THE DARK FOREST (Remembrance of Earth's Past #2) by Cixin Liu ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set amidst a looming planetary threat 200 years away, humanity’s long wait forces them to look introspectively. The focus shifts from the enemy to stopping groupthink and the domino effect of drifting toward the wrong mindset. The population is constantly forced to question our fortitude on the individual and the group scale, and if we are the kind of civilization that powers through or if we are one that gives in. If we are doomed to the latter, is our innate human-ness impossible to overcome? Can we look beyond ourselves so a descendent we’ll never know has a fighting chance, or would we rather hoard freedom for the short-term? We’re often told to “live in the present”. But what if the present isn’t the important part? What if something is on the horizon we must anticipate, even if we won’t be alive to see it? How do you live for the now and not do every thing in your power to skip ahead? How do you not become completely overwhelmed by the immensity of a grand scheme much bigger than any single one of us? How do you not feel small and insignificant? That’s where the trouble begins in this book, and why I had to check myself and take a mental breather or two.

This book will make you ponder things you’d never thought of before, and probably make you more than a little scared of whatever might be lurking out in the universe. The horror of the unknown is a dread I carried with me throughout, and one — I fear — I always will now after finishing.

I’ve never experienced such deep philosophizing from a fictional narrative before; not even from the first book, not to this level. Like a balloon inflating, growing bigger and bigger in scale, stretching the mind so far. I had multiple mini-existential crises as I went, imagining all the things that could happen to us on this tiny blue pebble in the big dark forest. It’s enough to keep you up at night, looking toward the sky and hoping nothing out there is looking back.

For a sci-fi comparison, this trilogy feels very Foundation-like; the centuries-spanning reach, the prescient Wallfacers with plans extending well past their lives, the espionage-tilt and tightly-held schemes. I found this one a lot more fun and enjoyable than the first book, with the first half moving almost like a thriller. After it consistently proved my expectations wrong, I quit trying to guess where it was headed, a notion I’ll continue as I start the final book. Who the hell knows how enlightened and terrified I’ll be by the end.