The Dark Forest
Cover page
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| Author | Liu Cixin |
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| Original title | 黑暗森林 |
| Translator | Joel Martinsen |
| Country | China |
| Language | Chinese |
| Series | Remembrance of Earth’s Past |
| Genre | Chinese science fiction |
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Publication date
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2008 |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Three-Body Problem |
| Followed by | Death's End |
The Dark Forest (Chinese: 黑暗森林Hēi'àn sēnlín) 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 Dìqiú wǎngshì), but Chinese readers generally refer to the series by the title of the first novel. The English version, translated by Joel Martinsen, was published in 2015.
In The 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 out of protons [there is a pun in Chinese between the word for a proton, zhi4zi3 (Chinese: 质子), and the word for a sophon, zhi4zi3 (Chinese: 智子), share 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.
The Trisolarans react to the Wallfacer project by assigning each of the Wallfacers a "Wallbreaker", except for Luo Ji. The Wallbreaker will make his/her Wallfacer their subject of study, until they figure out what they're planning.
Wallfacer Bill Hines, a British neuroscientist, intends to create a genetically superior race of humans via genetic modification and delves into computational research of the human mind. Wallfacer Frederick Tyler, the former US Secretary of Defense, intends to create a fleet of 'Mosquito' ships piloted by suicidal humans. Wallfacer Rey Diaz, a former leader of Venezuela famous for repelling a US invasion, intends to construct a more powerful hydrogen bomb for use as a weapon. The latter two wallfacers are the first to be revealed. Tyler's plan is unmasked by a mysterious but refined stranger who reveals that Tyler's ultimate plan is to betray Earth and bring a mountain-sized shard of water to the enemy fleet. This is then revealed to be a trojan horse, in order gain proximity to the enemy ships and detonate a hydrogen bomb. After his plans are exposed by his Wallbreaker, Tyler falls into despair and commits suicide. Rey Diaz constructs an array of hydrogen bombs and plans to use them to cause Mercury to crash into the Sun, causing debris to fly towards the remaining planets (thereby destroying Earth and the Trisolarans' hope for survival) in the event that the Trisolarans do not back off. The UN panel harshly criticizes him for his plan after his Wallbreaker exposes it, and he reveals that he has a biometric watch connected to a nuclear weapon in New York City that will detonate if he dies. He uses this to blackmail the UN panel to release him from his Wallfacer duties. During the flight, he reveals that he was bluffing with the biometric watch and just wanted to return to Venezuela. After returning home, Rey Diaz is stoned to death by his own people for putting the entire world in danger.
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