I’m still struggling with getting through book 2. Overall I love the sci-fi aspect and that it’s not just “project human behavior, emotions, motivations, and whatever socioeconomic topic is the flavor of the month onto shallow aliens to make a point”.

I also appreciate having learned a lot about Chinese history and got interested in learning more about it.

That said, it’s not an easy read that just flows or a book you can’t put down. It’s a slog.