the only living, non-hibernating member), Luo Ji states that he plans to send a signal into outer space which will act as a "spell" on 187J3X1, a star system 50 light years away. This will be a "test" to see if the system can be destroyed by such a spell. However, the results will not be detectable for at least 100 years (due to the 50 light years distance to and from the star). Shortly after this meeting, Luo Ji is struck down by a targeted genetic virus unleashed by the ETO. With no immediate cure in sight, he is put into hibernation. Meanwhile the “spell” with 187J3X1’s stellar coordinates is broadcast out into deep space.
Crisis Year 12
- The Hubble II telescope detects 10 “probes” accelerating ahead of the Trisolaran fleet. Ringier calculates that these probes were launched at the exact moment in which Luo Ji had described his "spell" plan 4 years ago.
- At this point, space elevators have been constructed in order to begin the development of space platforms (stations) locked in geosynchronous orbit over the Earth, from which defensive structures can be constructed. Zhang Beihai worries about a small group of engineers who oppose his views on the best way to approach interplanetary space flight (using fusion reactors to reach space). He buys 3 meteorites and fashions 36 bullets out of them. Three months later, while doing some space training near a space elevator terminus, Zhang Beihai assassinates the engineers from a sniper position (the engineers are later believed to be victims of a freak meteor shower). A little while later, Zhang Beihai and a number of other operatives are finally put into hibernation so that they can reinforce the spirits of the men of the future.
Crisis Year 20
- Awakened from hibernation, Bill Hines reunites with his wife Keiko, who then reveals that during his hibernation scientists have managed to create a “holographic brain” by using tiny microprocessors to model neuron activity. Soon, volunteers are brought in to "teach" this "Resolving Imager" to become human. However, an accident occurs which causes hydrophobia (fear of water) in one of the test subjects. This leads to the discovery of "mental seals", in which the Resolving Imager can “imprint” irrational beliefs on individuals (like a kind of post-hypnotic suggestion). Hines suggests that using mental seals to instill faith in victory may help the Space Force reduce defeatism amongst its ranks. At the next Wallfacer conference, this idea is initially rejected as a form of "thought control", but the concept is eventually embraced and "Faith Centers" begin appearing. Although volunteers are sparse in the beginning, eventually more and more space soldiers volunteer for the treatment. In the meantime, Bill and his wife decide to go into hibernation to await the arrival of the Trisolaran advance probes in 200 years.
- Also awakened from hibernation, Rey Diaz tells the Wallfacer UN group that he wants to build one million nuclear super-bombs and begin testing them on Mercury. However, Rey Diaz is soon visited by his Wallbreaker who explains Rey Diaz' true plan to him: to use the super-bombs as a trigger which could drive Mercury into the sun. Such an event would result in a chain reaction which would cause the sun to expand and destroy the entire solar system. When the Trisolarans arrive, Rey Diaz would threaten to destroy the solar system before allowing the Earth to be invaded (destruction of the Earth would also automatically mean the end of the Trisolarans). The Wallbreaker then states that the plan will never work since Earth will not be able to build enough bombs to send Mercury into the sun. Like Tyler, Rey Diaz is exposed as a traitor to humanity, and escapes back to his own country. There, his own people kill him for his willingness to gamble with the lives of everyone in the entire solar system.
Crisis Year 28-205
- In Crisis Year 28, mankind’s concentration of resources on space research leads to a great famine called the Great Ravine, in which over half of humanity dies. Eventually, resources are rerouted towards saving the people currently living on Earth, rather than thinking of the future struggle. This relaxation of austerity measures produces a renascence which leads to a technological leap. Eventually, resources are again directed towards creating a powerful space fleet, the Solar Federation.
- Crisis Year 205: At this point, most people live in underground cities or on space stations which are connected to the surface by space elevators. In contrast, reawakened hibernators live on the surface as farmers in a sandy, windswept world dotted by the old ruins of the 21st century. The ETO no longer exists and the three space fleets are the superpowers of the world. Not only that, but the technology leap has now enabled mankind to build a defense force far superior to what the Trisolarans have.
