I really enjoyed Liu Cixin‘s Three Body Problem trilogy when I read it last year. Really creative and interesting. I also just finished his prequel to the trilogy Ball Lightening.
Would you recommend reading Ball Lightning before the TBP Trilogy if I've never read any of this...because it's a prequel?
I've read (and thoroughly enjoyed) them all, didn't even know Ball Lightning was a prequel (it was written after the trilogy). Perhaps some repeat characters?
I don't believe there are any spoilers either way.
I only know about it being sort-of a prequel because of the afterward material in the audible audio book. The books can be enjoyed in either reading order.
I don't think it's a prequel - he just wrote it before TBP. There is one character in common with The Dark Forest, but only to the extent that this character is regarded as a great physicist in both books and makes some discoveries.