Month: April 2025

The Dark Forest and Death’s End—the Rest of the 3 Body Problem Trilogy

The Dark Forest

By Cixin Lui

Translated by Joel Martinsen

Published 2008 (China); 2015 (US)

Read April 2024

Death’s End

By Cixin Lui

Translated by Ken Lui

Published 2010 (China); 2016 (US)

Read Nov 2024

These two books complete the trilogy known as Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Cixin Lui which began with The 3 Body Problem which this reader has previously discussed.  This reader found each book in the trilogy to be extremely remarkable.  In addition to being great “hard core” science fiction, these books challenge the reader to confront the Fermi paradox and a possible solution to it—the dark forest hypothesis.  The Fermi paradox is essentially the unanswered question “where are they?”  Shouldn’t we expect there to be life elsewhere in the universe?  Then why isn’t there evidence that it exists? 

The 3 Body Problem provides the story of the search for life elsewhere in the universe that, due to somewhat rouge efforts of one scientist, both receives contact from another civilization (Trisolaran) and responds to that contact which sets up a series of events that puts life on earth at peril.  The foreign civilization wants to conquer Earth and use it for its own.

The Dark Forest provides the story of attempts to deal with the Trisolaran threat.  The Trisolaran’s superior technology includes “sophrons” that see and hear everything on Earth and block Earth’s progression of their own understanding of physics.  A “Wallfacer” project is initiated:  4 people are chosen to develop strategies to overcome the threat of Trisolaran.  They are given nearly unlimited resources to accomplish this.  The Trisolarans try to upset this project by selecting “Wallbreakers” that pair to the Wallfacers with the goal of revealing their strategies thus making them useless.  Three of Wallbreakers are successful.  The fourth Wallfacer, Lui Ji, develops the dark forest hypothesis — that there are many civilizations throughout the universe that are silent and hostile; remaining silent protects them from the other hostile civilizations.  After some plot twists and thrilling scenes not described here, Lui Ji is able to convince the Trisolarans to enter a truce to prevent their own civilization from exposure to other hostile civilizations—a Mutually Assured Deterrence approach . 

Death’s End covers a truly remarkable range of time as Earth continues to seek a path of avoiding death of their civilization by a series of approaches.  In an early section of the novel, Cheng Xin is an astrophysicist who works on the Staircase Project that is recounted in the Netflix series of the 3 Body Problem, discussed previously.  When the Lui Ji steps down as the human linchpin that has kept the Mutually Assured Deterrence approach keeping the Trisolarans at bay, that approach falls apart and a new era begins.  This reader won’t detail the numerous things that occur in this new era and beyond but Cheng  Xi  and Thomas Wade, the CIA agent leading the Staircase Project, are involved in most of them enabled by the hibernation technology introduced to us first in The Dark Forest. 

This reader was impressed by the author’s ability to thrill science fiction readers with impressive technical details of technologies that seem plausible while futuristic.  But the author accomplishes far more than that.  The substantial philosophical questions posed by the stories are quite profound and he uses credible characters to bring these questions to life.   Wallfacer Liu Ji’s relationship with his enforced role as a Wallfacer is exquisitely told—his initial rejection, the transition period, developing a useful strategy, the courage to execute it and endure early criticism, and the fortitude to carry out the deterrence mission.  Similarly, the author effectively uses the character of Cheng Xin in a believable way so that the reader experiences her feelings as she progresses through her essentially solitary life, driving potential solutions to enable the survival of Earth, and making decisions that likely impact the fate of it. 

This word “Wow” leapt to this reader’s mind over and over.  Great characters, immense questions, exceptional technical details, and incredible effectiveness in taking the reader literally billions of years into the future.  The relationship this reader has with the universe has been altered as a result of reading this remarkable trilogy.  

My Friends–thought provoking work from Hisham Matar

My Friends

By Hisham Matar

Published 2024

Read Feb 2025

Friendship, the impact of a single moment’s decision on a life, longing for home and family:   These are major themes of this newest book by Hisham Matar.  This is the first book this reader has experienced by this author. 

The book centers on Khaled, an eventual ex-pat in London from Benghazi, Libya. He went to the University of Edinburg to study literature.  His father, a man with a PhD from Cario University, cautions him to “not get drawn in”, a piece of advice that the young man really doesn’t fully understand.  There are other Libyan students at U Edinburgh, and he enjoys conversation with them.  One of them, Mustafa, suggests Khaled join him for a protest in London at the Libyan Embassy.  They will wear masks so no one can recognize them.  Although not particularly interested in politics, Khaled agrees to go, and his life is changed forever.  During the protest, Libyan troops fire upon the protesters from inside the embassy, killing several protesters and a journalist and injuring others.  (This actually happened in 1984.)  Khaled and Mustafa are among those injured and taken to hospital.  Khaled is severely hurt and spends several months in the hospital.  The friends are uncertain whether their actual identities were revealed but must now assume they have been and so enter a situation of being exiles from their country.  Fortunately, Khaled and Mustafa get asylum in the UK after the incident and gets some help from others to find a place to live.  To keep his family safe, Khaled must lie to his family about his circumstances and why he isn’t returning for summer breaks, or essentially forever.

Khaled also meets Hosam, the author of a story he heard with his father while still in Libya which requires his own exile to the UK. After Hosam and Khaled each determine they won’t be betrayed by this new acquaintance, they enter a new stage in their relationship.  Khaled, Hosam, and Mustafa meet monthly for intellectual discussions and become good friends. 

