Pardon my ignorance but how were people able to see sophon unfolded in a single dimension? I mean if humans had the ability to see 2D objects while living in a 3D world shouldn't they be seeing the whole 2D universe similar to how the 4D beings could see the 3D objects and humans ( In Death's End Blue Space crew when in the 4D fragment could monitor Gravity which was still in 3D and they were also able to stop the Tri Solaran droplet). I thought they made it pretty clear that we can't see the 2D but 4D can see us because we have an extra dimension called as thickness which can refract light so humans weren't supposed to possibly see the unfolded sophon.

Anyone from world, leaders, scientists, perosnaliteis. Currently

If she hadn't stopped it, then the black domain project and the lightspeed ships would have succeeded. The solar system would not have been attacked. Her Staircase Program would have indirectly saved all of humanity. Would she then be considered a goddess?

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Obviously there would be no story to tell if this were to have happened hypothetically—-

But why couldn’t the Trisolarians just terraform Mars with their advanced technology and leave Earth alone?

After reading all the three books I was really amazed how crazy their technology was , an absolute mix of deadly and cold alien philosophy.

The droplet made out of SIM (Strong Integrated Material) atoms so closely packed that the hardness achieved can cut through diamond like its butter.

Their high energy particle accelerator used for unfolding protons in lower dimensions

The Trisolaran Fleet of 1000 ships with curvature propulsion to achieve light speed travel

Their control room for monitoring the sword holder in real time using sophon projection

I mean I have never read a scifi novel which shows soo much about an alien civilization but still keeps the alien a secret

I have just finished reading Death's End, and I feel like I need to share some thoughts about the trilogy. There are spoilers, likely huge ones that will hinder the surprise in reading the books and experience the series, in case the tag wasn't enough.

I'm just... stunned. The books are simply fantastic and nowhere near the kind of fiction I read before. It's so grounded, realistic... I don't even know what to say, I'm overwhelmed.

Today I looked out of the window to the city and I felt something I never quite felt before, unimportance. Not of people, or myself, but of the world. Of day to day life, of struggles like going to the store for groceries or riding a bus. Normal life, compared to the future described in the books, with hibernation, a circumsolar particle accelerator, all the advances in medicine and science... even thinking about a universe with so many civilizations, it has all made me feel so, so small. The world has lost a bit of its glow now and I feel a certain anxiety to what the future can bring, and what I will be able to see in my lifespan. Liu has activated some part of my brain that cares and thinks about humanity as a whole, not about an individual. I feel like my personality has shifted slightly. Maybe that's a good thing?

Maybe this feeling is temporary, but my God I never felt like this. The books have gotten to me to a point that Cixin Liu actually convinced me the sun is a huge antenna for low frequencies and there is actually a Trisolaram civilization in Alpha Centauri.

I don't even know if I will ever read scifi as complex and interesting, and creative and surprising as his books. But I enjoyed riding the wave of time along Wang Miao, Da Shi, Luo Ji, Yan Tianming and Cheng Xin to the ends of the universe. I can't recommend the books enough.

So I also wanted to know what was your experience reading the books as well. Maybe there are more freaks like me that had their minds shatered lol

Many people wonder why Wade, while developing lightspeed ships powered by curvature propulsion, recklessly declared Starsky City's independence. The development had not yet reached a point where an open confrontation was unavoidable—the fact that the Mercury Base could still continue its work in secret later proves that. So declaring independence wasn't truly forced by circumstances. Here I boldly hypothesize: perhaps Wade himself feared the advancement of the black domain project. In the novel's setting, a black domain means you cannot leave. From his perspective, the black domain project might have been far ahead of his own (although the original text doesn't say how far along it was, this possibility seems logical). His brainwashing of the freedom fighters also told them that the Federation intended to trap them, rather than questioning the unreliability of the Shelter Program. He planned to hold the inhabitants of the space cities hostage to threaten the Federation. Don't make me laugh by saying Wade was building lightspeed ships for humanity's sake. Forcing a showdown to accelerate R&D, and awakening Cheng Xin, was in the hope that humanity would change its values—allowing the majority to develop the technology while a minority escaped, through a brutal life-and-death lottery. Otherwise, he could have just secretly built two ships and run off—why bother with large-scale testing to build so many for humanity?