- Luo Ji is brought out of hibernation with his infection cured. The Wallfacers are now known as some kind of old joke, and the star on which Luo Ji’s "spell" had been cast apparently still shines. After briefly attending a Solar Federation conference where the Wallfacer Project is officially terminated, Luo Ji reunites with a reawakened Shi Qiang, who is now also cured of his leukemia.
- Bill Hines and his wife Keiko are also reawakened. In a Solar Federation conference, Keiko reveals that she is Hines' Wallbreaker. She also states that the mental seal (now outlawed) was not an accidental discovery - Hines had actually developed it deliberately in order to instill defeatism in its volunteers (since Hines has secretly always been a defeatist). Hines is disgraced and Keiko commits seppuku.
- Shi Qiang invites Luo Ji over to his "leaf" (apartment) in the underground city, but on the way several unmanned vehicles and automatons try to kill Luo Ji. When the police investigate, Luo Ji is informed that a leftover ETO computer virus has been activated (due to his emergence from hibernation). While the virus is being eliminated, they advise Luo Ji to spend time on the surface, where there are fewer automated devices
- Zhang Beihai and his group of "morale reinforcements" are also reawakened from hibernation. Because the Solar Fleet is now concerned about Hines’ secret defeatist elements in its ranks, Zhang Beihai and his people are ordered to become "acting captains" through which the space cruisers' real captains will convey orders (the reawakened officers, who come from a time before imprinting had been invented, will judge if there are any defeatist elements in the orders being given). Near Jupiter, Zhang Beihai is instructed in how to command the spaceship Natural Selection by its captain, Dongfang. However, as soon as he is given computer clearance, he programs the ship to go into high acceleration towards deep space. It is soon revealed that Zhang Beihai has always been an Escapist, and he believes that mankind's only chance for survival is if he can hijack Natural Selection in order to flee from the coming conflict with a group of human survivors.
- In the meantime, one of the Trisolaran probes accelerates ahead of the others. The Solar Federation reasons that this can only mean that the Trisolarans are sending a negotiating mission, since a solo attack makes no apparent sense. As the world celebrates, the Solar Federation sends its entire fleet to intercept the approaching probe in order to destroy it in an overwhelming display of force. On board the Quantum, a reawakened Ding Yi (now 83) is given the honor of making first contact with the Trisolaran probe, now named the "Droplet" due to its mercury-like teardrop shape. On a hunch, Ding Yi advises the crew of Quantum to go to "deep-sea state", in which all members are immersed in protective liquid for fast acceleration purposes. Fortunately, when a non-manned craft captures the probe, nothing happens.
- When Zhang Beihai is informed of the capture of the Droplet, he returns control of Natural Selection to Dongfang, but insists that they do not decelerate the ship yet.
- On board the unmanned craft, Ding Yi and a few scientists examine the Droplet. They find that its surface is totally smooth, down to an atomic level. Ding Yi suddenly realizes in alarm that the only way this could be possible is if the sub-atomic particles of the Droplet were held together entirely by the strong nuclear force, thus making it indestructible. At that moment, the Droplet begins emitting high energy radiation, instantly incinerating Ding Yi and the scientists. The Droplet then accelerates to a speed unimaginable according to Earth physics and begins flying/smashing through the ships of the Solar Fleet like a bullet, causing their fusion reactors to explode. Using advanced high-speed maneuverability, it punctures almost 2000 ships in half an hour and then heads towards Earth. Out of the entire Fleet, only two ships (the Quantum and the Bronze Age, both prepared earlier for high-speed acceleration as per Ding Yi's hunch) escape total destruction.
