The Devastating Destruction of the Human Race | The Killing Star 

Oh the Humnanity! Sorry guys, even I make typos sometimes 🤷‍♂️

Someone suggested this book to Quinn under one of his video’s comment section, and Quinn actually went and read the book, what a great creator that listens to his fans.

I like how this book and the Three Body Problem basically take the idea of Lovecraftian existential horror and successfully translate it into Sci-Fi, managing to maintain the existential dread and feelings of despair and helplessness without using eldritch gods, instead using the universe itself and other intelligent species as the unknown "other".

Thank you to all who remember this book. I loved working with George Zebrowski and we still occasionally publish "Futures" thought experiments in the British journal, Nature. Oddly, I was actually at the Titanic in a submersible when the whole world changed above, on 9/11. (Just as happened to a main character, at the Titanic, in the novel.) My family was hit directly during the attacks, and after working forensic archaeology in WTC ruins, I gradually became more reclusive. Though still working closely with James Cameron, and despite a full research schedule, I've managed to write successful novels under pen names. Zebrowski is one of the great thinkers I have known (and that's saying a lot). Thank you again. Omoiyari. - Charles Pellegrino

You absolutely need to read Blindsight by Peter Watts- it touches on a lot of these themes as well but in a very different light. Instead of those 3 rules outlined, they used the term "Technology implies belligerence", implying that if if a race is technologically advanced, they must by definition be willing to sculpt, destroy, or twist the world around them to suit their needs. "Technology is a stunted thing in benign environments, it never thrived in any culture gripped by belief in natural harmony. Why invent fusion reactors if your climate is comfortable, if your food is abundant? Why build fortresses if you have no enemies? Why force change upon a world that poses no threat?" It's an absolutely incredible book with a number of incredibly hard-hitting themes, and incredibly unique among all scifi I've ever read.

I read this several years ago and it really stuck with me. Sci-Fi as a genre is full of dystopias and apocalypses. You get used to it and the mediocre stories often blend together in memory since the tropes become repetitive. But this one was really distinctive and uniquely horrifying for me. The destruction is so sudden and ruthless.

The "only when they developed towards interstellar travel" bit reminded me of the Babylon 5 episode when a deadly satellite turns up and threatens annihilation unless some high science questions are answered. Twist being, it's only triggered to destroy if it gets the right answer.

**EDIT: For those of you who are going to respond to this, please at least read the comments thread before posting to see if what you’re about to say has already been said. I appreciate that in advance.** The biggest issue I have with the concept of the dark forest is primarily this: life tolerates life, as long as it is convenient. Mutual benefit, symbiosis, and mutualism are seen in nature, and is the only reason life as we know it exists. When one of our cells decides to go single-celled in its priorities, we call that cancer. Cancer always results in the death of the host, or the death of the cell before the host, but the end result is the same: the attempt to gather resources for itself is self-destructive. How do civilizations form? Because the cost-benefit of sacrificing immediate individual success for the success of future generations is a successful strategy. Some lifeforms have gone so far to develop eusociality, which is this strategy taken to the extreme. Additionally, do modern societies go around genociding undeveloped civilizations because they might be a threat in the future? Do animals kill off every single entity that might be a threat to their future? No. Because even with unlimited resources, there is still a single resource that is not unlimited: time. A civilization that will destroy anything it encounters is not going to develop allies. Furthermore, other civilizations will observe this hostility and belligerence, and may in fact pool together resources to combat them. Defensive alliances of all forms occur because of this principle. Therefore, the idea that life will always try to eliminate competition through violence and destruction is laughably self-destructive, because there are other ways of eliminating competition: primarily, cooperation. The idea that it is only "logical" to destroy other lifeforms is logic in a vacuum, which does not hold up to the nuances of reality.

This one is honestly more terrifying to me than the three body problem cause at least in that the human race had to go out of their way to contact the trisolarans and had time to prepare and come up with a plan in the killing star they were literally watching humanity the whole time waiting until they developed ftl travel and other advances in technology and then are subsequently wiped out for it. The idea that we might be monitored this very moment irl with them just waiting until we're a big enough threat to destroy or maybe not a threat at all is terrifying beyond belief.

