Glad I picked up the entire trilogy in one go, as I ended up pretty much powering right through them. As it turns out, the middle book is the one that caught me the most. The first is a good intro to the world and ideas, the third brings it all to a close (but in a manner that's probably more realistic than satisfying, which I'm still digesting), but the middle gets to expand the world and carry the story without having to worry about putting the pieces in place to wrap everything up. If Goodreads would let me, I'd probably give this 3.5 stars rather than just three; it's better than average, but not quite to the point where I'd comfortably give it four stars. Worth reading, though, and now I at least understand all the references that I've been encountering from fans of the books and films.