CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Notice

A Brief Note From the Translator

Table of Eras

Excerpt from the Preface to A Past Outside of Time

Part I

May 1453, C.E. / The Death of the Magician

Crisis Era, Year 1 / The Option for Life

Crisis Era, Year 4 / Yun Tianming

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Infantilism at the Start of the Crisis

Crisis Era, Year 4 / Yun Tianming

Crisis Era, Years 1–4 / Cheng Xin

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Hibernation: Man Walks for the First Time Through Time

Crisis Era, Years 1–4 / Cheng Xin

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / The Staircase Program

Crisis Era, Years 1–4 / Cheng Xin

Crisis Era, Years 5–7 / The Staircase Program

Part II

Deterrence Era, Year 12 / Bronze Age

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Nyctohylophobia

Deterrence Era, Year 12 / Bronze Age

Deterrence Era, Year 13 / Trial

Deterrence Era, Year 61 / The Swordholder

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / The Ghost of the Wallfacers: The Swordholder

Deterrence Era, Year 61 / The Swordholder

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Cultural Reflection

Deterrence Era, Year 61 / The Swordholder

Deterrence Era, Year 62 / Gravity, in the Vicinity of the Oort Cloud

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / More Indirect Evidence for the Dark Forest: Sophon-Blind Regions

Deterrence Era, Year 62 / Gravity, in the Vicinity of the Oort Cloud

Deterrence Era, Year 62 / November 28, 4:00 P.M. to 4:17 P.M.: Deterrence Center

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / The Choice of the Swordholder: Ten Minutes Between Existence and Annihilation

Deterrence Era, Year 62 / November 28, 4:00 P.M. to 4:17 P.M.: Deterrence Center

The Final Ten Minutes of the Deterrence Era, Year 62 / November 28, 4:17:34 P.M. to 4:27:58 P.M.: Deterrence Center

Post-Deterrence Era, First Hour / A Lost World

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Reflections on the Failure of Dark Forest Deterrence

Post-Deterrence Era, First Hour / A Lost World

Post-Deterrence Era, Day 60 / A Lost World

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Technology Explosion on Trisolaris

Post-Deterrence Era, Day 60 / A Lost World

Post-Deterrence Era, Year 2 / Australia

The Final Ten Minutes of the Deterrence Era, Year 62 / November 28, 4:17:34 P.M. to 4:27:58 P.M.: Gravity and Blue Space, Deep Space

Post-Deterrence Era, Year 2 / The Morning After the Great Resettlement, Australia

Post-Deterrence Era, Day 1–Day 5 / Gravity and Blue Space, Deep Space Beyond the Oort Cloud

Part III

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Cheng Xin

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Delusions of Cosmic Persecution: The Last Attempt to Invalidate Dark Forest Theory

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Cheng Xin

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / A New Model for the Dark Forest

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Sophon

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / The Cosmic Safety Notice: A Lonely Performance Art

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Sophon

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / The Long Staircase

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Yun Tianming

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

The First Tale of Yun Tianming / “The New Royal Painter”

The Second Tale of Yun Tianming / “The Glutton’s Sea”

The Third Tale of Yun Tianming / “Prince Deep Water”

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / The Bunker Project: An Ark for Earth Civilization

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Motion Through Bending Space

Broadcast Era, Year 7 / Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Three Paths of Survival for Earth Civilization

Broadcast Era, Year 8 / Fate’s Choice

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Space Sentries: The Solar System Advance Warning System

Broadcast Era, Year 8 / Fate’s Choice

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / Terror of the Endless Night

Broadcast Era, Year 8 / Sun-Earth Lagrangian Point

Part IV

Bunker Era, Year 11 / Bunker World

Bunker Era, Year 11 / Lightspeed II

Bunker Era, Year 11 / Halo City

Part V

Bunker Era, Year 67 / Orion Arm of the Milky Way

Bunker Era, Year 67 / Halo

Bunker Era, Year 66 / Outside the Solar System

Bunker Era, Year 68 / Pluto

Bunker Era, Year 68 / The Two-Dimensional Solar System

Part VI

Galaxy Era, Year 409 / Our Star

About Seventeen Billion Years After the Beginning of Time / Our Star

Outside of Time / Our Universe

Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time / The Stairs of Responsibility

Outside of Time / Our Universe

Translator’s Postscript

Tor Books by Cixin Liu

About the Author

About the Translator

Copyright