I read the first book, and like OP found the characters bland and the writing boring. I reckon this is due to the way the original is translated into English. The style may be more appealing to a chinese audience. I guess there are cultural differences that transpire in one’s language and prose.

Unlike OP however, I found the story compelling enough to finish the first book. I struggled a lot more with the second one, until my dog did me a favor and decided to shred it to pieces while I was away =D

I did enjoy the Netflix show though, and I’ll happily watch season 2.

I think you’ve got the wrong 'straya there

Can’t we just, you know, commandeer someone else’s bits?

There will be if they decide to invade our era tomorrow

The source of all human misery? Oh man, as if I didn’t feel the pressure enough already…

At the very least spaciesist.

Boss, I can’t make it to work today. There’s a cat on my car.