Fair question, but there are some plausible answers:
IIRC, the trisolaran fleet is launched sometime around 2022 (a little before the book is set, and the book starts maybe a decade in the future). It's depicted as a dangerous voyage where they lose a significant number of ships. Maybe they didn't have the capacity to launch until about when they did.
There are unexpected hazards of interstellar travel, and of other planetary systems. Maybe they wanted to be reasonably sure they weren't jumping from one dangerous situation to an equally dangerous situation.
The trisolarans knew about the dark forest nature of the universe before we did. It's far better to go to a place you know you can conquer than to go somewhere that might be inhabited by a more advanced civilization.
A recurring theme is investing in multiple avenues of technological progress and balancing proven concepts with the possibility to make a big breakthrough. Maybe they thought they were on the verge of a big breakthrough and were keeping their existing fleet on standby.
Or maybe they had some reason that's completely alien to us.
The trisolarans knew about the dark forest nature of the universe before we did.
I thought that the main character's MAD gambit only worked because both civilizations were ignorant of the dark forest nature of the universe, something MC only gained insight into by becoming the saddest "horny for my wife guy" in the universe.
The opposite. It works because they both know it’s true. The nuclear option is sending out a signal to the universe which would give away the location of both planets.
Right. But he sent out a message with a set of coordinates and said "watch this space." If the trisolarians already knew then this is sloppy exposition, action taken just for the readers at home.
I think they only reason they had him on their kill list -- and the only reason he was chosen as a wall facer -- was because they had listened in on a conversation where he had been given the basics of the idea. I interpreted that as they knew, then he figured it out and demonstrated a way to weaponize it.
Fair question, but there are some plausible answers:
Or maybe they had some reason that's completely alien to us.
I thought that the main character's MAD gambit only worked because both civilizations were ignorant of the dark forest nature of the universe, something MC only gained insight into by becoming the saddest "horny for my wife guy" in the universe.
The opposite. It works because they both know it’s true. The nuclear option is sending out a signal to the universe which would give away the location of both planets.
Right. But he sent out a message with a set of coordinates and said "watch this space." If the trisolarians already knew then this is sloppy exposition, action taken just for the readers at home.
I think they only reason they had him on their kill list -- and the only reason he was chosen as a wall facer -- was because they had listened in on a conversation where he had been given the basics of the idea. I interpreted that as they knew, then he figured it out and demonstrated a way to weaponize it.