The writing did not improve in the second book, although I did learn that neither Ty nor Dan can really write female characters. The premiere of the new LOTR show was the excuse I needed to go back on Prime and find the point in the second book that synced up with the end of the second season, and in the process I came across multiple direct examples of how the show is better than the books, most notably in the Avasarala and Bobbie characters, who are really made by the actresses, despite coming across as painfully inauthentic on the page (although the line "these cunts are cutting into my grandma time" is a great one). Plus they did such a great job with the ships on the show, I will stick with the televised version from this point on.