Finished the sequel. Not as good, but still had some good moments.
Really disappointing with the sci fi side of things. The first book was all about how you expected things to be normal, but small tweaks actually compound to make the universe incredibly cool and strange. Meanwhile the second book is all about how this incredibly cool and strange universe is actually pretty normal.
There were entire chapters just about the aliens discovering quaternions, lasers, quantum mechanics, etc. You recognize the end goal incredibly quickly yet still have to sit through page after page of math/physics explanations. The final result is not exactly the same as it is on Earth, but only once was that difference more than a small technicality.
The first book felt like the author figured out a whole bunch of unexpected consequences for his universe and built a story around them. Sometimes it was very awkward like "hey protagonist, can you help me with my homework?" but the result was often really intriguing. The central story was incredibly intriguing with some high stakes situations.
This book still had some great moments but they were few and far between. Definitely the worst book I've read in a decade