Each exile takes a different path over the years with respect to career. When the 2011 Arab spring arrives, their approach to life becomes even more distinct.  Mustafa returns to Libya to fight against Gaddafi’s regime.  Hosam returns to Libya to be with his family for awhile but then returns first to London and then leaves for California with his wife and child to live in a house his exiled father bought in the distant past.  Khaled stays in London in the same apartment he’s always been in since leaving the hospital and stays a teacher where he’s been for some time.

Khaled watches as Hosam leaves for America and recalls something his father once told him regarding friends: you only need one or two that you can trust and that provide you pleasure. 

A discussion this reader attended suggested Khaled’s apparent lack of engagement is disappointing.  However, this quote gave this reader a different view:  “I have managed, Mother, not to want a different life most of the time” Khaled imagines saying, “and that is some achievement.”  This reader agrees.  And this statement taught this reader that expectations this reader holds for others should be questioned and probably abandoned.

In addition to providing a truly stirring story about friendship, it also teaches about being an exile and it led this reader to learn more about the 2001 Arab Spring.  For these reasons, this reader is very grateful to the author. 

Wandering Stars—more from Tommy Orange

Wandering Stars

By Tommy Orange

Published 2024

Read Feb 2025

Tommy Orange’s new book is presented in 4 parts:  Prologue; Part One:  Before; Part Two:  Aftermath; Part Three:  Futures.   

The Prologue provides some historical perspective to the book that follows, first commenting on the Sand Creek massacre and then discussing two parts of history involving Richard Henry Pratt, a Brigadier-General in the US Army.  Pratt supervised Native American prisoners of war held at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Fl.  He later founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.    He is known for using the phrase “kill the Indian, save the man” in reference to the ethos of the school and efforts to forcibly assimilate Native Americans into white American culture (1). 

Part One: Before is the prequel to There, There.  It is historical fiction that covers three generations of the Star/Bear Shield/Red Feather family that precedes characters in the remaining sections of the book.  This section is great historical fiction, as defined by this reader, as it sets characters in the time and place of real events—Sand Creek massacre, Fort Marion, and the Carlisle Indian School.  The stories of Jude Star, Victor Bear Shield, and Charles star directly interact with Richard Henry Pratt and give a picture of what Native Americans endured under the US Government’s active program to distinguish Native Americanism and replace it with Christian American beliefs and conduct.  Charles’ daughter, Victoria, is raised by white foster parents and denied her history until her foster mother’s death.  She has two daughters by different men who are the grandmother (Jacquie) and great-aunt/guardian (Opal) of Orvil who went to the Powwow in There, There.  Her story is the connection to There, There’s sequel that follows in Part Two: Aftermath.

Part One: Before covers a very long period of time—from the Sand Creek massacre in 1864 to 2018 in only about one hundred pages so the reader gets only small but potent glimpses of the family’s history through a variety of voices.  This reader left the section somewhat exhausted and very sad at what these family members endure through the various approaches to erase anything of their history and culture.  

Part Two: Aftermath is a sequel to There, There.  While some reviewers indicate the book stands on its own, which in many ways it does, this reader would advise reading There, There first to have a better understanding of the characters in this section and the events that transpire before and during the Powwow. 

This section slows down dramatically compared with Part One: Before.  In about one hundred pages we live with Orvil as he tries to recover from the gunshot wound that he suffered at the Powwow he attended in an attempt to connect with his Native American culture through dancing.  He descends into drug addiction as he moves from the pain killers, prescribed to help him with the pain of his wound and surgery, to a drug mixture concocted by Sean’s dad.  Sean is the adopted son of white parents.  His mother previously died of a debilitating disease.  Sean’s dad, a pharmacist, had tried to mitigate her pain and heal her through a variety of drug mixtures.  He has since left his job and makes a living (of sorts) selling these drugs with the help of Sean, and eventually Orvil.  Sean learns that his background includes Native American DNA in addition to the African DNA that his appearance has already made clear.  This provides him even more confusion about who he is than he had prior to learning this.

This section also spends time with Orvil’s brothers Loother and Lony, their great aunt/guardian Opal, and their grandmother Jacquie.  We watch as they all try to find their way through the aftermath of the Powwow, Opal’s (presumed) cancer diagnosis and treatment, and Jacquie’s reconnection to her family as she tries to stay sober.  Their paths are wide and varied but it’s clear they are trying to forge connections with each other but are living solitary and lonely lives. 

This section was also brutal to read for this reader as it’s occurring in essentially present day.  Lives like these are not outliers   Parts One and Two both include situations of adoption of non-white children by white parents.  The difficulties commonly faced by adopted children of a longing to know their “real” parents and family are compounded by orders of magnitude when they are clearly “non-white” and trying to exist in “white” society with little or no acknowledgement that this is trauma inducing. Although Orvil and his brothers live with their great-aunt/guardian who is related by blood, they are struggling to understand how they fit into white society.  There, There discussed that Opal discouraged them from trying to be “Native American” and we now understand part of the source of that.  Opal had no connection to her Native American culture save knowledge that her mother was Native American but raised “white”. 

Part Three: Futures consists of two chapters.  The first chapter is narrated by Orvil and tells of his rehab and life since then.  He survived!  We also learn that Sean survives also.  The second chapter is a letter from Lony, who had run away near the end of Part Two: Aftermath.    While this reader was glad that the lives of all these characters took a turn for the better even if not fully wonderful, this reader also wondered if this was really part of Orange’s plan for the novel.  Did his editors or publisher “kindly suggest” he end the book with some light in their lives?  This reader has done research to learn the answer to that question, partly because maybe that’s a question best left unanswered.

Ultimately, this reader recommends reading this book (after reading There, There) and discussing it with others.  It has a huge amount to say to all our society about many topics.  It’s quite pertinent in this time as the US struggles with its response to the thousands of people who are trying to become Americans and who aren’t “white”.