Cixin Liu’s THE DARK FOREST is Thoughtful Science Fiction That Examines Humanity’s Place in the Universe
一部缜密剖析人类在宇宙中位置的科幻小说——《黑暗森林》刘慈欣
REVIEW SUMMARY: This second novel in the Three-Body Trilogy is a brilliant exploration of how humanity sees itself in relation to the rest of the universe and how contact with an alien species could change what it even meansto be “human.”
回顾总结：这本三体三部曲的第二部小说是一个灿烂的探索关于人类如何看待自身与整个宇宙的关系以及接触外星物种会导致怎样的改变甚至直面“人”的含义。
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: The Trisolaran fleet is on its way to Earth, and it’s sent ahead probes. Now it’s up to the PlanetaryDefense Council to find those humans who can out-strategize the approaching aliens and save the Earth from potentialannihilation.
内容简介：三体舰队正踏上前往地球的征途，他们提前发出了探测器。现在走上前台的行星防御委员会将要找到能够制定战略应对持续接近的外星人保护地球免于可能的毁灭的人。
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Discussions of scientific, technological, and philosophical issues involving humanity’s place within the universe; a crazy-cool battle scene; and noble but believable main characters
我的观点：
优点：涉及了人类在宇宙中位置的科学性的，技术性的以及哲学性问题的讨论；疯狂而冰冷的战斗图景；高尚且可靠的主要角色。
[copy]CONS: We have to wait until January to get our paws on Death’s End, the last book in the trilogy. Also, somewhat weak secondary-character development.
缺点：我们要等到明年一月才能摸到死神永生，这个三部曲的最后一部。另外，稍显薄弱的次要角色延伸。
BOTTOM LINE: If you enjoyed The Three-Body Problem, read The Dark Forest. If you’ve ever thought about whetheror not there’s life and intelligence on other planets, read The Dark Forest. Basically, if you’re a thoughtful human being interested in the universe outside of your own mind, read The Dark Forest.
总之：如果你喜欢三体，就读黑暗森林。如果你曾经想过其他星球上是否有生命和智能，就读黑暗森林。
如果你是个有思想对宇宙发自内心感兴趣的人，就读黑暗森林吧。
The entire Three-Body Trilogy by Cixin Liu has been out in China for several years already, but we in the U.S. are only just getting to read it. We’re like the people in The Dark Forest waiting around for the Trisolaran fleet to get to Earth- in about 400 years. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I love this trilogy and want to read it and re-read it three times yesterday.
整部三体三部曲在中国已经发行了好几年，但是我们在美国才刚刚开始读它。我们就像是黑暗森林中等待三体舰队400年后到来的人们。也许我很夸张，但我真的喜爱这三部曲以至于昨天我想要一次两次三次地读它。[/copy]
The Dark Forest, translated from Chinese by Joel Martinsen, continues the story of Earth vs. the alien civilization of Trisolaris introduced in The Three-Body Problem. In this second book, Earth has determined that the Trisolarans are indeed on the way- to exterminate humanity and take over the Earth? To negotiate with Earth and live in harmony? No one knows, of course,and so humanity has decided to take advantage of the 400 years that it’ll take for the fleet to reach them to come up with some sort of defensive/offensive strategy.
黑暗森林，由乔尔马丁森翻译，继续了三体中讲述的地球对抗外星三体文明的故事。在这第二部书中，地球已经确定三体人确实踏上了消灭人类接管地球的路途。是要与地球人协商然后和谐相处？当然，没有人知道，所以人类决定利用舰队到来前的400年时间做出一些防御/进攻战略。
One big problem, though: the Trisolarans have already deployed sophons- subatomic particles that allow the aliens to gain accessto all human information- all over the Earth, and have managed to halt technological and scientific innovation. Basically, the Trisolarans have tried to freeze human ingenuity so that when the aliens do arrive, the Earth will be powerless to defend itself.
