It's the second novel in the the Three Body Problem series. I finished the first book last week.
I am surprised by how difficult it is to keep the Chinese characters straight. Even into the last pages of the first book I had to constantly check and recheck the characters' names, and I'm finding the same problem with the second book. As an English speaker, I struggle to remember who characters like Zhang Yuanchao and Shi Xiaoming are. In fact, I tried to read the first book several times after the English translation was published and couldn't stay interested. The story is actually super interesting-- I think my trouble with Chinese names was the real impediment.
I've also realized that I tend to not really read names in text after the first few appearances. Instead, my eyes pass over the names and sort of scan the shapes of the words instead of reading "John Smith" over and over again. I think the Chinese names have unaccustomed shapes, and I'm forced to read them and look them up much more frequently. Anyway, notwithstanding my problem with Chinese names, I'm greatly enjoying the series so far!
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