The Dark Forest
| Author | Liu Cixin |
|---|---|
| Original title | 黑暗森林 |
| Translator | Joel Martinsen |
| Language | Chinese |
| Series | Remembrance of Earth’s Past |
| Genre | Chinese science fiction |
Publication date | 2008 |
| Publication place | China |
| 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
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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.
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.
Wallfacer Bill Hines intends to create a genetically superior race of humans via genetic modification and delves into compuational research of the human mind. Wallfacer Frederick Tyler intends to create a fleet of 'Mosquito' ships piloted by suicidal humans. Wallfacer Rey Diaz 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. Rey Diaz constructs and array of nuclear weapons, linked to a biometric watch he wears. He uses this to blackmail the UN panel to release him from his Wallfacer duties. After returning home, Rey Diaz is stoned to death by his own people for this betrayal.
The 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."
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.
Lou Ji awakens from hibernation centuries into the future to discover a drastically changed world. The 'Total War' society Earth has created resulted in the repeal of Environmental regulations, leading to massive ecological collapse turning much of the surface into a desert. In response nation states excavated large caverns underground. Despite the Sophon block, Earth technology has also progressed dramatically, culminating in a space fleet of ships numbering in the thousands. Citing its fleet strength, many discuss the potential for future peace talks with Trisolaris. Lou Ji however struggles to integrate into the new earth society which has radically changed its social structure. He eventually meets Da Shi, who has also been hibernating for centuries. Together the two explore the new Earth, but are consistently met by attacks against Lou Ji by the Trisolarians, who believe he is still carrying "The Most Important Secret In The Universe". It is slowly revealed that Earth society underwent a dramatic depression, called The Great Ravine, during which more than half Earth's population died from starvation.
Immediately after awakening, Lou Ji attends a UN Wallfacer meeting, to discover his spell has failed. The other surviving Wallfacer, Bill Hines, presents his project as well. He invented a sort of mind control device called the "Mental Seal," which the military uses to overcome defeatism. Despite it's utility, it is not widely adopted. At the meeting, this plan is unmasked as false by his Wallbreaker, who turns out to be his wife and scientific collaborator, Keiko. Distraught by the complete failure of the Wallfacer Project, the UN disbands the program.
The Earth Fleet, organization under three broad geographic commands, races towards the edge of the solar system to meet the incoming probes sent by the Trisolaris fleet. Political jockeying to be the first nation to meet an extraterrestrial species resulting in a massive formation of ships, organized in a three dimensional grid, meeting the incoming probe. The probe, a solid 'droplet' of of mirror like metal arrives and at first seems innocuous. Earth rejoices that the aesthetic beauty of the probe is meant as the long awaited peace sign from the Trisolaris fleet. The only ships absent are the renegade ship Natural Selection, and it's pursuers.
The droplet awakes, and immediately destroys the ships surrounding it. It is inferred that the droplet is constructed of matter bonded together using the strong interaction force, creating an object of extreme strength. It uses this superior technology to lay waste to the entire Earth Fleet, which are conveniently arranged in a grid pattern. Only two Earth ships escape the carnage, fleeing into deep space. The droplet head towards Earth, and the population panics expecting it to destroy the planet. The droplet however by passes the planet and instead parks itself in a Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun. Here, it broadcasts a powerful scrabbling signal to prevent Earth from ever using the Sun's amplification mechanism ever again.
The only surviving Earth ships are Natural Selection, and it's pursuers, and the two ships which escaped the massacre. A strategy is formed to escape the solar system and head for nearby stars in hopes of founding civilization once again. A tally of each ships stocks however quickly reveal that supplies are insufficient for such a plan to succeed, and return to Earth would result in destruction from the Droplet. The hundreds of thousands of kilometers between ships delays communication and exacerbates the 'Chain of Suspicion', a self-reinforcing loop of mistrust where each ship can never be sure what the others true intentions are. This eventually results in a simultaneous first strike against the other ships using nuclear weapons. The resulting attacks, called 'The Battle in the Darkness', leaves all of the Earth ships crew dead, with the exception of the crews of The Bronze Age, and Blue Space. These two ships then harvest supplies from the destroyed ships and head for distant stars, cutting off all contact with Earth.
The Battle in the Darkness sets up the novel for the explanation of the central metaphor of the story. Back on Earth, Lou Ji and Da Shi discover that star 187J3X1 has been destroyed. This confirms Lou Ji's suspicions, and he explains to Da Shi the implications of the star's destruction. The universe is, in reality, full of life. However, like hunters in a dark forest, life can never been sure of alien life's true intentions. The extreme distances between stars creates an insurmountable 'Chain of Suspicion' where the two civilizations cannot communicate fast enough to relieve mistrust. Therefore, it is in every civilizations best interests to premptively strike any developing civilization before it can become a threat. Life in the universe functions on two axioms : 1. Life's goal is to survive and 2. That matter is finite.
This realization leads to a revival of the Wallfacer project, however, with sun transmission blocked by the droplet, Lou Ji fails to create any meaningful plan. Forced by the UN to perform some kind of action to save face, Lou Ji is given a project to track the other probes entering the solar system. Project Snow is intended to create a screen across the solar system which when crossed, will reveal the trajectories of incoming probes. Lou Ji quickly realizes the futility of this project, but demoralized, continues work anyway. He throws himself into the project, but it fails to reach it's intended scope, only creating a third of the bombs necessary for the screen.
Decades pass, and Lou Ji falls from favor and descends into alcoholism. He is slowly ostracized from society as they look upon his failure, as their failure. He eventually travels to the grave of Ye Wenjie, the woman who first sent the message to Trisolaris, and told Lou Ji about the axioms of interstellar society. Lou Ji digs his own grave, and places a pistol to his heart. In his final moments, he issues and ultimatum to Trisolaris, who are watching him via Sophon. Surrender or he will end his life. Lou Ji reveals that he is wearing a biometric watch similar to the one constructed by Wallfacer Rey Diaz. If Lou Ji dies, the bombs will detonate creating an interstellar message. Project Snow was a ruse, the bombs are intended to selectively block light from the sun, creating a message sent out to the galaxy. Trisolaris, facing destruction of their home planet, and Earth, capitulate.
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.