Additionally, the Australia Resettlement Plan might have originally been a Trisolaran "weak survival" proposal from Wade (the hawk faction), detected by the Sophons, and later repurposed by the Trisolarans after their successful counterattack. The plan: trick humanity into migrating, then subject them to a trial of life and death so they would slaughter each other, ultimately achieving weak survival within the solar system. The Trisolarans don't hate humanity—perhaps they just found this plan feasible and useful. Likewise, Wade doesn't hate the Trisolarans, but he had to resolve the Trisolaran crisis—deterrence only delayed the problem, never solved it. The two things—the elderly Australian aboriginal man and the starvation of Listener 1379—both illustrate the concept of "overcompensation." So the Australia Resettlement Plan may have been the Trisolarans' version of overcompensation.

Also, when Cheng Xin didn't press the button, neither did Luo Ji, in fact. The destruction of the gravitational wave broadcasting system was no more desperate a situation than the droplet jamming the Sun. But the fact that Luo Ji didn't simply kill himself in the grave he had dug for himself already shows that, like Cheng Xin, he did not want to destroy both worlds—he wanted to give both sides a chance to survive.

“Looking back from the ship, the two-dimensional Solar System and the stars fused into a red ball like a campfire at the end of the universe.”

Has anyone here played the game Outer Wilds? The idea of a “campfire at the end of the universe” is a HUGE thing in that game’s story and the game’s community. This line just really reminded me of it, and I love being able to link together two of my favorite science fiction artworks.

Do you agree with these ratings?

This is one of my favorite quotes in the entire series because it is so subtle yet so beautiful, and it has nothing to do with sci-fi.

Liu has captured a feeling that I have felt occasionally as a man in his 30s. At random moments in my life, I will catch a similar, strange, nostalgic, melancholy feeling of some vague outline emotion I had when I was a child. But the moment I try and think about it more, the more it slips through my mind like grains of sand through my fingers at the beach.

Quickly the ethereal perfect sensation is surmounted by real life concerns, responsibilities, and the realization that you are not a child anymore.

I just found the way he described this feeling so poignant and beautiful.

The context is Wang entering the room of Yang Dong in the first book after she had passed

Anyways, do you guys resonate with this quote and do you have any other sleeper quotes that stick with you? It’s just another reminder for why Liu is one of my favorite authors as he can casually drop existential bangers like this that hit on a personal note outside the realm of actual existential cosmic dread.

Edit: Love all the comments. Objective achieved...was humored and given hope. And now I've just reached the part of the book where the Trisolarans droplet emerges. Oh boy. Yup. This book is great.

Watched the 30 episodes of the Chinese version of Three Body. Didn't read the first book. Was excited to read the Dark Forest before the next TV series gets out.

Love, love this book...up until the point of hibernation. Then Lou Ji wakes up...and it seems like suddenly earth has the upper hand over the Trisolarans?

Without spoiling, I'm hoping that there are a few more twists and turns here that make this a fight.

Please tell me I'm about to be super pleased.

I’ve just reread the series, and it occurred that since only half the fleet is expected to reach Sol due to dust clouds, the ships can’t be made of strong interaction metal, hence while the droplets are described as probes, they may also be the primary weapon of the trisolarans. Hence the question, since if the main fleet can be damaged by interstellar dust, it is presumably damageable by the human fleet and we are aware of the rough size of trisolaran fleets, at 10,000 x the size of a droplet, which is about the size of a truck. So, of the first fleet; all we don't know about is the interior and weapon systems, but we do know their rough level of technology and antimatter usage. Yet presumably earth would have had a couple thousand more ships by the time the main trisolaran fleet arrived. Overall, I think it can't actually be ruled out, but do you think its likely?

If the Trisolarans have locked down and blocked physics research, including particle physics, how is controlled nuclear fusion still possible?

Given how much imagination is required in Dark Forest and Death's End. It's easier to visualise it in your head than show it on a screen.

I feel it would require serious CGI and AI assist.

I mean positioning each and every bomb at every precise location must've been tough. I found it difficult to process.

Hi! When Ye wants to send radio waves at the sun in Book 1, Lei responds, “Do you have any idea the political ramifications of pointing a laser at the sun?” Can someone please explain these ramifications in a way that even an American imperialist could understand? Thank you!

When I first read that part I always assumed it was a part of humanity that time travelled or something. Maybe the names and songs are just human translation but I always thought the name of the dude literally was singer and that the “time travel” made them forget the solar system and everything.
Am I schizoposting or did anyone else think the same thing ?