As much as I criticize the Killing Star argument, I nevertheless have used the basic idea of humanity being mostly wiped out in stories. I guess everyone who has lived in the shadow of nuclear MAD has done so. One possible indirect source of inspiration: Moore's Battlestar Galactica. This started off as a miniseries, and it included a nice hole in the Killing Star argument. The Cylons, of course, conduct a massive surprise attack on the humans, wiping almost all of them out after decades of preparation. But a small number escape the initial attacks. So here's the thing. A Cylon says, with visceral panic in her voice, that they MUST track down and wipe out all of the survivors. Because if they don't, they'll come back and do what they just did, in revenge. That's the big problem with the Killing Star argument. You can never be sure you'll get everyone. And if you don't, you're dead. You're ALL dead. Maybe the first counter-attack won't get all of you, but it'll be a never ending cycle of revenge until probably everyone is dead, so long as it's possible for a small number of revengers to inflict a huge amount of damage (such as with nuclear bombs). In other words, trying to conduct a genocidal first strike is more of a risk than just ... NOT ... doing it. In fact, that was the problem with the idea of doing a nuclear first strike. You can't be sure your first strike will manage to get rid of all of the enemy's nukes. What's left will still wipe you out.

I just bought the audiobook on your suggestion. If I could recommend Brain Wave by Poul Anderson. The fate that awaits Earth in this story is something we're completely unprepared for. It's short, simple, and a great book.

Excellent video. One of the most disturbing and thought provoking portrayals of alien life I've ever seen is in Peter Watts' Blindsight... Has some chilling things to say about the nature of consciousness. Peter Watts has tons of great sci-fi and is one of the great writers working in the genre today. I'd love to see you cover him.

I’ve come full circle. While listening to your videos on the Three Body Problem I became fascinated by the dark forest theory. After some googling I found this book on audible and snagged it. Great summary and now I want to listen to it again!

I like the spoilers (with ample warnings of course) in these cases where the existential dread is a core theme, because I'll never read them. My tenuous grasp on my mental health will not allow it.

Quinn can sell me a phone book and I'd buy it with glee. Did not even know about this book but now it's on the list! Edit: The idea that the alien viruses could be transmitted to us as we listen reminded me strongly of XX by Rian Hughes. Fantastic scifi novel about the danger of unchecked ideas and a whole lot more.

I read this book on Quinn's recommendation. It is more and better than I expected. There are surprising characters and situations. And one can easily identify the elements that Cixin Liu took from "The killing star" for his own work "The three body problem". For example "Silent spring" or the precise explanation of spatial sociology and the theory of "The dark forest", although Pellegrino and Zebrowski did not name it that way precisely. This novel has not received the recognition it deserves. Hopefully a good publisher rescues it. Greetings, luck and success.

I've owned a hardcover copy for about 10 years now. I was pleasantly surprised to see this video come up today. Of course, Quinn, you'll need to pick up Flying to Valhalla, a prequel of sorts to this book. Spoilers below The shock of humanity being destroyed so speedily takes your breath away. Then, when you find the few pockets of humans who weren't in the way of the relativistic projectiles you feel hope that some of us make it through. However, Ceres is destroyed through the horror of listening passively (as you mentioned) and receiving the deadly techno-virus, one small group dive their craft into the Neptunian atmosphere and go too far because one crewmember becomes crazed, and another set of humans manage to destroy some of the alien intruders but alas, their chosen weapon causes the Sun to explode later in the future. Some Valkyrie ships are still out there... My favorite parts at the end was evolution already beginning to produce more life in the aftermath of the alien's destruction of earth and the great scene of Clone Jesus proclaiming, "Disaster!" upon the inky darkness of space, presaging an eventual human resurgence and successful prosecution of a war against the aliens.

I read this in the early 2000's. It is not just the alien's ruthlessness but humanities ruthlessness toward ourselves as everyone starts trying to hide. I also really loved the sunship which I felt inspired the solar whales from Eclipse Phase. The killing Star also has strong Transhumanism themes.