不过有一个大问题:三体人已经部署了智子，外星人们能够自由获取人类在地球上的所有信息并设法阻止了技术和科学革新。事实上，三体人试图冻结人类的智慧，这样在他们到的时候，地球将无力保护自己。
[copy]Earth’s only hope, then, lies in the human mind. Sophons can’t access thoughts, and so in a grand plan designed to encourage radical innovation, the Planetary Defense Council announces the “Wallfacer Project.” Four powerful, brilliant men from around the world arechosen to be “Wallfacers” and given nearly unlimited access to resources and information worldwide in order to come up with a plan to confront, if not defeat, the Trisolaran fleet.
地球唯一的希望，在于人们的思维。智子无法访问思想，所以一个宏伟的计划旨在鼓励激进的革新，行星防御委员会公布了面壁人计划。四个卓越之人，世界范围内选出来的聪明睿智的男人作为面壁人并且被赋予了近乎无限的动用资源和全球范围信息的权力以想出应对计划来战胜三体舰队。
A large part of the novel, then, is given to describing how these men develop their plans while trying to throw the Trisolarans off theirtracks. The plans are grand and brilliant and ultimately destructive to both sides. One involves a suicide strike on the Trisolaran fleet by an Earth fleet; another uses the solar system itself as a trap for the aliens (it involves all of the planets falling into the sun, but that’sall I’ll say). And then there’s astronomer and sociologist Luo Ji’s plan, involving a “spell” cast out into the far reaches of the universe…
然后小说的大部分，被用来描述这些人如何尝试逃离三体人的监视发展他们的计划。这些计划都宏伟而璀璨但终将伤害双方。一个计划涉及到适用地球舰队对三体人实施自杀攻击；另一个将让太阳系自身成为外星人的陷阱(它涉及到让所有行星掉入太阳，这是我现在所可以透露的全部)。以及天文学家和社会学家罗辑的计划，一个向遥远宇宙发出的咒语。
Framing the narrative is Luo Ji’s understanding of what astrophysicist Ye Wenjie had discussed with him years before: “cosmic sociology.”Its two axioms: “survival is the primary need of civilization” and “civilization continuously grows and expands, but the total matter in the universe remains constant.” What Luo Ji ultimately realizes, amidst all of the panic and planning and human-hibernation and strategic developments, is that humanity must find a way out of the Fermi Paradox (“where are all of the aliens? Are there aliens?”) and figure out how to threaten the alien fleet by using the axioms of cosmic civilization against it.
基于罗辑几年前和天文物理学家叶文洁谈论的宇宙社会学的框架的两条公理：“生存是文明的第一需要”"文明不断增长和扩张,但宇宙中的物质总量保持不变".罗辑最终意识到，在恐慌、规划人类冬眠和战略发展中，人类必须在费米悖论中寻求一条出路(所有的外星人都在哪？有外星人吗？)并通过利用宇宙文明公理找出威胁外星舰队的方法。[/copy]
I’ve only sketched a broad outline of The Dark Forest here, because I don’t want to spoil anything (after all, you will be reading it), but it’s these grand, cosmic, philosophical questions about the Earth and its place in the universe that makes the novel so compelling, enough to make me give it five stars. Liu’s discussions of scientific and technological issues, his development of characters who combine strategic thought with noble intentions and
dedication, and his wicked-awesome description of the Earth fleet’s first contact with a Trisolaran probe, are just some of the reasons why you’ll never want The Dark Forest to end.
我仅仅是勾勒出黑暗森林的一部分轮廓，因为因为我不想破坏任何东西(毕竟，你也会读它)，但是这些有关地球的宏大的，宇宙和哲学的问题以及它在宇宙中的位置让这部小说如此扣人心弦，足以让我给它五颗星。刘慈欣的科学和技术问题的论述，他发展的基于崇高目的和牺牲而联合战略的角色，和他对地球舰队第一次接触三体探测器的恐怖描写，仅仅只是一小部分你不想结束黑暗森林的原因。
It does end, though, but a little too neatly, leaving me to wonder exactly what the third and final book will be about.
I have many hypotheses, of course, but…we’ll see.
它结束的有点太过恰好，让我想知道第三本也是最后一本书会是怎样的。我有很多猜想，当然，我们终将会看到。
