I didn't know what to expect from this after 2 years of this series being talked about among people whose taste tend to align with mine in kind of ambiguous ways. I knew people liked it but I also half anticipated it to be a gamble for me on the basis of all the "memes references" and "ow the edge" talk. Both, as it turns out, were way overblown (at least to me), and instead I found an incredibly entertaining sci-fantasy novel with great worldbuilding, a clever magic system, a memorable cast, some really alluring lore, a core plot that reminded me of the Zero Escape video game series (which is a good thing), and a unique, refreshing author voice. Halfway through the 80 percents I realized I was in what I can only (unfortunately) describe as a Brandon Sanderson-style rollercoaster of a last act (I'm told Gene Wolfe once referred to it as a "slingshot ending"), except it was happening in an uncompromisingly good book, and read thru to the end. Loved it.

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Reread on Sept 12th 2020:
Yeah this book is good.