The Three-Body Problem and The Dark Forest

2022-05-11, by Dmitri Zdorov

The Three-Body Problem books

I just finished The Dark Forest, the second part of the Remembrance of Earth's Past science fiction trilogy written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It's more known for the first book titled - The Three-Body problem. Both books are excellent, yet I liked The Dark Forest even more.

The great thing is that it's such good hard science fiction with great emphasis on trying to predict the future and not just fantasize about it. And it went noticeably better than the first one. Also unusual that the entire narrative in both books is so much more China-centered than any other sci-fi I know. Although this is clear, of course, because Liu Cixin is Chinese, and at the same time, a lot is happening on a global or even interstellar level. It's obviously attractive when such a new angle is added.

In terms of the mathematical-physical paradigm, the Three-Body Problem is an interesting phenomenon in itself. And it's all well illustrated in the first book. But the second book turned out to be even more profound. It has a lot of deeper philosophical questions and shows how humanity might approach it.

It also "answers" the Fermi Paradox, although in a horrifying way.

I listened it as an audiobook in English
The Three-Body Problem
The Dark Forest

Tags: books

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