After being awed and wowed by TBP, I went into The Dark Forest expecting pretty much the same. Suffice to say I was not expecting an experience even better than TBP. The Dark Forest is an impressive book in every way possible. Luo Ji is a character so well fleshed out that at times I could really feel is despair in the face of societal pressure. I felt sad for Luo Ji and what he went through in the book and the pressure placed on his shoulders. 
 There are parts of the book that gave me the chills similar to what I felt when reading about sophons and their objective in TBP. The sociological development of humans portrayed by the author is frightening at times in how realistic it feels. The book moves at a slow pace early on but picks up near the halfway mark. It's damn near unputdownable. 
 (view spoiler)[ The Battle of Darkness left me exhausted. Reading those pages was like watching a dream shatter to pieces. Like watching the hope of billions being flushed down the drain. Even the role played by Zhang Beihai and what he did at the end on the Natural Selection was just so sad and desperate. I wonder what he would have done if he knew about The Dark Forest; would he still have plotted a course outside the solar system? (hide spoiler)] 
 Finally, I can't wait anymore for book 3!