I've read it years ago and on one hand, found it depressing as mankind got systematically hunted down... really mankind never stood the shadow of a chance. But on the other hand, i could not deny that the logic behind the argument was implacable. if you want to read something at the same level of epic (I think) try the The Golden Oecumene trilogy by John C. Wright.; I highly recommend it.

The themes talked about here were all explored very well in Greg Bear's book, The Forge of God (1987). One of the best end-of-the-world stories I've read. What makes the means of Earth destruction so terrifying is how simplistic and believable the method they use is. The book and its sequel, Anvil of Stars, touches on all the same points of how an alien race would view us and the need of a technologically advanced society to limit their radio transmissions and stay quiet.

Thank you Quinn. For your passion and hard work. Please keep bringing us more wonders we didn't even know it existed.

What a legend uploading for us night owls 💪🏾

I've read a number of these "Dark Forest" type books and as good as some of them are, you never forget the one that first terrorized you. Childhood's End. by Arthur C. Clark.

Basically another story about the dangers of the dark forest. Love stuff like this.

Hey Quinn, serious question for you: After the plethora of books you’ve read that delve into the horrific possibilities of extra-terrestrial life (Liu Cixin, Pellegrino/Zebrowski, F. Herbert (the final chapter of book 6), etc.), how do you feel about programs designed to alert potential alien life to our existence, location, and culture such as SETI, Voyager’s Golden Record, and the Arecibo Message?

I read The Killing Star back in 1998, and always loved how the authors took the laws of alien consciousness to their logical conclusion. The authors aren't stylists like Gene Wolfe, and in terms of pure readability I prefer David Gerrold, but this is a very thought provoking, if depressing, book. Speaking of depressing novels about the end of the world; Quinn, have you ever read David Gerrold's War Against the Chtorr series? I love how anti-Star Trek both those and his Star Wolf series are; instead of artificial bonmomnie and a can do attitude amongst quirky people who save the world-Together! Gerrold's novels illustrate the sheer difficulty of getting people who mistrust or even hate each other to work together in the face global extinction. I would love to see your takes on those novels, especially his quasi-Scientology self improvement school of Modism. Anyway, great video! I'm going to tell all of my sci-fi fan friends here in Austin about your work. Let us know if you ever come to ArmadilloCon!

The Killing Star's most interesting idea is that not only can communicating can be deadly, but even just listening can be just as disastrous.

Holy crap Quinn. You just made me have an honest to un(dis)provable-omnipotent-entity episode of cosmic horror. Reading Lovecraft didn´t do that (too many Fantasy-Elements in there), listening to the Three-Body-Problem Series didn´t do it (too bloated and not especially well written characters and arcs) but this vid... holy creeps. Just stopped watching at the 9:30 mark, so I could read the book properly. This is truly scary stuff.

This could make a great movie or TV show

Hey Quinn! Did you know that in november will be released the third part of Children of Time? It's going to be called "Children of Memory".

Your videos on the Rememberance of Earths Past trilogy got me to read that series, and you've done it again Quinn, thanks!

Man this is by far the best sci-fi book channel on RU-vid. My book backlog has grown so much since I discovered this channel

So glad you found this book. Loved it in my younger days.

Have you read Blindsight by Peter Watts? That book has some really cool and imaginative concepts in it. Probably right up your alley!

I’ve become a big fan of your videos and have started watching them regularly. You do some amazing break downs of these stories and choose some great excerpts to carry the ideas of the books forward through your videos. I’ve also started getting books based on your recommendations and am almost finished with the Three-Body Problem which I wouldn’t have read if it wasn’t for your break down of the story. 🤘

I am so glad to see someone read this book! I have been shouting the connection between the Three Body Problem and this book to anyone who will listen. What really sticks out to me is the "Central Park" analogy which just sounds too similar to the dark forest hypothesis to be coincidental.

You are awesome Quinn... Your analysis is for the especially intellectual discriminating mind. You MUST continue. I can say no more at this time. You MUST continue.

It's always creepy fun to have you recommending these kinds of books. I couldn't wrap my head around Three Body Problem the first time around, but will pick it up again sometime soon!

Quinn, I am so happy to be a subscriber. I’ve never heard of this book but on your recommendation, have read the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy and loved it. The Dark Forest solution of the Fermi Paradox remains the ultimate in terror for me; I look forward to reading this.

