It's no fault of Cixin Liu that I had trouble with "The Dark Forest". Around when I started reading it I experienced the loss of my beloved mini-panther, Tir, and maybe I should have put it aside and given myself something easier, instead of the middle book in an end of humanity philosophical science fiction series, in translation, when it had been several years since I read the first book (2022). It's a great series, thoughtful and interesting and ambitious, but holy shit is it hard mode when you're in a fucky mental space.
It's primarily about the unconventional Wallfacer program, where four individuals are chosen to pursue possible strategies dealing with the threat of the impending Trisolaran invasion without explaining anything they do (because the Trisolarans have filled Earth with subatomic monitor transmission guys called sophons so if they explain any plan they have, the Trisolarans will know about it), primarily focusing on Luo Ji, an unremarkable scientist who uses the carte blanche of the program to pursue his fantasy of an ideal life. Running parallel to Luo Ji's narrative is the story of Zhang Beihai, a dedicated military man who goes into hibernation and awakens in the age of SPACE military.
There's a lot going on and in a meta-echo of the central conceit of the Wallfacers, the reader is never truly privy to the thoughts and believes of the characters, so despite the philosophic tone and a commonality of theme the series shares with Asimov's "Foundation", there's still a sense of tension, shocking developments, and sudden revelations that meant I eventually did fall into a rhythm with the book. But it took a while and I feel my reading may not have done it justice.