The Dark Forest
| Author | Liu Cixin |
|---|---|
| Original title | 黑暗森林 |
| Translator | Joel Martinsen |
| Country | China |
| Language | Chinese |
| Series | Remembrance of Earth’s Past |
| Genre | Chinese science fiction |
Publication date | 2008 |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | 978-1784971595 |
| Preceded by | The Three-Body Problem |
| Followed by | Death's End |
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 titled Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Chinese: 地球往事), but Chinese readers generally refer to the series by the title of the first novel.[1] The English version, translated by Joel Martinsen, was published in 2015.
Plot
In Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion—four centuries in the future. The aliens' human collaborators have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the tiny super intelligent computers made by protons [there is a pun in Chinese between the word for a proton, zhizi (Chinese: 质子), and the word for a sophon, zhizi (Chinese: 智子), since the same pronunciation], which allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret.
This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.
This unlikely Wallfacer Luo Ji, refuses his Wallfacer status, only to discover that it cannot be refused. He then goes on a buying spree, getting a fabulous mansion and living the life of a wealthy recluse. While the other Wallfacers are forming staffs and taking on huge projects, he just goes for walks around his land. Eventually, the United Nations, who instituted the Wallfacer project, kidnaps Luo Ji's wife and children, putting them in hibernation as a means of goading Luo Ji to finally get to work. At last, Luo Ji begins his work as a Wallfacer, asking questions about how to transmit the information about the position of a certain star in the Milky Way to a potential third observer civilization out there. This causes the Trisolarans to redouble their efforts to kill him, and they become truly afraid of Luo Ji. The Trisolarans' worry concerns what they call "the most important secret in the universe."
The Trisolarans react to the Wallfacer project by assigning each of the Wallfacers a "Wallbreaker." The Wallbreaker will make his/her Wallfacer their subject of study, until they figure out what they're planning.
Eventually, the other three Wallfacers are revealed by their Wallbreakers to be dangerous and reckless—even criminal. Bill Hines is a special case. He invents a sort of mind control device called the "Mental Seal," which the military uses to overcome defeatism. In the end, however, even this plan is unmasked as false by his Wallbreaker, who turns out to be his wife and scientific collaborator.
Luo Ji, however, does something very strange. He uses the solar amplification technique (originallly used by Ye Wenjie to contact the Trisolarans) to send out a set of three images—pictures of scattered dots. When asked by the Wallfacer commission what he is doing, he answers that it is a "spell against the planets of star 187J3X1" The effects of the spell will be catastrophic, he predicts. He also admits that it is a proof-of-concept, and cannot be used against Trisolaris yet.
He then comes down with what appears to be a flu. Many people have come down with it, but the effects of the flu on them are minor. Luo Ji, however, seems to be dying due to the flu. Trisolaris, it turns out, has created a virus especially targeting his genetic makeup personally. It's a germ-warfare assassination attempt. Unable to be cured, Luo Ji enters hibernation, to await a future time when a cure can be found.
Zhang Beihai creates bullets out of meteorite material, and uses it to assassinate members of the military who are against researching non-media radiation drive using nuclear fusion. Zhang believes that this is the only technology which stands a chance against Trisolaris. Since the assassination takes place in space, the meteorite bullets make it seem as if the generals were killed by a meteor shower, and Zhang Beihai escapes suspicion for the murders.
Characters
- Ye Wenjie (叶文洁)
- Mike Evans (麦克·伊文斯)
- Chang Weisi (常伟思)
- Zhang Beihai (章北海)
- Zhang Yuanchao (张援朝)
- Shi Qiang (史强) also nicknamed Da Shi (大史)
- Wu Yue (吴岳)
- Zhuang Yan (庄颜)
- Ding Yi (丁仪)
- Dongfang Yanxu (东方延绪)
Wallfacers (面壁者):
- Frederick Tyler (弗雷德里克·泰勒)
- Rey Diaz (雷迪亚兹)
- Bill Hines (比尔·希恩斯)
- Luo Ji (罗辑)
References
- ↑ Liu, Cixin (7 May 2014). "The Worst of All Possible Universes and the Best of All Possible Earths: Three Body and Chinese Science Fiction". Tor.com. Retrieved 8 May 2014.