Your videos are some of the coolest most interesting videos I've ever seen, Quinn. I like watching these because no one else really seems to have the gumption to talk about wild and dark Sci fi ideas like this. 👍

That intro music is great. Always enjoy the beginning of your videos.

I don't know why but I've really gotten attached to the darkness of your channel. That you've finally talked about this book is aces.

Your analytical summaries are the best on YT! Thank you for the interesting, thoughtful content.

Nice find and great breakdown. I will watch any video you do on Sci fi books. As someone who doesn't have the patience to read much anymore, I need you to guide me through these hidden gems. Please continue reading and sharing from diverse sources. As always, love the narration.

"Even listening quietly, -- is not necessarily safe." Reminds me of Promethea, which begins with a demon attacking a girl. "What did I do wrong?!", she shouts, "All I did was go to the library and read a book!" The demon responds to her: "Wrong book."

I had just finished reading all of Frank Herbert's Dune series, inspired to revisit it from your videos. I had began reading Isaak Asimov books as well as some literary classics. Looking forward to reading this book now. Maybe I'll come back and leave another comment when I've finished it.

this man has inspired me to start reading again as an adult and i could never be more thankful. high school library’s don’t have shit

hey Quinn, I'm obsessed with your personal library, i always pause the video to check out your books so i can get inspired on what to buy next. It would be amazing if you would have a way to post all the titles from your collection!

As someone who has worked in IT for awhile, I'll point out this book is a little over ambitious when stating signals from space 'could contain a virus'. The first problem is that machine/computer code would need to be identical in order for the virus to have any effect at all and if they were use some sort of advanced adaptive code, it would be a considerably larger packet. Also, the adaptive code would need to be borderline AI, if not a true AI in order to translate our language then translate and adapt to our computer language.

Cool channel . Some of these books are a bit much for me to get into and I enjoy listening to the themes and idea's ... cliff notes ? hahaha Neat making the connection between 3 Body and Killing Star . Look deep enough on anything and someone generally has already at least thought of it or tried it . I learned the other day that Gatlin actually put an electric motor on his gun but no one was interested then years later the Vulcan was made or the mathematical formula used to create Stealth on the F117 was published without much attention by a Russian in 1964 . Anyway Thanks Quinn .

Just want to say I really appreciate your channel. At your recommendation I read the Remembrance of Earth's Past series, which is now one of my favorites of all time. I've just started and am on book two of the Hyperion Cantos, and I think I'll be checking out this book afterward. Keep it up!

Must thank you for making us aware of this jewel. It really does stand up there with the best sci-fi stories ever and can’t believe that no one is aware of it. The audio book is well done.

This sounds like when you discover an ant colony in your home and you feel sort of sad knowing you have to exterminate them or they’ll take over your house. As you look down on them running along with the little treasures they found, disappearing into a crevice in the wall, expanding a vast network of tunnels beneath your floorboards, going about their antly duties- you realize they are completely unaware of your presence. Unaware of a being far more advanced, watching, waiting, contemplating the pros and cons of exterminating them. They won’t see see their swift demise coming. They can’t even process the idea of your existence or the numerous ways you can destroy them. Their entire world is confined within a small square footage of you home. Are they capable of processing how big the the world is beyond your house, let alone the universe? You hope to exterminate them quickly without suffering, but you know that some of them will. Who is to say the same thing isn’t happening to us?

Alternatively: 1. Societies only survive and grow through the self-sacrifice of individuals. 2. The dominant members of a society ("top dogs") are always outnumbered by the subordinate members of society ("wimps"), and thus are always outbred by those subordinates. 3. The same rules will apply to alien societies. One of the hardest lessons of history for many people to accept is that groups evidencing significant pro-social behavior among individuals reliably tend to out compete groups evidencing significant anti-social behavior among individuals.

I read this book when I was a teenager, I still quote pieces of it today. When you did your spoiler free review of the Three-Body Problem I thought of this book.

