Science Fiction: The Dark Forrest By Cixin Liu

(Drivebycuriosity) - I just finished reading "The Dark Forrest", the second part of the "Three Body Problem" trilogy by the Chinese author Cixin Liu (amazon). As usual this post doesn`t have spoilers, but I presume that you have read the first book and I need to refer to it.

We learned in the first book that humans have to prepare for the invasion of aliens with a superior technology which is supposed to happen in about 400 years. The invaders use particle physics and quantum mechanic effects to block science on earth and to observe humans, which puts them into a deadlock.

In book 2 the author describes how the world is responding to the thread and how humankind is changing under the pressure. The books has basically 2 parts. The first part (about 60%) happens somewhat in the presence, the second about 200 years later. Many who lived in the first part are still around thanks to hibernation.

I found the first part tedious and disappointing. Humankind tries to develop elaborated strategies against the space invaders which causes conflicts between the followers of different philosophies. Cixin`s narration of these developments are too extensive for my taste. I like the second part much better and found the described technological, political & social advances interesting and plausible. The plot gains speed and develops into a wild space odyssey and into a roller coaster on a grand scale. There the author unfolds again his huge imagination and sparks fireworks of scientific founded ideas.

Even though book 2 is not as outstanding as the first one I am looking forward to read the third part of the trilogy: Death`s End". .