Book: The Dark Forest

 Book: The Dark Forest

Author: Cixin Liu

Pages: 528

This is my 89th read for the year

In book two of The Three Body Problem, the world is still reeling from the impending alien invasion.  Still centuries in the future, the earth is starting to make a plan.  The presence of the Sophons (set by the alients to monitor all humans making it impossible for humans to advance secretly) makes it only possible for personal human thought to be secret.  The Wallfacer project is put in place and 4 men are given access to enormous resources to try and deceive the Trisolarans.  While three men are well known and influential, the 4th is an unambitious astronomer who is trying to figure out where he belongs.  The hardest part is figuring out why he, Luo Ji is the one the Trisolarans want dead.

This was an interesting follow up to the first book.  At first - it was so technical that it almost lost me, but then it smoothed out.  It jumps 200 years in the future and that is when the book made a turn for me.  The reason for the alien's wanting to come to earth becomes clear.  We see what has been happening when people are woken up into a future they could not even imagine.  This book builds on the first as the alien invasion nears.  The world builing is vast and at times overwhelming trying to keep it all straight.  This is written just as smart and complex as the first novel, and I am excited to see where it is going.

Stars: 4.5