Oh my god I'm so glad this slog of a read is over. 

I feel as if there was often no room left for a reader's interpretation. Society and certain scientific tools were overly explained, making me have to skim read certain parts to be able to make it to the end. I'd rather just use my imagination to fill in the gaps.

There were also multiple moments in the book where possible potholes were explained via an awkward dialogue between characters. It made me feel as if the author was trying to impress me with how smart they were. Much was written as if it was an unlikable science teacher explaining to you that whatever scientific theories they taught you was the absolute truth and you were just expected to be impressed.

I found it hard to identify with some of the characters reasoning to do some drastic actions, but that's just personal so that's fine to me. I am surprised that no human figured out Luo Ji's plan. It was oddly simple even for someone without a background in the related fields.

The misogyny felt icky but could be explained away with "oh this is just how the main character thinks", but I would've liked to see more strong female characters.

I am again impressed by seemingly very unrelated scientific concepts being blended together into one fictional story. It was just much slower and longer than the story deserves.

I'm fine just stopping the series after this book and not bothering with the third.

I mean if you’ve read the first book you should know a bit about how this one is going to be. It’s a very military based book and it’s a bit slow at times but still enjoyable. 

I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time. The first book felt oddly removed emotionally, like all the emotions were heard through a wall, but this book didn't have any of that, and I don't really know why they are different in that respect. Usually, overly technical science descriptions are a turnoff for me, but this again didn't have that problem, I actually feel like i learned a lot about our solar system. 
This book scratches the itch that older sci-fi books have, of a mythic scale and dramatic, eerie scenes that speak on the human condition. Any sci-fi fans should give this series a read, you won't regret it. 

Having had the same experience as reading The Three Body Problem, I can safely say this is fast becoming one of my favourite series. 

The beginning can be a bit slow and takes a while to build but once you get settled in and used to the jargon this book becomes a masterpiece. Engaging, adventurous and reflective, it took me a few weeks to read the first third and then only two days to read the last two. There are many points in the book where I had to put it down and have a conference with my plushies over what I would do and say if I were in the characters' positions. The major plot points/twists don't seem forced or contrived but rather inevitable. Immediately starting the third in the series

I didn’t like it as much as The Three Body Problem but it was still very good. After TTBP I was very eager to get straight into this book. Now I’m taking a break before reading the third. But I will!

bro needs to learn how to give characters some personality and not just use them as plot devices smh

Misogynistic and boring. 

I had higher hopes for this book than the first. I read reviews talking about the misogyny and sexism but disregarded them prior to starting the book. I thought that there’s no way it’s that bad and it must be that the author uses mainly strong male characters and few females (which is correct). That it must be a cultural difference. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Some parts are just gross. Women are seen as soft and emotional and innocent. I highlighted some of the quotes that are just disgusting. I read that the original Chinese version is even worse, and some of the misogyny was omitted from the English translation. In the English version, it is not overt but still obvious. 

Even removing those aspects of the book, this was so boring. I enjoy sci-fi and learning about science. I also enjoyed learning more about Chinese history in the first book. But, this was so dragged out and slow. I genuinely don’t understand the hype. The idea behind the books is interesting, but the execution is terrible. 

Can we also talk about how there is one ellipsis or more on almost every page? I plan on watching the Netflix series to see how it compares. I’m not sure if I will continue on with this series.

* please disregard spelling and grammatical errors due to voice texting. Thanks.

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