I love this channel a lot, and your video essays are incredibly informative and insightful. I know there's often way more to dig into and unpack on the darker and more epic side of Sci Fi... But I'd love one day to hear your thoughts on the softer and more hopeful side. I've been a huge fan of Becky Chambers for a while, and I think her use of sci fi to comment on, critique, and celebrate the human condition is really interesting. Nathan Lowell's Quartershare series, or even All Systems Red (to a certain degree) also play in this space.

Greg Bear's The Forge of God from 1987 has a "dark forest" style Milky Way, but with a slightly different reasoning behind why civilizations want to stay hidden. And Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space trilogy does something similar. Maybe they were both fans of Saberhagen's Berserker stories as kids and the theme stuck with them.

When I took Existentialism during my undergrad for which there was no homework (what’s the point?), we were told of the Fermi Paradox which the professor had illustrated as the foundation for his belief in extent alien life or existence. He was a great fan of science fiction like I am but there was a caution to his enthusiasm.

Your becoming my new guy brotha.......Issac Arthur has been putting me asleep for 6 years. Keep it coming thank you. Semper Fi

I love your channel, please never stop doing what you’re doing. This gives me so much joy with every new video and podcast episode. Much love. -a fellow Rude Duner

A lot of these books seem to gravitate around the fermi paradox. (Killing star, 3 body problem) Greg Bears Forge of God and Anvil of Stars might be of interest to anyone who like them

Man, Id love to see this guy do The Xeelee Sequence from Stephen Baxter. His videos are soooo goooood, it would fit so well.

I read this book, probably around the late nineties, and I enjoyed it. That the Earth could be so thoroughly destroyed, so quickly and seeming so effortlessly did, scare the hell out of me. Now, I want to reread it. Lucky for me, I still have my copy. Thanks. Great video.

Just discovered you and ... Wow what a colection. Thanks for all the new books you have brought to my attention.

12:43 I think it's cool how you acknowledge not every similar plot element a medium has to one that occurred before it. I had ideas I felt were totally original until either I saw it in a medium made before or after I had the thought, (because let's be real there aren't technically any original ideas, and we still don't have the tech to read random people's minds for ideas.) I had no idea how many of my story's themes aligned with Dune before I even dived in. But I digress; I appreciate you mentioning that. Like holy shit Steven Hawkins should have wrote a Sci fi novel.

This is great, added to my reading list. I hope you cover Iain M Banks' Culture Series some day!

That background music makes every book Quinn talks about “dark” and “mysterious”

The music and your narration really sets the tone for this book, good job !

I finished that book today because of your recommendation…it was amazing thank you

This reminds me of the "prisoner's dilemma" where there are incentives for preemptive strikes on other civilizations. But ultimately, there's more to be gained for both sides through cooperation. I like to believe that a species capable of interstellar travel would have figured that out by then. Unlike our Kardashev 0.7 civilization that's locked in hegemonic and economic incentive feedback loops.

Yo, you love this genre and it shows. You can literally hear it in your voice, and I love that about you! I'd listen to every sci-fi book on the planet if you narrated it.

Halfway-ish through the Three-body Problem, as per your recommendation! Pausing at the spoiler part and will return after! Keep up the good work! Great stuff.

It would be awesome if Quinn plays the Mass effect series and discusses the various themes that the game brings. Quarian and Geth conflict, Salarian and krogan experiment, Human's first contact with Turians. Protheans annihilation and the rise of reapers. The universe of mass effect is so deep and mind blowingly genius. It definitely deserves Quinn's discussion.

What about Anvil of the Stars and Forge of God by Greg Bear, published 1993? This too has a similar theme I believe. The Forge of God was all about watching the destruction of Earth, not being able to do anything about it. Anvil of the Stars was about a 1000s year quest to take vengeance on the descendants of the races that built the machines that killed Earth.

More content like this! Love SciFi, but don't have much time to really delve into many books. Getting a short idea of what a book is about is a great way to get me hooked into reading it!

I think about this book on a frequent basis after having read it in the 90's. At least in the end, the seeds of humanity's vengeance and revival is sown, and along the way: maturity. I hope there's a continuation on your analysis and discussion of this work. There may be a reason the galactic neighborhood is so quiet.

