I’m curious as to what “a while” means to you, because The Expanse is pretty hard Sci Fi, and the last book Leviathan Falls only came out in 2021 (plus the authors are almost done with the first book in a new series!). I agree, with your sentiments on Book 2 of Three Body Problem and haven’t gotten around to 3 yet, but it doesn’t sound like I’ll be putting that high up on my list anytime soon.
The resolution of The Dark Forest was its strongest portion IMO, so if you can stick through it I don’t think you’ll regret it.