Cosmic Hope or Lack Thereof: The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin (Translated by Joel Martinson)

 

I read (and loved!) Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem back in 2016. I vowed to read the sequels soon... and then I ... didn't. I'm honestly not sure why (maybe: aliens?), but I watched and mostly liked the Netflix adaptation of The Three-Body Problem, which reminded me that I really should pick up the sequel (there are actually a few things from the second book in the series as well, so that was fun).

I'm glad I finally read The Dark Forest! This feels like a different kind of book to me (maybe due to being a second book in a series, or leisurely in a more focused way, or maybe I'm a different reader now?). Still, I enjoyed it almost as much as the first one.

Two Steps on my Stephen King Path: Joyland and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

 

At some point in the last few years, I made a low-key plan to someday read all of Stephen King's books. I don't have a specific timeline, but it's an ambitious goal as King has published over 70 books, counting his novels, short story collections, and nonfiction works. And the list keeps growing with a new Stephen King book coming in a couple weeks.

But to paraphrase the Daodejing, the journey of a thousand miles (or 70+ books) begins with a single step. So I recently decided to take two short steps with Joyland and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. With these two complete, I'm about 80% of the way toward my goal (at least if this fun spreadsheet from one of my favorite podcasts, Dark Tower Palaver, is accurate). Someday I may post the end of this journey (bittersweet though that will be), but for now, here are two short steps on my Stephen King path.