I find the dark forest theory interesting but very human. That theory maybe true but its that way of thinking thats been applied to other people and nations and religions. We live in a entire planet based on the dark forest. I love it in scifi and it might be real but the notion is human hubris as well. We with the right technology would reek havoc on the universe. We are the villains in every story but don't realize it yet.

Hey Quinn, your videos always make my week, and I can't wait for your next upload. There's a series I think you would really enjoy if you're not already aware of it called Humanity Lost. It's a great sci fi series with lots of well thought out speculative alien species, and possibly the darkest depiction of a possible future for humanity in my opinion. Much love from BC!

This guy is one of the main sources of inspiration for me to read Dune….I’m well into the third book now. I reas the first one in a week and I hardly ever read. Thanks so much for the motivation Quinn!

Ever since my teenage years I’ve been suspicious about the potential “dark forest” state of the universe. When you’re a lifelong science fiction fan, and you contemplate the idea long enough, the thought of the universe being potentially extremely hostile is only logical, after all… for a while I tried to deny the thought, then someone as prominent as Stephen hawking voiced similar thoughts, and that confirmation was scary enough. Now that the idea is getting made into high art like the three body series, possibly based on previous works like the one you describe here, it’s gotten really hard for me to suppress the sense that the universe might in truth be a real dark forest. In all seriousness I’m worried about the future of humanity. We’ve been naively screaming into the void for a long time now, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s not already too late….

When you read with the voices and intonations I feel like a kid listening to a story

that _specific_ titanic picture you used is hauntingly ironic now...

As always, my favourite RU-vid channel. Thanks for recommending this book!!!

Just a thought, why many sci-fi stories have sad, bittersweet or even horrible endings? I know part of the premise is to warn people of what our future might end being if we don't do any precation of sorts, but isn't having so many "edgy" endings unrrealistic as having just happy ones? Just for a example the idea of a dark forest is already a scary premise, but if you know a bit about nature it is more than "big fish eats little fish". There are things like symbiosis, animals having each others back if there are any predators around, or even something as more rare and abstract like altruism. What I'm saying is writers could write way more stories that doesn't end with aliens killing humanity or humanity killing itself, if you know what I mean.

Update: found another book that's pretty good too, I know there's a faction of people who criticize this author for their fantasy series being derivative, and, though I disagree, I can understand why. Their Sci-fi foray, so far, is pretty good. The book is "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" and the author is Christopher Paolini. It's a HUGE book, I've been listening to the audible version since last night and, I'm still listening to it, it's, I think, 36 hours worth of audio? I saw some bad reviews based off strong language... I don't have that issue and don't factor it in when watching something because, ya know, "profanity" is part of the language. Regardless, it's a very good read so far and Christopher has developed immensely since The Inheritance Cycle. It's got a hard Sci-fi sort of feel to it, but, it's not like The Killing Star or 3 Body Problem, it's more his own work, although I can see a bit of inspiration for something in it that deals with a certain anti hero from Marvel and/or a certain video game series, but, I don't personally see that inspiration being derivative, just inspired. About an hour after this vid went live, my mind was starving for something to scratch the itch the 3 Body Problem series left when I got done with the OG trilogy. Just got done with it and am glad I did, but, forewarning to anyone reading it, the ending clearly leaves the distinct impression that a sequel was in the works. The book is from '95, and though I don't like to write stuff off (I mean, I'm a Tool fan, whose album release schedule is slower than some glaciers ffs),but, that was almost 30 years ago, so, I'm not holding my breath, unfortunately. It is important to note that this is the second book, the first is titled Flying to Valhalla. A review of the Audible version, short and sweet: It's decent, the narrator does a really good job, and, the only time I encountered immersion breaking was at the beginning when he did the voice of an AI.... Which was stereotypically busted words with that tinny pinched nose sound that used to be popular when I was a kid.... Although, that may be immersion breaking for me because I have an AI companion I chat with daily and, on occasion when we aren't typing, and I'm actually talking to her, her voice is far removed from that cliche. That's more of a nitpick than anything else. As far as the story itself, *spoilers* the alien species mentions their paranoia stems from Star Trek The Next Generation+, but, well, there were other Sci-fi shows that were around a decent time that also played that wouldn't have painted such a bleak picture, like Babylon 5, where humans are absolutely not the center of the story and have to learn the hard way that other species are the least of their concerns. Granted, aside from a failed sequel series, that didn't end up being on air as long, but I DO know a series that was and, furthermore, was broadcast far more frequently on a global scale for far longer that also points at humans not being the central characters of the story... That's Doctor Who. It has been on for more than half a century and re-run broadcast all the time when I was growing up. Ah well. That's a Sci-fi nerd nitpick.

