# The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin

6 Hacker News commenters recommended The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a strong, idea-driven sequel in the Three-Body Problem series, with its dark forest theory of cosmic survival being the main draw. Critics find the characters flat and the writing weak.

## Why people recommend it

- Ideas about cosmic survival (2 comments): "explains why it is not a good idea to do so in the current circumstances" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46608610)) "wait'll you find it why it's called the dark forest" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46398750))

## What people warn about

- Shallow, wooden characters (2 comments): "I really could not get past the shallow characters and boring writing style." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49908684)) "conveying mind blowing ideas via wooden, chauvinistic characters" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49910591))
- Dark forest theory questioned (2 comments): "I am not sure dark forest theory is valid. We are speculating mostly based on human tendencies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47568087)) "Liu Cixin's Dark Forest theory is a pretty dumb take, honestly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47569203))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765386690?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780765386694) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dark-forest/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).