- When news of the fleet's destruction reaches Natural Selection, Zhang Beihai is immediately given back command of the ship, as well as command over the four ships that had been pursuing Natural Selection. Continuing away from Earth as per Zhang Beihai’s original plan, the convoy elects to form their own government, "Starship Earth". They decide to head for a distant star cluster in order to refuel, but are forced to face the fact that the only future they have to look forward to is to drift endlessly through space. Depression and mania eventually descend and the ship captains begin to turn on each other as they covet each other’s ship's resources. In the end, only the ship Blue Space survives a five-way "Battle of Darkness", and heads off alone into deep space. On the other side of the solar system, a similar drama occurs between the Quantum and the Bronze Age: the Quantum destroys the Bronze Age and continues into darkness.
- Once news of the Battle of Darkness spreads on Earth, society goes into panic. Humanity realizes that even those who escape will turn into damaged souls ("Negacivilizations").
- As the Droplet nears Earth, Luo Ji believes that he is its target and drives out to the mountains in order to minimize the collateral damage from the impact of his "assassination". However, the Droplet merely halts above the Earth and begins emitting wide-band radiation at the sun, thus neutralizing man's ability to use the sun as an amplifier to send out signals to interstellar space (such as was done with Luo Ji's "spell" from two centuries ago).
- It is soon revealed that Luo Ji's spell had actually worked: 187J3X1 had been destroyed a year ago, but only now had someone noticed. Luo Ji is immediately reinstated as a Wallfacer. Later, Luo Ji explains to Shi Qiang this his spell was merely an omnidirectional signal spelling out the stellar coordinates of 187J3X1. As per his long ago conversation with Ye Wenjie, he notes that the two axioms of cosmic sociology are survival at all costs and the realization of finite resources in the universe. Due to “chains of suspicion” (not being able to ever trust a stranger, especially one separated by stellar distances) and the possibility of a “technological explosion” (one civilization may suddenly grow faster than another), the axioms imply that any time a civilization makes its existence known, some other civilization will immediately try to destroy it (like a hunter in a “dark forest”). This explains the Fermi Paradox: extraterrestrial civilizations are not abundant in the universe because they continually destroy one another. The destruction of 187J3X1 proves the accuracy of Luo Ji's theory: by broadcasting 187J3X1’s location, an interstellar “hunter” had soon targeted it for destruction. Luo Ji's ultimate plan had been to use the threat of a similar spell on Trisolaris, despite the fact that such a spell would probably have also put Earth in danger (due to their proximity).
- In any case, with humanity's ability to broadcast any more spells now blocked by the Trisolaran Droplet, Luo Ji's plan no longer has any possibility of working. As the months and years pass, Luo Ji's prestige falls and he is even accused of being a fraud, with some assuming that 187J3X1 exploded by itself. In the meantime, Luo Ji keeps himself busy with the Snow Project, a UN space project designed to disperse clouds of visible material in a Neptunian orbit in the hopes of detecting the entry trails of the other 9 Trisolaran probes still heading for Earth.
Crisis Year 208
- With Luo Ji's reputation and living situation worse than ever, the mayor of Luo Ji's settlement asks him to leave the area. Luo Ji returns to the cemetery where he had once spoken to Ye Wenjie, apparently intending to commit suicide. However, just before pulling the trigger of his gun, he addresses the sophons and tells them that if his heart stops, atomic bombs situated according to the Snow Project will explode, dispersing opaque material which will cause the sun's brightness to flicker if seen by stellar observers. The flickering will send out a spell pinpointing Trisolaris' position in the "dark forest". He tells the Trisolarans that he will shoot himself in the heart unless the Trisolarans agree to halt their approach and begin negotiations with Earth. The Trisolarans agree to his terms.
- Luo Ji and his family picnic near one of the gravitational wave antennas created with Trisolaran technology. While there, he is contacted by the pacifistic Trisolaran who had tried to warn away Ye Wenjie many years ago at Red Coast. The Trisolaran mentions a speech Luo Ji had recently given in which he had stated that the reason humanity had not thought of the dark forest concept earlier is because humanity has the ability to love. The Trisolaran states that his own people once had the ability to love, but eventually suppressed it. Luo Ji and the Trisolaran agree that it may be worthwhile to nurture the possibility of love on other worlds in the dark forest.