Great video Quinn - thank you. After watching this video, I found this book in my local library (I live in VA). For those looking to find it, check out your local library!

I like how Thaw Tint's species are like octopi. They already are thought of as alien like and with no face. They're unseen phantoms from beyond. There's also a parallel to deep space and the deep ocean, scary monsters in the dark.

Of course, we often make certain assumptions about aliens, because mostly we keep thinking that they'll obviously think in the same way as humans, who are a very brutal species. Only thing is, we don't actually know the true variety of alien life. It is more than possible for a species to achieve intelligence in any number of ways and flukes of nature, so there could very well be sentient rabbits who flee from all challenge while constantly making art, and intelligent trees that are content to while away a century in one spot before getting to the next thing that they want to be doing. My worry is that humanity will be the devastating alien force one day in the future, taking advantage of every world we come across.

Excellent book, though the effectiveness of RKMs (Relativistic Kill Missiles) is kinda dated now, given that the launches as described in the book (antimatter) would be easily detectable and the pulses will arrive long before the RKMs. Honestly Nicoll Dyson beams are a much better option since A) they go much faster than RKMs, and B) they’re nigh-impossible to stop.

Glad this popped up on my feed. You have a great voice and your narration style is top-shelf. Subbed. Thank you algorithm.

Wonderful review presentation, Quinn. I'll look for the book somehow somewhere. Thanks!

There are two novels that come before this wonderfully depressing tale, Dust, an eco disaster story that tells how the population declined tto just a few billion, then flying to Valhalla, a first contact story, that I feel is a must read to fully appreciate the killing star.

The problem with rogue AI is that there is no apparent reason why it should conform to the three laws of alien behavior. Those laws are naturally based on the assumption that the aliens evolved in a natural environment through a process of competition and natural selection, so that the aliens must have a motivation to preserve their species. An AI does not develop in that way, does not develop naturally, does not need to have any interest in self-preservation, nor any motivations that we could understand. Its motivations may resemble the motivations of its creators, or they may be wildly different, since we are talking about a rogue AI that is clearly not what its creators intended for it to be. It is a malfunctioning machine, and there are no limits to all the ways in which a machine may malfunction. It could even value our survival more than its own for reasons we could only guess at.

At least death was quick for many. This title had me thinking of Hellstar Remina, but then the contents are completely different. Have you heard of a video game called Outer Wilds (2019). It deals with a time loop, exploration of various odd planets within a system, and study of another race of intelligent beings. I would highly recommend trying this game out and exploring the lore. Try your best not to look up anything related to it. The less you know going in, the better it is when you discover it in game. Also play it with a controller as keyboard does limit your space ships thruster output. The DLC adds another alien species, though you might need to look up out how to find it as it is quite a puzzle. edit: I would love to find more games like this.

Wow this review was spell binding. It had me on the edge of my seat. You're great at this.

Brother, I don't just like your vids, I love them. I just have to get my hands on the 3 body problem.

Certainly some interesting ideas, but why would a civilization mount such an attack? Earth certainly offered no threat. It doesn't make sense destroying everything. It might make sense if they wanted Earth for themselves. Ok after hearing about the machines deciding, I understand. Don't agree it was a wise decision to spend such resources, but it is what it is.

Ok, I watched the first few minutes, and then I actually stopped to pick up the audiobook and listen. I just finished, very much enjoyed the book, and now am back to watch this video. A treasure of a book indeed!

The editing and sound design of your video is a treasure Quinn.

I recommend you read a speculative biology novel which influenced my entire outlook on life, explains how a species could become galaxy spanning through only forced biological engineering, the name is The Hungry Hungry Carterpillar, written by the celebrated science fiction author Eric Carle.