878: The Dark Forest was Stunning and Frustrating
In this episode, I’m torn on a truly impressive third act…
Friends, friends, friends.
Welcome back to Teatime Reading where there are books in progress.
It’s been a few weeks since I reviewed The Three Body Problem in celebration of the Netflix adaptation.
You can see that review here, but my main takeaway was that the author was wildly imaginative with sci-fi concepts and world-building while struggling at time with creating compelling characters.
When I wrote my review for the first book, I was open about the fact that I hadn’t seen the Netflix adaptation yet. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the truth was that creators Benioff, Weiss, and Woo were able to adapt season one in an incredibly viewable way.
The characters in particular were huge steps up in the show, but I will not ruin those surprises. As someone who tested the Vision Pro headset in early February, I was tickled by The Verge reviewing the fictional headset in the Netflix show that was more akin to the bodysuit for the Three-Body Problem game in the book.
I knew after seeing season one which strategically pulled from moments that I hadn’t read in book one, that I would need to read The Dark Forest
I had mixed feelings. Credit to Cixin Liu, he made far more of a concerted effort to feature characters this time around. I enjoyed Da Shi, and I surprisingly missed some of the characters in the first book.
The main protagonist in The Dark Forest is Luo Ji, and I really struggled. I could appreciate his realistic portrayal in the desperate, chaotic times following the events of book 1.
I instantly connected him to Saul in Season 1 of the show, but Luo Ji was far more irritating than his counterpart in the show. Part of that had to do with The Dark Forest and its attitude towards women.
Before sitting down to write this, I was curious whether I was overreacting to Luo Ji’s attitudes towards women, and the incredibly shallow and manipulative characterization of any female characters.
If I tick them off on my fingers, through the first two books, I saw men described as visionaries, radicals, and establishment figures alike. I recall women being traitors, naive, and hostages at various moments.
The Dark Forest was better in some ways, because Luo Ji was so universally selfish and lazy, however, the fact remains that most of the important characters were men. Most of the decisions were made by men, and any role women had were either as objects, hostages, or, pardon my French, absolute traitors and fuckups.
I fully admit that by the end of the book, the tension and pacing of this book was absolutely stunning. The final moments of this book was genuinely jaw dropping from a scientific point of view. The fact that this book inspired an actual theory is cool, but the chapter involving the inspiration was even more mind-blowing to experience. (do NOT google The Dark Forest theory before reading this book unless you want to be spoiled).
All of that is well and good. However, if book one had weak, uninspiring characters, this book had one of the most hatable characters I can remember. Not only that, Luo Ji was written so unpleasantly that it only highlighted the incredibly male-dominated world of these books.
So, I am in a pickle. The tension and heaviness of this book’s plotting almost became too much before the release. I was blown away by the ending of this book, but I go back to the characters.
Not only that, I feel like season 2 might be even harder to adapt than season 1. The events of this book are dark, horrifying, and incredibly complex. The adaptation will be no easy task, but I do find myself more optimistic for the show’s second season.
Some of the groundwork has been laid to solve some of my frustrations in The Dark Forest while maintaining the jaw dropping concepts and the intense battle with the Trisolarans (or San-ti, as the show describes it).
So far, I am a little uncertain about recommending The Dark Forest, because the tension and darkness is very real in this book. However, I was so blown away by the final act that it might be worth the read, for the right person.
Like with The Three-Body Problem, pacing was a struggle for me in this sequel. The reward, however, was absolutely worth it.
The decision is up to you.
Until next time, keep your bookmarks close.
Peace, Love, Pages.
Note: As Always, Affiliate Links are here for your convenience at no cost to you. All reading was at my own expense.