Seems like everyone disagrees with the ranking of 3PB books. Probably a good thing. On 2 read-throughs, I vastly prefer 2 then 3, and consider 1 a bit of a slog.
The second was a slog for me too BUT weirdly enough the ideas and events that I'm thinking about the most come from that book. I have wondered many times whether the second book would have been a more enjoyable read if they had stuck with the translator from the first book, who also translated the third book.